Um, holy crud… did we just learn the fate of Captain America in the MCU?! I think we just did in this Nerdist News exclusive! Before you read on, this whole episode, including the exclusive Captain America news we’ve got locked and loaded for you, is based entirely on spoilers for the end of Captain America: Civil War. So if you’ve managed to be patient enough to wait more than a full day to watch the film, turn back now! Okay, you’ve been warned.
The end of Civil War showed Captain America bidding adieu to Bucky Barnes by leaving him cryogenically frozen on Wakanda in the care of Black Panther (just like Walt Disney). No, Cap didn’t bite the bullet at the end of this movie, like he almost literally does at the end of the Civil War comics — he survived to punch another day. This means Bucky won’t take on Cap’s mantle in the MCU like he did on the page. However! At Nerdist’s Ultimate Captain America Marathon yesterday at Disney’s El Capitan Theatre, our pal Sebastian Stan came out to greet the audience and grace us with a little Q&A where he eluded to the fact that he would most likely be the next Cap.
But how?! When?! We most likely won’t see Steve Rogers again until Infinity War in 2019, so our best guess is that Cap will die by Thanos’ hand in the as-yet-untitled Infinity Wars Part I, inspiring the Avengers to reunite and pass the shield over to a thawed out Bucky. But why bother keeping Buck on Wakanda? Is it to keep him away from the long reaching arm of the law? Or is there a chance that the upcoming Black Panther movie might be more of a team-up flick pairing the Black Panther with the Winter Soldier? If Black Panther were to have an adventure with the Winter Soldier and presumably help him save the kingdom of Wakanda, that’d be a pretty logical reason for one of the best leaders in the MCU to support Bucky’s ascension to Avenger.
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What do you guys think? Do you want to see Bucky as the next Cap? Do you think Bucky will appear in Black Panther before becoming Cap in one of the Infinity Wars? Let us know in the comments below, and don’t forget to go behind-the-scenes of our Marvel Movie Marathon with Stan Lee, Sebastian Stan, Alexis Denisof, and more on Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter @Nerdist!
