10 Insane Fan Theories For Upcoming MCU Projects

7. Old Man Steve Is Actually An Impostor

Avengers: Endgame old Captain America Steve Rogers
Disney

In the final minutes of Avengers: Endgame, Steve Rogers takes a trip back in time to return the Infinity Stones that the Avengers previously nicked. In doing so, he decides to remain in the past, seizing the opportunity to live a normal life with his beloved Peggy Carter.

The next time we see him, he's an old man in the present day, handing off the Captain America shield to his good friend Sam Wilson. We don't actually see what Steve got up to in the past, which has allowed fans to fill in the blanks with their own crackpot theories.

One such crackpot theory is that, somewhere in the past, the real Steve was captured or killed, meaning that old man Steve is actually an impostor.

The theory posits that old man Steve could be a Skrull working for Hydra (tying into the upcoming Secret Invasion show), or that he might even be Red Skull, who, let's not forget, does have a penchant for wearing Mission Impossible-style face masks.

Captain America: The First Avenger Red Skull
Disney

And remember, Steve would've bumped into Red Skull when he returned the Soul Stone to Vormir, so what if the villain overpowered him and took his place?

Considering that Steve's entire MCU arc was building to that happy life with Peggy, it would be a cruel move by the filmmakers to reveal that he never actually got it, and what's more, that would then pose the question of how a mask-wearing Red Skull, posing as Rogers, could get down and dirty with Peggy without her realising.

Let's hope Marvel Studios doesn't go there, eh?

Contributor
Contributor

Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!