Avengers: Endgame - What Does The Ending Really Mean?

6. Steve Gets His Last Dance, And Captain America Lives On

Captain America has long been a man out of time, and with a date that he didn't make. Avengers: Endgame is able to rectify both of those things beautifully, with Steve Rogers, after putting the Infinity Stones back, choosing to stay in the past and get to live the life that'd previously been put on ice. In a moment many Marvel fans have long been hoping for - myself included - he finally got that dance with Peggy Carter, with the pair then going on to live a fully and happy life together.

It's a perfect conclusion for what is arguably the MCU's strongest character arc. There is some confusion regarding how Old Man Cap - aka Not Clint Eastwood - ends up on that bench is the present, and whether there's a split in the timelines, but given he put the Stones back then, as per the Ancient One, we can assume the timeline straightened itself out, with Cap living his life and making his way to that bench. But really, the character work here is so strong and emotional that it doesn't matter about the logic of the time travel.

While Steve gets his last dance, there's also a passing of the torch. Or rather, shield. It's not to Bucky, as fans have long expected, but instead to Sam Wilson, aka Falcon, who can now take on the mantle of Captain America. This has happened in the comics too, and the challenge for Sam now is to live up to that legacy, which is something we'll be seeing play out in his Disney+ TV show with Bucky.

Again, there'll be a question of why Bucky and not Sam, but it's been made apparent in this both this movie and previous ones. In this film, there are little moments between them that suggest Bucky knows exactly what Cap's doing, and that they've said all the goodbyes they need, so it's with Sam he needs to share that final scene. Plus, Bucky doesn't need to become Captain America, because he's been given a new identity already as the White Wolf.