Steve Rogers’ Infinity Stones Mission Could Make His Endgame Ending Worse

There's so much clamor for Marvel Studios to tackle Steve Rogers' final mission, but it will only make his Avengers: Endgame worse. Joe and Anthony Russo's culminating film marked the end of the Infinity Saga, and to be able to emphasize that, it also functioned as the final outing for some of MCU's founding heroes. That includes Steve Rogers, who was reunited with Peggy Carter after years of separation.

As satisfying and poignant as the first Captain America's ultimate fate in Endgame was as it finally gave him the long-overdue dance with his one true love, it left many lingering questions about the specifics of the mission. There's understandable interest about wanting to see him personally return the Infinity Stones used for Smart Hulk's reverse snap. But there are also questions about how exactly he was able to return to the primary MCU timeline to hand off the shield to Sam Wilson. These mysteries lead to more queries about whether a branched timeline was created when Old Man Steve Rogers indirectly confirmed he joined Peggy in the past.

While the proposed new project chronicling Steve's last adventure could answer these questions, it could also make his otherwise happy ending with Peggy in Endgame look bad. Regardless of Marvel Studios' official stance on the matter, based on Ancient One’s time-traveling rule, changing something about the past creates a branched timeline. Smart Hulk mentioned it before Steve left to return the Infinity Stones but chances are that the topic was properly brought up again when he met the Ancient One to return the Time Stone in 2012. There, he might have learned about the serious ramifications of altering previous events. Still, moving forward with his plan to go further back in time to the late '40s, and stay there despite knowing the inadvertent consequences, would've made him selfish which is uncharacteristic of him.

The Ancient One explains the balance of time to Bruce Banner

It's worth noting that Bucky was aware of Steve's plan before going through his final Endgame mission, according to a revelation in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier belatedly revealed that. This meant Steve had thought long and hard about time traveling to be with Peggy. At this point, he may not have fully understood yet what impact going back further in time and staying there would have on the branched timeline that he would create. However, encountering the Ancient One would have understandably left her intrigued as to why Bruce Banner wasn't the one to return the Time Stone as he promised. She might have even asked questions about the outcome of the Avengers' endeavor in Endgame and what else was left for Steve to do which could organically lead to him revealing his plan to be with Peggy. Considering how the Ancient One was initially adamant about not loaning the Eye of Agamotto, she would caution Steve against this.

There have been persistent rumors that Chris Evans is in talks for a new MCU project which will reportedly be separate from the planned Captain America 4 film with Sam. Naturally, there's an assumption that it will be about Steve's mission to return the Infinity Stones in Avengers: Endgame. However, as interesting as the idea is, Marvel Studios is better off leaving this part of his arc unknown as they risk creating more questions about the specifics of time travel in the franchise.

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