Even though we all would love him too,Chris Evansprobably won’t play Captain America forever. So, eventually somebody is going to have to take up the mantle within theMarvel Cinematic Universe, and it is pretty likely that the person who will pick up the shield is already fighting alongsideThe Avengers. The most likely candidate would of course be Falcon, who is played byAnthony Mackieand thanks to some sweet new fan art, we know what it could look like if Falcon were to become Captain America at some point.
ArtistAiki Aiham, who has done a lot of fan art related to theDC Extended Universeand the Marvel Cinematic Universe, recently took to his Instagram in order to share his take on Falcon as Captain America. In short, it is nothing shy of glorious. The image features Sam Wilson aka Falcon flying upward through the air with his Falcon suit on, but he is also donning a full Captain America suit and the iconic shield. As hard as it would be to say goodbye toChris Evansas Captain America, this image is very encouraging.
The prospect of someone else taking over asCaptain Americain the MCU may not actually be all that far off, believe it or not.Captain America: Civil Warshook things up quite a bit, and it leftSteve Rogersin a bit of a complicated place by the end of it. In a recent interview with The Huffington Post, co-directorJoe Russoexplained that he feels the end of the movie signified Rogers dropping the Captain America identity. Here is what he had 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.”
Surely Steve Rogers will be picking up the shield forAvengers: Infinity War, but beyond that, things are very uncertain. For those who may not be as familiar with the Marvel Comics source material, there is a precedent for Falcon taking over for Captain America. In 2014, Marvel Comics published a series that featured Sam Wilson as Captain America, so it isn’t all that far-fetched. The other option is, of course, Bucky, who also took up the mantle of Captain America at one point in the comics, butBuckyis spoilers currently on ice in Wakanda being watched over by Black Panther, so that seems less likely at the immediate moment.
WhatThe Russo Brothersand the rest of the Marvel Studios team have planned for Cap in the future, we really have no idea, so we will have to wait and see how everything shakes out. No matter what, at some point, we will have to accept another version of Captain America, and this art gives us some hope that it can be pretty great. We will likely next see Cap and Falcon inAvengers: Infinity War, which is due out on June 23, 2025. Be sure to check outAiki Aiham’s Falcon/Captain America art for yourself below.
