Could We See a Female Captain America in Marvel Movies

Near the end of Captain America: Civil War, Steve Rogers dropped his iconic vibranium shield and walked away from the Captain America mantle, creating a huge divide within the original Marvel Cinematic Universe Avengers.

The next Marvel movie that would include a Captain America is Avengers: Infinity War, directed by John and Anthony Russo. Joe Russo has already stated that Steve Rogers is no longer Captain America, “I think him dropping that shield is him letting go of that identity… [It’s] him admitting that certainly the identity of Captain America was in conflict with the very personal choice that he was making.“

Civil War ended in a difficult place, with Steve Rogers choosing his childhood best friend Bucky Barnes (even after he admitted to killing Tony Stark’s parents while brainwashed) over Tony Stark and the American Government.

With Steve Rogers officially dropping the mantle, this opens a whole new and exciting realm of possibilities for the future of the MCU. In the comics, both Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson have picked up the shield before, making them the obvious choices to carry on the mantle.

But what if the new MCU version of Captain America is a woman?

If we take a closer look at the state of the MCU versus current Marvel Comics we will see one huge difference – there is no strong female superhero presence in the movies yet, while the comics are embracing diversity with open arms.

If we take an even closer look at Marvel’s entire comic book history, it’s easy to notice that other than maybe Storm and She-Hulk there haven’t been any important or very popular lead female characters. Compared to DC comics which has always had powerful women on their pages since The Golden Age, Marvel just recently began putting more women on their covers.

For example, we now have Riri Willams as Iron Heart, Ms. Marvel, Captain Marvel, Squirrel Girl, Female Thor, Jessica Jones, She-Hulk, Spider-Gwen, and many more. If Marvel comics is embracing the strong female superhero, shouldn’t the MCU be doing the same?

The current women in the MCU are Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, Gamora, and Nebula – none of these fine ladies have had breakout solo roles. While Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) is on her way to the big screen, that’s not going to happen until 2019.

Meanwhile, DC Films is winning on the strong leading lady front. With the DCEU just recently launching with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice this year, we already have Wonder Woman and Harley Quinn front and center on the big screen, both being embraced by fans. Considering the Marvel Cinematic Universe has its roots way back in the year 2008, they need to play some catch up on the female inclusion front.

While some might see Steve Rogers dropping his shield as the end of an MCU era, we see it as an opportunity for progressive change. If the next Captain America is a lady, the MCU could finally have that powerful female presence in their films. But who?

In the comics, American Dream (Shannon Carter), has already donned the mantle of Captain America in A-Next and another woman Danielle Cage (daughter of Luke Cage and Jessica Jones) is already the new Captain America in the upcoming comic series U.S Avengers, which will be released as part of Marvel NOW! 2.0.

Think of it this way, since the very beginnings of comic books, superheroes and storylines have evolved with the current affairs, often offering social commentary. Captain America was originally created during World War II, when Americans and soldiers desperately needed a hero. At that time the hero was a strong white male with blonde hair and blue eyes.

Things have clearly changed drastically since the 1940’s and the MCU needs a woman front and center. In short, the answer is YES, BRING ON A FEMALE CAPTAIN AMERICA!