Captain America 4: Release Date, Story, Will It Happen?

Will Marvel Studios and Disney ever make Captain America 4? If it happened, Captain America wouldn’t be the first series in the MCU to get more than a trilogy, as The Avengers has four movies and Chris Hemsworth’s Thor has another solo film, Thor: Love and Thunder, coming up in 2022. But at the moment, aside from the team-up Avengers films, Thor is the only character who’s getting a fourth film, primarily due to how the character was effectively rebooted with Thor: Ragnarok.

The story of Captain America (Chris Evans) was stretched out across seven MCU installments: four Avengers movies and three Captain America movies. It came to a conclusion in Avengers: Endgame when Steve Rogers traveled back in time to live out the rest of his life with his first love, Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). As an elderly man in the present-day storyline, Steve passed on his iconic shield to Falcon (Anthony Mackie) so that he could become his successor. Marvel will continue Sam Wilson’s story in Disney+’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but at present there’s no Captain America 4 on Marvel’s current slate of movies.

Related: Captain America Theory: Endgame’s Repaired Shield Proves Steve Changed Timelines

Steve Rogers’ Captain America Story Is Over

Both Marvel and Chris Evans have made it abundantly clear that Steve Rogers’ story is over in the MCU. Evans is done playing the Star-Spangled Avenger, and Marvel properly wrapped up his story in Avengers: Endgame by giving him a happy ending. Any return from Chris Evans to the role of Steve Rogers would threaten to ruin that ending. This means that any future for Captain America will have to be with a different character wielding the shield.

Captain America 4’s Story Would Likely Follow Sam Wilson

If Marvel were to make Captain America 4, the obvious choice to be the main protagonist is Falcon. Wyatt Russell’s US Agent is the next Captain America, but it’s hard to imagine his character holding on to the mantle for very long, especially since Endgame purposely set up Sam Wilson being Steve’s replacement. There’s an expectation that the plot of Falcon and the Winter Soldier will entail Falcon having to earn the mantle while US Agent temporarily acts as the government-appointed Captain America. If Falcon and the Winter Soldier is about Falcon becoming Captain America, a fourth movie would be about what comes next for Sam, and possibly Bucky (Sebastian Stan) as well.

Will Marvel Ever Make Captain America 4?

It’s hard to say if Marvel has any intention of making Captain America 4. The franchise was certainly profitable enough to justify a fourth movie. Captain America: The Winter Soldier grossed over $700 million, while Captain America: Civil War raked in $1.1 billion. However, it has long been said that Phase 4 was to be the beginning of a new era for the MCU. Marvel is still holding on to Thor for the time being, but for the most part, they’re looking to new heroes like the Eternals and Shang-Chi to propel the MCU forward. Furthermore, the fact that Marvel decided to move Falcon’s story from the big screen to Disney+ could be a bad sign. Unless Falcon and the Winter Soldier is a massive hit that performs even bigger than they’re expecting, Captain America 4 may not be on the table.

When Captain America 4’s Release Date Could Be

If Marvel does have plans for Captain America 4, the earliest it could release is 2023, due in part to all the coronavirus delays. Now that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder have been pushed back, Marvel has a full schedule for 2022. Ant-Man 3, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3., Blade, and Fantastic Four are all strong candidates for the release dates Marvel has set for 2023, so it may be early 2024 before Marvel has room for Captain America 4.

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