Chris Evans is not yet at Brett Favre levels of “I’m leaving but I’m not” when it comes to his role in the MCU post-Avengers 4, although he also can’t help that he’s constantly asked about it. Last year, the actor expressed a lot of ambivalence about potentially staying on, essentially saying that he might do it if asked (his contract is up after Avengers 4), but was also looking at doing other things. It’s a refrain we’ve heard from him for awhile, but it matters because Captain America has really become the heart and soul of the MCU. Evans has made Steve Rogers both goofy and badass. He’s smart, strong, and sweet. He’s dreamy. He’s everything that a superhero fighting for good should be.

However, we’ve also heard a lot of talk on how these two upcoming Avengers movies will close the book on the last ten years of Marvel. Realistically, that probably means that some of our favorites are going to leave this cinematic mortal coil. Will Cap be one of them? No character’s death would indicate the triumph of evil (in this case, Thanos) over good like Cap’s would. It would also clear the way for Bucky (or even Falcon) to take up the mantle of Captain American in his absence, which happens in the comics, marching into a new era for the MCU.

The New York Times reports that, for his part, Evans told them in a recent interview:

For now, he has no plans to return to the franchise (“You want to get off the train before they push you off,” he said), and expects that planned reshoots in the fall will mark the end of his tenure in the familiar red, white and blue super suit.

It’s still pretty vague language in some ways — he “expects” it will be the end and his quote about leaving before people want you to go — but maybe that’s just wishful thinking. Right now, it’s not Marvel without Chris Evans as Captain America (even in his bearded, rogue look from Infinity War), which is both a blessing and a curse for the movie franchise. He helped build it, but can they move on with him? Or without him? Do we still need Cap?

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