The end of Captain America: Civil War left a lot of people in the Marvel Cinematic Universe feeling a bit empty, most notably Iron Man who got his frigging suit’s heart destroyed. But after Zemo’s plan succeeded, Captain America went on the run with the other Cap-Siders, apparently destined to fight the world’s evil from the shadows. And now the directors of that film have confirmed what we all guessed: Captain America isn’t Captain America anymore. Or, to be more accurate, Steve Rogers isn’t Captain America anymore. (Insert your crying and sad music now.)

In an interview with The Huffington Post, directors Joe and Anthony Russo set the record straight on exactly where Steve (Chris Evans) stood philosophically at the end of the film. “I think him dropping that shield is him letting go of that identity,” said Joe. “[It’s] him admitting that certainly the identity of Captain America was in conflict with the very personal choice that he was making.” Steve can’t be the dutiful soldier anymore, not after all he’s seen.

If you look at the four films in which Cap has appeared to date, he’s gone from idealist to skeptic to disillusioned radical, and now he’s off the grid. That doesn’t, however, mean Steve Rogers is out of the superheroing game, nor through with the Avengers entirely. There’s precedent in the comic for this; when Rogers lost his faith in the government, he became Nomad, a wandering hero with the worst fashion sense ever. Hopefully, when and if he returns in the Nomad guise, it’ll be with a better costume.

And it’s increasingly likely that Rogers will be back. We have to wait awhile before Avengers: Infinity War, but that’s going to be a major conflict of universal proportions, so it’d be very dumb to think a superhuman with a massive sense of moral duty would sit out any such fight. Thanos is a bad enough threat that the goodies will need all the help they can get, whether he’s sporting the star-spangled shield or not.

Let us know what you think. Would you watch a Captain America movie without Steve Rogers? Who would pick up the mantle since both Falcon and Winter Soldier are in hiding as well? Would you watch a Nomad movie? Let us know in the comments below!

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Images: Marvel