Chris Evans’ missing Captain America story can still be told in the MCU if Marvel Television’s Agents of SHIELD is revived. Chris Evans debuted as Steve Rogers in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger, with the MCU Phase 1 project exploring his initial transformation into the super soldier Captain America, and marking his apparent death after battling the Red Skull. Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers awoke in the modern era to become a founding member of the MCU’s original Avengers team, a role which he embraced before retiring from the position of Captain America at the end of 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.
Even though Steve Rogers got his happy ending in Avengers: Endgame, retiring in a past timeline with Hayley Atwell’s Peggy Carter, there have been calls for Chris Evans to return as Captain America in the MCU. Rogers’ Captain America could return as a multiversal variant in Avengers: Secret Wars, or may even be reinvented following the rumored MCU reboot after Phase 6. However, recent speculation suggests that one popular Marvel Television series could be revived in the MCU, and a new theory hints that this revival could explore Steve Rogers’ missing stories, and explain the mystery of his Endgame ending.
The TVA Allowed Steve Rogers To Remain In The Past? MCU Theory Explained
A recent MCU theory shared by Reddit user Opinionsare answers questions about how Steve Rogers was able to remain in a branching timeline at the end of Avengers: Endgame, despite the multiverse not having been properly explored in the MCU at that point. The theory plays off of Steve Rogers’ final mission as Captain America, which saw him return the six Infinity Stones to their respective universes, after the Avengers embarked on the Time Heist to collect them. Rogers perhaps did such a good job that the MCU’s Time Variance Authority may have allowed him to remain with Peggy Carter.
Of course, the TVA wouldn’t have allowed Steve Rogers to remain on a branching timeline unconditionally, so the theory suggests that the otherworldly organization may have taken Rogers into its employ. The TVA perhaps could have even found a safe timeline for Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter to live in, one that wouldn’t lead to the emergence of a Kang the Conqueror variant. Steve Rogers could have sported his Captain America costume to embark on missions for the TVA, paying back his debt for their allowance of him remaining in the past, and this could inform a new MCU revival.
Agents Of SHIELD Could Continue In The MCU
During a recent interview with Agents of Fandom, Marvel Studios’ Head of Television, Animation and Streaming Brad Winderbaum teased a potential continuation of Marvel Television’s Agents of SHIELD in the MCU. Hot on the heels of X-Men: The Animated Series’ revival as X-Men ’97, and the development of Phase 5’s Daredevil: Born Again, Winderbaum noted that “you never know” when it comes to bringing back shows like Spider-Man: The Animated Series and Agents of SHIELD. This could mean Agents of SHIELD may be revived for the MCU, which creates the perfect opportunity for Steve Rogers’ missing stories to be told.
We’re doing that right now. We’re in production on Daredevil: Born Again in New York, they’re shooting as we speak — I’m seeing text messages come up from set. That’s probably the next show that is going to kind of revisit and revive a really strong, and one of my favorite pockets of our universe and our fandom. And… you never know, is the answer!
Steve Rogers’ New Timeline Would Be Great For A New Agents Of SHIELD Series
Released between 2013 and 2020, Marvel Television’s Agents of SHIELD focused on smaller-scale, MCU-adjacent stories, with Clark Gregg’s resurrected Phil Coulson leading a team of SHIELD agents on various missions. Agents of SHIELD developed the titular organization more than any theatrical MCU project, and introduced concepts such as Inhumans and time travel before the MCU. The series dwindled in popularity as its seasons progressed, but there have been calls for Agents of SHIELD to be officially canonized in the MCU’s timeline, akin to Marvel Television’s Defenders Saga, and this means some loose threads in the MCU can be tied up.
Chris Evans could return for a selection of storylines in a new Agents of SHIELD series, providing the opportunity for Marvel Studios to finally explore his mission to return the Infinity Stones in Endgame. This could also answer how he was able to remain in the past with Peggy Carter, and how he was able to return to the present day to pass the Captain America mantle to Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson. While Marvel Studios hasn’t given any official comment on Agents of SHIELD being revived for the MCU, this would be a great chance for Chris Evans to return.
