As reported on August 24th, Steve Rogers will no longer be Captain America in 2018's Avengers: Infinity Wars. In an interview with The Huffington Post, Joe Russo had this to say:

"I think him dropping that shield is him letting go of that identity. [It's] him admitting that certainly the identity of Captain America was in conflict with the very personal choice that he was making."

This very thought has been speculated on since the release of Captain America: Civil War and fans have wondered whether Steve Rogers would return for more films. Chris Evans, the actor behind Steve Rogers/Captain America, has one film left per his contract. However, Evans has expressed that if Marvel wanted to negotiate for further film appearances he would be all in. In Collider, Evans was quoted as saying the following:

“If Marvel wants me, they got me.”

Marvel got a lot of flack for leaving Captain America alive at the end of Civil War. As any fan who has read the comics knows, the death of Captain America at the end of Civil War had widespread influence throughout the entirety of the Marvel universe. (If you have not read it, definitely check out the series run of The Death of Captain America written by Ed Brubaker with art by Steve Epting as well as Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America written by Jeph Loeb with art by Leinil Yu, Ed McGuinness, John Romita Jr., David Finch, and John Cassaday, each illustrating an issue. They are all brilliantly written and illustrated as well as being worth the read to truly understand how important Civil War is to the Marvel universe as a whole, especially in regards to Steve Rogers and how his death impacted a multitude of heroes.) While DC received harsh feedback for killing off Superman too soon with Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Marvel was criticized for not killing off any major superheroes (and leaving them dead), as of yet.

Personally, this makes me very excited when it comes to the character development of Steve Rogers, what this means for Captain America, and how this will affect the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole. Marvel has always been more lighthearted than its main competitor DC and has played on its strength of creating beautiful, colorful, and entertaining stories within its movie-verse. Have they strayed from the comics? Yes. Has it always worked out so well? No. (cough cough, I'm looking at you Iron Man 3.) Now, with the tension and divide between superheroes, it is time for the universe to get a little gritty while having fans wonder what they are going to take directly from the comics and what they are going to completely change up.

As a heads up, I will be discussing current comic book universe within this article so please, heed this warning of spoilers ahead if you are not caught up on Marvel comics.

Up until this point in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Steve Rogers has been, for the most part, always been Captain America. We get glimpses of his past and the man behind the shield, but it has been to emphasize his high sense of morals and patriotism as well as his inability to back down from anything. Rogers has been established as someone who is willing to fight tooth and nail for what he believes in, but very rarely do we get to see what's behind that "apple pie smile". Who exactly is Steve Rogers? What does he do on his down time? How is he dealing with his very obvious PTSD in waking up in a brand new century? We never see him falter, we never see him stray from his path, we never see him as real human being. Who we've seen in all of these films has been the lead-up and persona of Captain America. Finally, at the end of Captain America: Civil War, we get to see the struggle and how difficult it is to maintain the pristine image that comes with the suit and shield.

Now that we know of Steve Rogers' frustration with the Sokovia Accords and what this means for the Avengers, and in turn all superheroes (I am interested to see what Spider-Man thinks of all this now that Tony Stark has dragged him into the fray), he has finally dropped the shield of Captain America. Without this persona and knowing that Rogers is not one to back down from something he believes in, where will he go? All signs are currently pointing towards Rogers taking on the persona of the Nomad. Introduced in Captain America #180 in December 1974, Rogers ends his run as Captain America and becomes the Nomad when he becomes disillusioned with the U.S. government. This is a short-lived change (only lasting four issues) as Rogers recognizes that he can still follow his morals and be patriotic while not blindly following every decision the U.S. government makes. If this is the direction the cinematic universe goes, we are going to see a lot more Steve Rogers and how he grows as a character. This is super exciting because up until now, Steve Rogers/Captain America has been a fairly flat and predictable character with stagnated development.

With the end of Steve Rogers as Captain America, the next question in line is what will happen with that particular character because Marvel can't just leave behind one of their most iconic heroes. Will Captain America fall to the wayside? Highly unlikely. Who will carry on his name? The two most likely choices are either Bucky Barnes or Sam Wilson. In the comic universe, Bucky Barnes becomes Captain America after the death of Steve Rogers, on the condition that he gets to operate as an independent agent (Captain America Vol. 5 #25 in March 2008). As for Sam Wilson, he becomes Captain America after the Super-Soldier Serum is neutralized, aging Steve Rogers to his real age of 90 years old (Captain America Vol. 7 #25 in November 2014). Currently in the cinematic universe, Barnes is under cryofreeze in Wakanda while Sam Wilson is considered a criminal due to breaking the Sokovia Accords, leaving the choice up in the air. Although the Marvel Cinematic Universe tends to stray from its comics, instead taking the essence of major story arcs and converting them to screen, I would be excited for Barnes or Wilson to replace Captain America as it would be an interesting development for either character: the further identity conflict and redemption with Bucky Barnes or the stepping into the shoes of such a large presence and living up to it with Sam Wilson

Personally, I am leaning toward Sam Wilson, despite the obvious jump over on Bucky. Logically, it makes a bit more sense. Even though Wilson is considered a criminal, he is also a war veteran and easier to swallow as the new Captain America. He certainly has his own ideals and morals, but at the end of the day, I can find it easier for him to be forgiven by the American public and replace Steve Rogers. As for Bucky, I am secretly hoping they will go the route of him replacing Nick Fury as the Man on the Wall. While it is nearly impossible for him to take over as leader of the Thunderbolts, as he currently is in the comics, I can see it fitting more in-line with his characterization as well as brings in to play how important Nick Fury is as a character outside of S.H.I.E.L.D. since he has frequently hinted at his concern with the bigger picture. Bucky has always been the one getting his hands dirty in order to let Steve be the pristine clean image of Captain America and I would much rather see him use the skills he learned as Winter Soldier to protect Earth, reclaiming his identity and coming to accept his own strength and abilities.

As for the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole, all we can do is speculate as to what these things mean. With the forthcoming Doctor Strange set for release on November 4, 2016 followed by Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok, and Avengers: Infinity War, we are definitely starting to get into more of the story with Thanos and hopefully branching out into more intergalactic grounds. The loss of Captain America at such a crucial time, especially if rumors are true that we won't be seeing Chris Evans again until Avengers: Infinity War per current contract, is definitely going to have an impact on the current situation within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As fans, we can only wait and see what Marvel Studios and Disney take directly from the comics and what new curve balls they are going to throw at us. As for me, I am excited for the mix-up and can't wait to see how they further develop this.