The Russos Nearly Told This Captain America Story In Avengers: Endgame — Here's Why It Didn't Happen

The Russos Nearly Told This Captain America Story In Avengers: Endgame — Here's Why It Didn't Happen

The Russo Brothers reveal that they came close to showing us Captain America's trip back in time to return the Infinity Stones and explain why they ultimately decided there wasn't room for it.

By JoshWilding - Sep 29, 2026 05:09 AM EST
Filed Under: Avengers: Endgame
Source: CBR

In Avengers: Endgame, Earth's Mightiest Heroes travel back through time to retrieve the Infinity Stones and undo the fateful moment Thanos used the Infinity Gauntlet to wipe out half the universe.

They succeed, and once the Mad Titan is defeated, Captain America is tasked with returning the Stones to their rightful place in the timeline. However, he chooses not to return to the present and instead stays in the past for his happy ending with Peggy Carter.

Avengers: Doomsday will deal with the fallout from that decision. However, MCU fans remain eager to see what Steve Rogers' journey looked like, especially as he'd have come face-to-face with the Red Skull on Vormir, for example.

There was once chatter about it being a Disney+ series, and the Russo Brothers have now suggested they're open to telling that story. In fact, they came close in Avengers: Endgame before changing their minds. 

"We did have that conversation," Joe confirmed to CBR. "There might have even been... I think we toyed around with an idea of like, ‘Is there a montage where he puts the stones back?’ We felt like it just played past the ending. We were like, 'It seems like much more complicated than a montage could sustain.' And so we didn't do it."

Anthony added, "We did circle it for a long time, that idea." When the site put it to him that it could make for an effective standalone story featuring Evans as Captain America, Joe said, "I think that's a great idea. How about a movie?"

Only time will tell whether this project becomes a reality, though the moment may have passed at this stage. It ultimately hinges on how interested Evans is in sticking around as Steve after Avengers: Secret Wars and who will wield the shield in the next Saga.

The grave course of events set in motion by Thanos that wiped out half the universe and fractured the Avengers ranks compels the remaining Avengers to take one final stand in Marvel Studios’ grand conclusion to twenty-two films, Avengers: Endgame.

Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, the movie features an epic ensemble which includes Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, Brie Larson, Karen Gillan, Danai Gurira, Benedict Wong, Jon Favreau, Bradley Cooper, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Josh Brolin.

"Avengers: Endgame is a masterpiece which not only delivers on every expectation you had but exceeds ones you didn't even think about," we wrote in our review of the re-release. "This isn't just a movie; it's an experience and one that only gets better for its Encore."

Avengers Endgame: Encore is now playing in theaters.

About The Author:
JoshWilding
Member Since 3/13/2009
A lifelong comic book fan who grew up on Spider-Man: The Animated Series in the '90s, Josh Wilding has been contributing to ComicBookMovie.com since 2009.

While he's also written for websites like Batman-News, HeyUGuys, and WhatCulture, Josh is CBM's Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic and the site's #1 contributor with nearly two decades of experience covering film and TV news (including interviews with Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Gary Oldman, Halle Berry, Jon Bernthal, Tom Welling, and hundreds more).

Based in the UK with his wife, Josh is also an avid WWE and Formula 1 fan and writes about those passions on CBM's sister sites, TheRingReport.com and FullThrottleHQ.com. Favourite superhero? Spider-Man. Favourite pro wrestler? CM Punk. Favourite F1 driver? Max Verstappen.
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joevseveryone
joevseveryone - 9/29/2026, 5:14 AM
I don’t see how it could narratively fit in that act of the film.
thewanderer
thewanderer - 9/29/2026, 7:04 AM
@joevseveryone - it would have been a cool special presentation on Disney+.
KennKathleen
KennKathleen - 9/29/2026, 8:11 AM
@thewanderer - ?si=TUQAXq-V0xGqcLMx

Thank me later. Shout out to the creator "Itsjustsomerandomguy"
ProfessorWhy
ProfessorWhy - 9/29/2026, 5:23 AM
After secret wars they should let go of all the pervious loose ends, let go of their aging stars, and focus on giving us a well planned and consistent series of stories with the characters we all want. Stories that tie together enough to make feel like a shared world, but don't necessitate watching everything. They will have had 20 years of extremely successful practice.... it's time to do it right
blacksocksdaily
blacksocksdaily - 9/29/2026, 7:19 AM
@ProfessorWhy - Yeah as much as there is to love about some of the established stars/characters… it would be smart to use the new X-Men world to usher in new Avengers. But damn confusing now with Jean having been in Spider-Man.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 9/29/2026, 6:13 AM
With Steve's new ending, all I'm wondering now is how old man Steve ends up on that bench next to Sam and Bucky without breaking Banner's (correct) time travel rules
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 9/29/2026, 6:23 AM
@bkmeijer1 - maybe Loki puts him there?.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 9/29/2026, 6:29 AM
@TheVisionary25 - after the events of Doomsday and Secret Wars I imagine, assuming it's the same Steve and not secretly Hydra Cap
Batmangina
Batmangina - 9/29/2026, 7:54 AM
I can't wait for everyone to be killed so the wrung out tit can be retired.

They are cheapening everything daily and the new MCU will be a [frick]ing DUD.

Let it die.

User Comment Image
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 9/29/2026, 7:56 AM
I don’t particularly understand why some people want this specific story of Steve putting the Stones & Mjolnir back to their respective timelines so bad…

The only interesting thing that would have come out of it would be him possibly encountering Red Skull on Vormir but idk if we are even sure if Steve putting the Soul Stone back would even bring the latter to that planet again after already being “freed”?.

The rest you can fill out via your imagination and we don’t need a movie or show for it imo , maybe a Special Presentation but that’s it.

Anyway , I think The Russo’s made the right choice of not including that montage and it was more impactful for us to just see Steve on that bench as an old man!!.

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