Captain America 2 Ending: 11 Big Implications For Marvel Phase 3

10. SHIELD Is In Tatters

The revelation that SHIELD was effectively controlled at all levels by HYDRA came as something of a surprise (though not to fans of the comics, where it was revealed after the Secret Invasion story arc) and the implications now are that the organisation lies in disarray, effectively leaderless. That potentially means that Captain America and the rest of the Avengers now don't really answer to anyone (apart from Fury underground) - which nicely sets up the idea of unregulated superhero activity, which again leads nicely into Civil War. So What Next? The revelation that SHIELD was infiltrated right to the top by HYDRA agents seems to put a lid on any chance the Secret Invasion storyline had of being part of either Captain America 3 or future Avengers movies (barring a reboot,) since Kevin Feige is presumably going to be wary of going with two concurrent stories that take on some of the same details and motifs. What could possibly happen, especially if Maria Hill is going to rebuild the organisation, is the possible formation of the Secret Avengers - the alternative team that Steve Rogers lead between 2010 and 2013. While the logistics of certain members would require consultation (Beast obviously belongs to Fox right now) and some just plain don't exist in the MCU yet (Moon Knight, Valkyrie and Nova) but with Ant-Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye, War Machine, Agent 13 and Rogers all around, this could perhaps be an opportunity to make Captain America 3's set-piece a high-profile reference to the Secret Avengers program.