AVENGERS: ENDGAME - An Earlier Cut Of The Film Reportedly Saw Steve Rogers Pass His Shield To Bucky Instead

AVENGERS: ENDGAME - An Earlier Cut Of The Film Reportedly Saw Steve Rogers Pass His Shield To Bucky Instead

A fan present at a test screening for Avengers: Endgame has revealed some of the changes they saw in that early cut, including Steve Rogers originally passing the Captain America mantle to Bucky!

By Nighthawk01 - Jan 25, 2021 11:01 AM EST
Filed Under: Avengers: Endgame

Avengers: Endgame is perhaps the most secretive film Marvel Studios has ever made, and that's saying something! Leaks were few and far between before the epic ensemble landed in theaters, but the studio still held test screenings for a title that would go on to become the highest-grossing release of all-time. 

We heard nothing from those early screenings, but in a great threat at r/AskReddit about expired NDAs, one Marvel fan recalls the experience of getting to watch Avengers: Endgame before everyone else. 

They're not someone looking for attention on one of the many Marvel subreddits, and their comments give us no reason to doubt what the user - @aghrivaine - says here is true. Explaining that Hulk's VFX were unfinished at this point, they reveal that there were only a handful of changes, one of which was the battle between Thanos's forces and Hawkeye and Black Widow on Vormir.

That's since been released as a deleted scene, but this next part has not. 

"There were a few differences," the Redditor reveals, adding: "[Oddly] enough, at the end, Cap passed the shield to Bucky, not Sam, and that was probably the biggest difference between that screening and the one that made it to theaters."

Was that a fake scene meant to hide plans for The Falcon in the finished cut of Avengers: Endgame, or the original plan for Bucky before Marvel Studios chose to change course? In the comics, Barnes became Captain America long before Sam Wilson, so that would have been a direction fans might have embraced. Now, it's up to The Falcon and The Winter Soldier to decide the new Captain America.

Click HERE for more Avengers: Endgame news from CBM!

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bobevanz
bobevanz - 1/25/2021, 11:01 AM
Well now I'm mad, even though Bucky taking it would never happen. He's like a scarred puppy who doesn't feel worthy, but one can wonder now lol
Spock0Clock
Spock0Clock - 1/25/2021, 11:14 AM
@bobevanz - There is a potential version of Bucky-getting-the-shield that works, I think, but it doesn't have a clean thematic thread to me.

The MCU Bucky Barnes never shied away from his country. He apparently volunteered in WWII. His struggles since Hydra took him have been personal and haunting. If he took over the mantle of Captain America, it would be to purely to honor the legacy of his friend, not a statement about what the mantle itself means.

Sam has a more complicated relationship with America. He served in the military (apparently gladly), but he has been dealing personally with the costs of that service. He lost a friend in the service of the country, he comforted those that gave a part of themselves for the nation. He was hunted by the government (both Hydra/SHIELD and apparently the full force of the United Nations member countries, including the USA, after Civil War).

The Stars and Stripes mean something more complicated to Sam Wilson than they do to Bucky, and that's without even approaching the race stuff that featured heavily in the comics when he took the shield (and there's no reason to shy away from that in the series either).

Ultimately, there's nothing wrong with Bucky being Captain America in terms of storytelling. Bucky's a great character who I'm glad we'll be getting more of anyway. But in terms of what Captain America does and should represent, Sam's the more interesting choice.
TheBlueMorpho
TheBlueMorpho - 1/25/2021, 11:23 AM
@bobevanz -

I don't mind Sam getting the shield but having Bucky get it like the comics helps with his redemption after all the horrible things he did as Winter Soldier. That's why I would have preferred Bucky getting it first. A catharsis from decades of murder.
tylerzero
tylerzero - 1/25/2021, 12:25 PM
@TheBlueMorpho - Kinda like bringing back Killmonger to take up the mantle of Black Panther as a redemption arc?

j/k...apples and oranges, I know.
Origame
Origame - 1/25/2021, 1:52 PM
@Spock0Clock - I think you got them backwards. Bucky has had the complicated relationship with his country. Sure he volunteered for service but he was also abandoned by America twice, the second time led to him becoming a brainwashed weapon for the enemy for decades. Once he began remembering the truth, he stayed in hiding for fear of what he could do as well as general hiding from the government he once served.

As for Sam post service he spent his time helping his fellow soldiers and has been just generally positive and supportive in every appearance he's been in.
rds130
rds130 - 1/25/2021, 2:36 PM
@Spock0Clock - EXCELLENT thoughts on the matter. Stuff like this is why I still enjoy coming to this site.
rds130
rds130 - 1/25/2021, 2:44 PM
@tylerzero - eh, I don't think that's necessarily apples and oranges.

You have men of war who were shunned by their home country. Men who did evil deeds not because they were evil men, but because of the severity of the pain and trauma they experienced. Bucky was kidnapped, tortured and brainwashed. Eric was a child who had his family stolen from him, first with his mother in prison, then his father being murdered by an uncle, and then his uncle completely abandoning him.

Honestly, I think there's a greater case for MCU Killmonger eventually becoming the Black Panther than for MCU Bucky becoming Captain America, particularly in terms of redemption and reconciliation of past with present.
Spock0Clock
Spock0Clock - 1/25/2021, 11:04 AM
Ultimately it doesn't matter who Cap gives it to when it's going to Ego's kid, anyway.

GhostDog
GhostDog - 1/25/2021, 11:07 AM
@Spock0Clock -

inkniron
inkniron - 1/25/2021, 11:05 AM
I could have dug it if he had given it to Bucky then Bucky comes to the realization that he shouldn't be the one to carry the mantle, but rather Sam should, during FatWS. I think that is more compelling than Sam just being unsure of carrying on the mantle.
GhostDog
GhostDog - 1/25/2021, 11:06 AM
MyCoolYoung
MyCoolYoung - 1/25/2021, 11:16 AM
@BlackBeltJones - didnt even catch this. So many call backs
THEDARKKNIGHT1939
THEDARKKNIGHT1939 - 1/25/2021, 11:13 AM
In the context of the movie, it makes sense why Steve chose Sam over Bucky. They turned Bucky into such a loser post Winter Soldier. What they should have done is worked more towards this instead:



Fingers crossed that it's still on the table.
MosquitoFarmer
MosquitoFarmer - 1/25/2021, 11:13 AM
That shield has been held in the hands of Steve, Bucky, Natasha, Barton, Lang, Tony, and any number of others. Let Sam have a chance.

L0RDbuckethead
L0RDbuckethead - 1/25/2021, 12:19 PM
@MosquitoFarmer - Love that scene from Austin Powers.

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