Warning: The following post contains spoilers for Avengers: Endgame!
Being a fan of comic books and comic book movies requires a keen ability to suspend disbelief. But still, Avengers: Endgame’s complex time travel mechanics are enough to make anyone go cross-eyed. The internet is currently rife with divided think pieces on the science behind Captain America’s decision to settle down in the ’40s with Peggy Carter at the end of the film. Somehow, even the movie’s creative powers-that-be are falling prey to this division.
When it comes to Captain America’s sojourn into the past, there seem to be two camps. Some believe that Steve Rogers traveled to an alternate reality. However, others assert that he’s been residing elsewhere in the mainstream MCU this whole time. Co-directors Joe and Anthony Russo have spent the past week endorsing the former theory. But while speaking with Fandango, screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely insisted that it’s actually the latter.
“That is our theory,” said Markus “We are not experts on time travel, but the Ancient One specifically states that when you take an Infinity Stone out of a timeline it creates a new timeline. So Steve going back and just being there would not create a new timeline. So I reject the ‘Steve is in an alternate reality’ theory.”
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“I do believe that there is simply a period in world history from about ’48 to now where there are two Steve Rogers,” continued Markus. “And anyway, for a large chunk of that one of them is frozen in ice. So it’s not like they’d be running into each other.”
It’s kind of alarming that the Russos and Markus and McFeely couldn’t get on the same page about this before the movie’s press tour. After all, it’s a rather crucial plot point that Marvel Studios will most likely revisit in future films. Hopefully they’ll find some common ground by the time they record commentary for Endgame’s Blu-ray release.
Which theory behind Captain America’s time traveling do you support? Do you want to see Old Cap in a future film? Let us know in the comment section below!
