Steve Rogers is no longer Captain America, and the MCU must be careful not to repeat an Sam Wilson’s journey from Falcon to Captain America. However, Bruce Banner’s story in Phase 4 so far suggests a problem regarding major events from Endgame being retconned or forgotten.
The death of Thanos and the return of everyone who had been killed by the snap marked the end of the Infinity Saga, but it also represented a new chapter for the Avengers and the MCU as a whole. Founding of the Avengers like Iron Man and Black Widow were dead, Steve Rogers was retired after living through decades in the past, and the Hulk was now Smart Hulk – a form in which Banner and the Hulk were able to coexist. While that change in the status quo is now being felt in Phase 4, there is always the risk that the MCU will try to revert things back to what they were.
One major example of that is Shang-Chi and the Legend of Ten Rings. After Endgame put so much focus on the seemly irreversible Smart Hulk transformation, it took less than two years for the MCU to retcon it and bring Banner back for a post-credits scene. With that precedent set, it is not unlikely that the MCU also goes down a similar road with Steve Rogers being an elderly man – which would be a mistake. There were reports in 2021 of Chris Evans being in talks for an MCU return, and the actor always seemed more open to returning to the franchise than Robert Downey Jr. However, bringing back Evans as young Captain America somehow would make it the second time the MCU goes back on an Endgame decision, and it would both diminish the impact of the movie and lower the stakes for the rest of the MCU.
Steve Rogers' Captain America Can Still Appear Post-Endgame
Having original new Captain America, Sam Wilson.
Endgame is undoubtedly the most important movie in the MCU, at least in of stakes, and thus should not be retconned so easily. The MCU is known for planning years ahead, which makes the Smart Hulk retcon even stranger. If Chris Evans is ever to return to the role of Steve Rogers, the MCU will have to find a clever way to do it — one that does not diminish the importance of Avengers: Endgame.
