Not only did Avengers: Endgame end up killing off one of main Avengers in Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), the film also aged Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans) into an elderly man, living out the rest of his days as a new Avengers team takes hold. One new fan theory that’s now gone viral poses an interesting thought — what if the older Captain Americawas supposed to be Stan Lee‘s character all along? It may seem bizarre at first, but the theorist provides some evidence that certainly makes you wonder…
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On the surface, the theory pretty much reads that anytime we see a cameo from Lee at any point in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, that’s actually an older Steve Rogers — from the end of Avengers: Endgame — keeping watch on those characters involved. The theorist is sure to point out Profess Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) specifically says something of the like can’t happen, but some cameos do make you scratch your head.
Like Lee’s cameo in Avengers: Age of Ultron where he’s hanging out with his vet buddies from World War II, or Lee’s character in Avengers: Infinity War not being surprised by seeing alien spaceships.
Though all signs point to the Captain America twist being in the script for the entire development process, the theorist seemingly suggests it was either added or filmed after Lee’s passing last Fall, saying the production crew didn’t want to tarnish his legacy by adding him with visual effects.
There are some timeline questions with the production for the theory to even be remotely accurate, such as principal photography wrapping last January and Lee not passing away until November 12th. Reshoots took place through the year, with the latest that surfaced publicly taken place sometime in October.
That said, it’s still a pretty interesting theory to try wrapping your mind around and you can read the entire theory here or in the embed below.
Lee’s last cameo came in Avengers: Endgame, marking his 22nd cameo. Outside of the MCU, Lee appeared in five of Fox’s X-Men films in addition to all five of Sony’s pre-Tom Holland Spider-Man films.
What’d you think of the Old Man Rogers twist at the end of Endgame? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Avengers: Endgame is set for digital release on July 30th and home media release on August 13th. Spider-Man: Far From Home is now in theaters.
