There have always been two Captain Americas in the MCU, say 'Avengers: Endgame' writers

Gregory Wakeman
·Contributor
The MCU has always had two Captain Americas.
The MCU has always had two Captain Americas.

Writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely have confirmed that there has always been two Steve Rogers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe ever since the 2023 version of the character travelled back in time to be with Peggy Carter at the end of Avengers: Endgame.

“Here’s how we reconcile it,” McFeely told Backstory Magazine, courtesy of Comic Book. “We think there have always been two Caps from 1945 to, say, now, and we just didn’t know that. That’s the loop, right?”

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“It’s not Back to the Future rules, it’s branch reality rules. This is not stepping on a butterfly that turns the world into Biff’s casino. You can’t alter your future by going back to the past. We sort of created our own time travel rules wherein, as the Ancient One says, ‘If you remove an Infinity Stone from a timeline, that creates a branch reality’.”

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - JULY 20: Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus speak onstage at the #IMDboat at San Diego Comic-Con 2019: Day Three at the IMDb Yacht on July 20, 2019 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for IMDb)
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - JULY 20: Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus speak onstage at the #IMDboat at San Diego Comic-Con 2019: Day Three at the IMDb Yacht on July 20, 2019 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for IMDb)

McFeely explained that when Rogers went back in time he “put all the stones back” and “clipped those branches,” before adding, “Those are fine. And after he did the last one, he jumped to 1948 and decided to stay.”

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“So, his younger self is on ice somewhere and it’s only in 2011 that there are technically two Steves running around — to the point where if you were to look closely at Peggy’s funeral, there’d be an old man in the back named Roger Stevens.”

McFeely did make sure to insist that an elderly version of Rogers can’t actually be spotted in Peggy Carter’s funeral scene in Captain America: Civil War. Although his writing partner Markus did then add, “But feel free to legally download Civil War and investigate.”