Joe Russo Confirms Steve Rogers is Captain America No More; So Could BLACK PANTHER Set Up His Return?

Steve Rogers is Cap no more... at least for right now.

Heck, we here at DailySuperHero.com even reported that CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR pulled influence from the 'Captain America No More' comic book story arc, here.

At the end of CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR, Steve Rogers drops his iconic shield after fighting with Iron Man as Tony Stark yells at him that that shield does not belong to him since his father, Howard Stark, was made the vibranium shield. Rogers acknowledges this, drops it and walks away with his damaged-arm and injured friend Bucky Barnes.

This is all due to Rogers previously knowing the Winter Soldier was in fact the one who assassinated Tony's mother and father, but Rogers did not disclose this information to Tony until Zemo revealed it to Tony in Civil War. It's all part of Zemo's plan to pit Earth's Mightiest Heroes against each other and it is the backbone of the plot in CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR.

While speaking with HuffingtonPost, Joe Russo confirmed Rogers is Captain America no more.

“I think him dropping that shield is him letting go of that identity,” Joe said. “[It’s] him admitting that certainly the identity of Captain America was in conflict with the very personal choice that he was making.”

This is an implication that the next time you see Rogers in a Marvel Studios movie he could be one of the other non-Cap aliases he's been in the comic book universe like Nomad or Commander Steve Rogers. However, screenwriter Christopher Markus hints Rogers' shield-wielding super soldier will be needed once the fight with Thanos is upon the heroes.

“There’s a big purple guy coming. [Cap] could be very helpful,” Markus said.

The next appearance of Rogers is unknown right now, but it's wildly assumed he will appear in AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR. Yet, BLACK PANTHER releases before Infinity War and it could help set-up Rogers reclaiming his Captain America title, and shield, for AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR. Yeah, this is our own speculation right now but the BLACK PANTHER set-up in the Civil War post-credits scene definitely helps to fuel this thought. It would be very cool to see Rogers in more of a covert, under-the-radar role not as Cap for a little bit and before becoming Cap again, for sure.

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR begins filming at Pinewood Studios in Atlanta in late 2016 and releases on May 4, 2018. But BLACK PANTHER begins filming in early 2017 and releases on February 16, 2018.

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