[This article contains spoilers for the movie Avengers: Endgame.] The culmination of 21 MCU films and the conclusion of the Infinity Saga came this past April with Avengers: Endgame. It was an epic three-hour movie, closing the loop on the story arcs of most of the original Avengers, including Captain America. However, for the dedicated “super” fan what we didn’t see on screen only leads to more questions.
In order to save the universe and reverse the snap, the Avengers travel through time and gather the Infinity Stones before Thanos. The caveat is that they must return the stones back to their original time and place (we won’t get into the rules of time travel here as that is different debate). So, near the end of the film, Captain America takes on that task of returning the Infinity Stones. This has most fans wondering. If he traveled to Vormir, did he encounter his old enemy, the Red Skull.
The Russo brothers answer our questions
The Endgame directors, Joe and Anthony Russo, recently did an interview with CinemaBlend on their ReelBlend podcast. It was there that they confirmed that the two would have met again during Captain America’s unseen travels through time and space.
“He would have to encounter Red Skull. And nobody knows what the rules are when you return the Soul Stone.”
– Joe Russo, ReelBlend interview
“Nobody knows. But knowing Red Skull, he probably has a no-money-back policy.”
– Anthony Russo, ReelBlend interview
What we can take away from Joe and Anthony’s comments are this. Captain America definitely encountered Red Skull on Vormir when he returned the Soul Stone. However, the door has been left open on whether Gamora or Black Widow could return, because “nobody knows’ is not exactly a definitive no.
The MCU needs another Captain America movie!
So, what do we know about Steve Roger’s trek through time? Well, we know he had to return all the Infinity Stones back to the time and place they were originally taken from. We now know he would have met Red Skull on Vormir. And then we learn at the end of the film he remained with Peggy Carter and married her. And we just recently learned that he has 2 children with Peggy. That is a lot to digest!
What we really need is whole movie dedicated just to Cap’s adventures returning the stones and getting back to the end of Endgame. Unfortunately, it appears Chris Evans is done with the franchise for good, so we may never see that story. Maybe Marvel will give us an epilogue graphic novel, as even that would be welcomed at this point.
Avengers: Endgame is currently still in theaters.