Almost exactly two months ago, a report began to circulate that said Chris Evans was going to reprise his role as Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, in future Marvel Studios projects. The news was met with a coy denial from Evans, who said, “News to me.” But speaking to EW recently, Kevin Feige went a step further to deny the rumors that Evans is returning to the MCU.
“I rarely answer no to anything anymore because things are always surprising me with what happens, but that rumor, I think, was dispelled rather quickly by the man himself,” Feige said.
READ MORE: Chris Evans Expected To Reprise Captain America Role In Future Marvel Projects
Of course, at the end of “Avengers: Endgame,” it’s revealed that Steve Rogers went back in time but never returned to the present, living out his years with Peggy Carter and only reappearing as an old man, handing the shield to Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie). But with multiversal shenanigans in “Doctor Strange 2” and the possibility that maybe Old Man Steve will return in “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” fans were holding out hope that Evans was going to show up once again.
“I was actually fishing [when the report came out],” said ‘Falcon’ star, Anthony Mackie. “When I came back in to get some shrimp, the dude at the dock was like, ‘Hey, man! Did you see this shit?!’ I’ve been going to the same guy to get my bait for like 20 years and all of a sudden now he’s a fan. He had no idea who I was. Now he’s a fan.”
He added, “Marvel’s so secretive, and it’s so ridiculous about what we know and what we don’t know. I have no idea. The dude at the dock selling me shrimp knows more about what’s going on with Marvel than I do.”
Mackie’s co-star in the upcoming “Falcon and The Winter Soldier” series, Sebastian Stan, is also taking the “wait and see” approach to the Evans rumors, though he isn’t totally ready to believe the reports.
“Anything is possible, right?” Stan said. “I saw he tweeted something about it. So, I don’t know. I feel like usually he knows what to say in those things, so I didn’t know what to make of it. And I truly don’t have any intel on that. I feel like you can’t ever think of the words ‘Captain America’ without thinking about Chris Evans. He’s done such an amazing job with it, and I feel like he’s always going to have this presence. And he has a presence in our show.”
If you take these Marvel Studios vets for their words, you have to assume that Evans won’t be returning in “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.” Of course, maybe that’s exactly what they want you to think?