'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier': Chris Evans could have a recurring role on show as Commander Steve Rogers
The Marvel Cinematic Universe's first wave of Disney+ shows will be greatly concerned with the legacies of the Avengers. This is especially so with 'Hawkeye', which will be introducing the successor of Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), and 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier', which will follow the further adventures of Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and James "Bucky" Buchanan Barnes/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan).
As the legacy of Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' has a lot of expectations to fulfill. Now that Steve is an old man and believed to be dead by the public, Sam and Bucky are going to have to take his place with Sam, in particular, having been anointed as Steve's successor to the title and shield of Captain America.
While Anthony Mackie has mentioned that he won't be Captain America just yet, we do know that Sam and Bucky are going to be trying to continue the good work started by Steve. They're bound to face some opposition from the American government, seeing as they're both technically still fugitives from the law.
Thanks to his extended vacation in the past, Steve can't exactly help them out in battle but that doesn't mean he won't have a role to play at all. He may be old now but Steve's brilliant tactical mind could help guide his successors in their own journeys as heroes and there's a lot of ways to make his age work in the show's favor.
On the one hand, Steve's age could be played for laughs. While we definitely don't condone making fun of the elderly, we can't deny that there's plenty of comedic potential there and we can almost hear the jokes Sam might make.
All joking aside though, what we would really like is to see Steve take on the Commander Steve Rogers role from the comics. As comic book fans would remember, Steve was forced to step down from the role of Captain America in the comics after he reverted to his actual age but he continued to run operations in a more Nick Fury-style role.
Chris Evans has revealed that he isn't entirely against returning to the MCU. In an interview with Variety, the actor said, "It’s not a hard no, but it’s not an eager yes either. There are other things that I’m working on right now. I think Cap had such a tricky act to stick the landing, and I think they did a really nice job letting him complete his journey. If you’re going to revisit it, it can’t be a cash grab. It can’t be just because the audience wants to be excited. What are we revealing? What are we adding to the story? A lot of things would have to come together.”
All things considered, it's unlikely Chris Evans will be on the show for more than a few guest appearances but Steve is always going to be the moral center of the Marvel Universe and his wisdom is something both Sam and Bucky could benefit from as they face new threats and old enemies. After all, Steve Rogers was a hero long before he became a soldier and even as an old man, he's still no civilian.
'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' will arrive on Disney+ in 2020.