Team Cap Are Still Fighting MCU's Civil War

The Marvel Cinematic Universe's Phase 4 will see Team Cap still dealing with the fallout of Captain America: Civil War. The 2016 Joe and Anthony Russo film pit Steve Rogers and Tony Stark against each other due to their irreconcilable difference when it came to the Sokovia Accords. This ultimately resulted in the Avengers splitting up making Earth a vulnerable target for Thanos come Avengers: Infinity War.

While Civil War mined story inspirations from its comic book source, it's very much different from what happened in print. Instead of the Superhero Registration Code, the Avengers disagreed on the Sokovia Accords instead — a United Nations-created mandate that would put the Avengers under the government. This was, of course, an attempt to hold them accountable for any collateral damage their missions might have and to claw back some control and irradicate the idea of vigilantes. Interestingly, Iron Man was for the idea, while Captain America was not (with lots of nuance on both sides) and the rest of the heroes picked sides resulting in a hero versus hero clash. In the end, they still weren't able to resolve their differences, especially when the professional conflict turned personal after Tony learned that Bucky killed his parents and that Steve intentionally covered up for him.

Team Cap's refusal to adhere to the Sokovia Accords made them vigilantes. After Steve and Bucky broke them out of the raft, the crew went their separate ways with Falcon joining Captain America and Black Widow forming the Secret Avengers. The Sokovia Accords and all the baggage that it came with was set aside for the bigger MCU issue which was to defeat Thanos. But now that the Mad Titan no longer poses a threat to the primary universe and the primary faction leaders have retired from their superhero duties, Sam and Bucky are still left to deal with the ramifications of their choices in Civil War. The pair is embarking on a new adventure in a post-Infinity Saga world via The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but they continue to be hindered by the government's attempt at controlling their actions which was the purpose of the Sokovia Accords in the first place.

At the end of Endgame, Steve officially passed the Captain America shield to Sam, effectively making him his chosen successor, but the transition won't be that simple for the MCU Falcon. The introduction of John Walker - otherwise known as US Agent - indicates that the government isn't exactly thrilled with Steve's choice, no doubt particularly because it excluded them from the decision-making process. The Falcon and Winter Soldier marketing clearly sees Walker wielding the shield that's rightfully Sam's, which means at some point in time, authorities took it from him and gave it to their chosen Captain America. By doing this, the government is stopping Sam from carrying out his right and responsibility as the next Star-Spangled Avenger, which was what essentially happened to Steve in Civil War when he was forced to give up the shield and became a vigilante. The only difference is, Steve was able to reclaim his rightful place as the MCU's Captain America out of necessity. With Thanos' threat looming and Iron Man vanishing in Infinity War, he and his team teamed up with Wakanda to defend Earth. Before the governments who implement the Sokovia Accords are able to sort themselves out following the decimation, he's already retired.

Bucky's affiliations with Sam will effectively involve him in the latter's struggle. Not much is known regarding the former HYDRA agent's arc in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but since MCU failed to properly resolve a lot of storylines from Captain America: Civil War, it's possible that he's also dealing with false claims about him. It's worth noting that none of Team Cap members have been officially cleared out of their supposed charges against him, so it's not outside the realm of possibility that Bucky is still tagged as a terrorist after Baron Zemo, who returns on the Marvel/Disney+ show, framed him of multiple crimes.

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