The Russos Explain Why Steve Rogers Returning the Infinity Stones Never Made It Into Avengers: Endgame

The Russos have finally explained why we never saw Steve Rogers return the Infinity Stones in Avengers: Endgame. They considered a montage for a long time, but they felt the story was simply too complicated for one to sustain.

That scene may be one of the most talked about storylines since Endgame hit theaters. The Russos have been doing a lot of interviews tied to Avengers: Endgame Encore, and in them they have opened up about exactly what they were weighing. It seems that because a montage may not have done the story justice, it will not be part of Avengers: Doomsday. But the directors say the door is still open. Later in this piece I will get to the question I find far more interesting: how old man Cap made it back to that bench, and where he picked up that shield.

Chris Evans turned down upwards of 12 pitches before returning as Captain America

Rewind the clock to January 2021. Deadline ran a major article by writer Justin Kroll under a headline saying Captain America was returning. That came after Avengers: Endgame had delivered what felt like very suited endings for Iron Man and Captain America, pun intended. Per the report, Chris Evans would apparently return for at least one more film and an additional project.

Most of this decade has now come and gone, and we have only learned recently that Evans received somewhere upwards of 12 pitches for things Marvel wanted to do with his character. He just did not feel the time was right.

I do not blame him at all for waiting for Robert Downey Jr. to come back first before deciding to make his own return. If anything, I think it was a super smart move to leave his character out of it, because now he gets to come back and write his story in real time, when it really matters.

The Russos say putting the stones back was more than a montage could sustain

The update comes from an exclusive CBR interview with the Russos about the one sequence everyone has talked about since Endgame: what really happened when Steve tried to return the Infinity Stones. We know where he ended up. What we do not know is what happened between the moment we see him on the platform saying goodbye and when he arrives at Peggy's house. I think that gap is the main point here, and I will circle back to it at the end.

Asked why they never showed it, the Russos admitted they circled the idea for a long time. The complication, and everything the scene would have needed to explain, was what they did not think a montage could handle. In their words: "We did have that conversation. I think we toyed around with the idea of like, is there a montage where he puts the stones back? We felt like it just played past the ending." They added: "It seems like so much more complicated than a montage could sustain, and so we didn't do it."

Two Endgame scenes show why keeping it simple worked

Quite frankly, I think two scenes in Avengers: Endgame highlight this exact philosophy, and it is one of the recipes for the film's success. The first is when Tony Stark invents time travel. That scene could have been way overly complicated, and they made it simple. The second is when they create the Infinity Gauntlet for the stones. They showed us only the very end of the process rather than any of the process itself, which could have meant far too much explanation.

So the Russos' reasoning makes sense to me. Steve returning the stones would have been a really deep, complicated scene, and it might have been a little hokey, because all of it happens after Tony Stark's death. I am sure they did not want the leftover tone from that washed away by what, even as a short montage, would have been an extremely action filled sequence packed with callbacks to scenes from earlier in the movie. You never want to undermine your denouement by rehashing the plot instead of delivering the final revelation that makes the plot mean something.

Why I think a Steve Rogers stones movie will never happen

When commenting on the storyline, the Russos responded along the lines that it sounded like a great idea for a movie, implying they could still explore it in the future. I do not think that is going to happen. As I said above, that moment has come and passed. Right now we are getting Steve Rogers back in the MCU, telling his story in real time during events that matter.

I am certain that at least part of one of those 12 pitches Chris Evans turned down must have been a Nomad storyline that would have started with exactly this. Whether it was headed to Disney Plus or to theaters, he probably was not interested in doing something with no agency. I think you can look at the prequels Marvel has made and see that they never really work out as well as you want, because we already know where the story is going.

The shield loop old man Cap could close in Avengers: Secret Wars

What I find super interesting, and the storyline I think we should start focusing on, is how old man Cap made it back to the bench, and where he picked up that shield. I have had an inkling that Marvel may want to close that loop at the end of Avengers: Secret Wars, with the old man Cap on the bench who gave the shield to Sam Wilson turning out to be the old man Cap we see in Secret Wars, completing a loop somewhat like the one in Ms. Marvel.

How crazy would it be if the shield he gives Sam is the shield he takes from Sam? I floated this a couple of years ago: there might be a loop where old man Cap takes Sam's shield because Sam may die during Secret Wars, then makes sure to bring it back to the 616 so Sam gets it. It will have always been Sam's shield.

Again, that is just a theory. Honestly, I do not think they are killing off Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson in Secret Wars, and I think there is a really good chance he will be part of Captain America 5. But I think there is a likely chance Marvel may want Chris Evans to stick around, which makes this loop even more interesting if they do not close it in Secret Wars.

The bench scene only holds meaning if it is the same Steve Rogers

If Marvel wants Evans around for, say, another 10 years of films so his Cap can stand alongside the X-Men, then there is a storyline waiting to be told toward the end of that run where he loops back to Avengers: Endgame. That depends on believing the old man Cap handing Sam the shield is the same Cap who went back to live out his life with Peggy Carter.

And honestly, what does the scene mean if he is not? It really only holds its meaning if they are the original pair of friends from back in the day, which means that shield had to come from somewhere. Even if it has not always been Sam's in whatever loop they might create in Secret Wars, there is still a story to be told about how they close it. That is super interesting to me, and super cool that it could be pulled out at some point way in the future.

What I do not expect is a movie set in that one little stretch of time. Doomsday is the extension of that story. If they are not showing it now, they never will. And if that montage or something close to it does not open Avengers: Doomsday, which it seems like it will not, there is no reason to bring it up in Secret Wars. The real question is whether Chris Evans sticks around past that, or whether we get old man Cap in Avengers: Secret Wars closing the loop.

Do you think Chris Evans stays in the MCU for years to come, or does old man Cap close the shield loop in Avengers: Secret Wars?