10 Characters Carrying On Captain America’s MCU Legacy After His Retirement

Steve Rogers’ Captain America legacy lives on in several other MCU heroes, and even villains. As the Avengers’ leader, Steve Rogers was the team’s heart since their creation. Captain America was a beacon of hope, having been a trailblazer for superheroes since some of the earliest events in the MCU’s chronological timeline and setting an example by standing his ground during battles that have all the odds against him. Avengers: Endgame marked the end of Steve Rogers’ journey with a long-deserved retirement after three MCU Captain America movies and multiple other appearances, but that only means that other characters will defend and uphold everything Captain America’s iconic shield represents.

The Multiverse Saga has slowly introduced legacy characters who take up the mantle of their predecessors. But whereas characters like Thor, Hawkeye, and Black Widow have one clear successor, other heroes like Hulk and Captain America have a wider variety of options to pass on the torch to. Multiple Marvel Comics characters have worn Captain America’s star-spangled suit in the source material, including the Punisher, Hawkeye, and the time-traveling hero Vance Astro. In the MCU, only two characters have wielded the shield after Steve Rogers. However, only one hero is officially the new Captain America, and a few others have kept Steve Rogers’ legacy alive in one way or another.

10 Sam Wilson

The only MCU character with the right to call himself Captain America after Steve Rogers’ retirement is Sam Wilson, previously known as Falcon. Personally picked by Steve Rogers to be his successor, Sam Wilson first hesitated to take up the mantle. But after witnessing how easily Steve Rogers’ legacy can be tarnished, Sam Wilson recovered the shield and accepted his new responsibilities as the new Captain America. While not as physically powerful as Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson’s selfless personality and combat prowess more than proved his worth. With Sam Wilson’s powerful wings replacing the Super Soldier serum, the new Captain America has a promising MCU future ahead of him.

9 Bucky Barnes

Steve Rogers’ childhood friend Bucky Barnes was also a logical candidate for the Captain America title. After all, Bucky stuck to Steve Rogers’ side since the latter was a scrawny kid who struggled to enter the military, and Steve Rogers trusted Bucky so much that he got himself in international trouble just to defend his best friend’s reputation. Bucky Barnes’s MCU journey has culminated in his Winter Soldier programming, and even though Steve Rogers picked someone else to be the next Captain America, Bucky has made sure that Steve Rogers’ legacy be respected, supporting Sam Wilson through very dangerous situations despite his initial lack of affection for Cap’s newer friend.

8 US Agent

On the opposite side is John Walker, who has no personal connections to Steve Rogers. John Walker initially wanted to live up to Steve Rogers’ legacy after receiving the Captain America shield from the government, but he lacked the temperance needed for the job. John Walker tainted the shield with blood and lost his right to it. However, his brief help in the Falcon and the Winter Soldier finale proved his willingness to redeem himself, and John Walker’s new US Agent identity may help him achieve it. For better or for worse, US Agent’s similarities to Captain America will continue to prove Captain America’s influence on other heroes and anti-heroes.

7 Red Guardian

Black Widow revealed that Captain America was already influencing other heroes and copycats decades before he joined Nick Fury’s Avengers Initiative. In an attempt to replicate Project Rebirth, the Soviet Union created their own version of the MCU Super Soldier serum and gave it to Alexei Shostakov, who took up the mantle of the Red Guardian. Like US Agent, Red Guardian cannot escape from Captain America’s shadow. What’s more, Red Guardian prides himself of his vague similarities to Steve Rogers, yet he can barely copy Captain America’s combat skills and signature shield throw. Still, Red Guardian’s Captain America inspiration proves how influential Steve Rogers was to the world.

6 Isaiah Bradley

Isaiah Bradley is unique in that he’s a key part of Captain America’s MCU history against his will, as he’s a survivor of a cruel series of tests that aimed to replicate Steve Rogers’ transformation. A Korean War veteran, Bradley endured excruciating torture, yet managed to incapacitate the Winter Soldier by himself. He was then left to be forgotten, but he just chose to live a simple life instead of exacting revenge. Isaiah Bradley’s humility makes him the closest Super Soldier to Steve Rogers in terms of personality, and Sam Wilson’s successful attempt to show Bradley’s story to the world has made him an official part of the Captain America legend in the MCU.

5 War Machine

Rhodey Rhodes supported Sam Wilson’s decision to give up the shield, as he understood Captain America’s legacy from a personal perspective. Secret Invasion‘s Skrull Rhodey twist puts all his actions into question, especially given that the exact moment Rhodey was replaced by a Skrull is still ambiguous. However, returning to right all his impostor’s wrongs can only make Rhodey more insistent in upholding Captain America’s legacy and preventing the shield from falling into the wrong hands again. After Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Secret Invasion, Rhodey understands the importance of legitimacy more than anybody, and he might be more motivated to make change happen once he clears his name.

4 Spider-Man

Spider-Man didn’t interact much with Steve Rogers in the MCU, as the only moments they shared is their brief battle in Captain America: Civil War and some team-up work in Avengers: Endgame. But after a long time being Iron Man’s tech-enhanced protégée, Peter Parker’s new lifestyle with no resources or connections makes him a much closer hero to Captain America. Spider-Man now has to prove his worth without help, just like Steve Rogers before the Super Soldier serum. Fortunately for Peter Parker, his time with the Avengers has prepared him to be the new hero of the people.

3 Baron Zemo

Helmut Zemo hated Captain America and the Avengers for Sokovia’s destruction and successfully divided the Avengers in revenge. But despite his resentment, Zemo agreed to help Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson in their fight against new Super Soldiers, as Zemo considered one was enough. Baron Zemo and Steve Rogers are diametrically opposite in multiple ways, but their shared belief that physical enhancements can only bring more chaos brings them together. Against all odds, Baron Zemo ended up preventing misguided Super Soldiers from tarnishing Steve Rogers’ legacy even more than John Walker. Of course, he achieved it through questionable means Steve Rogers would have never approved of.

2 Captain Carter (What If…?)

Steve Rogers traveled back in time to live the rest of his life alongside Peggy Carter, who’s implied to have died peacefully before Steve Rogers returned to the present. However, other multiversal variants of Peggy Carter had a very different fate; at least two of them took Steve Rogers’ place as a Super Soldier. While Earth-838’s Captain Carter died at the hands of the Scarlet Witch, Earth-82111’s Captain Carter still embraces her role not only as a superhero but also as a multiversal protector after founding the Guardians of the Multiverse in What If…? season 1.

Captain Carter’s version of Steve Rogers never received the Super Soldier serum and thus Captain America was never born, so Captain Carter builds her own legacy without a similar hero to look up to. Still, What If…?‘s Captain Carter proves the immense influence of Captain America’s existence in across infinite universes. Even if she doesn’t know it, Captain Carter continues to defend Captain America’s legacy in other parts of the ever-expanding MCU multiverse.

1 Ant-Man

Captain America’s number one fan is none other than his fellow Avenger, Ant-Man, who had little experience as a superhero when he joined Steve Rogers’ side in Captain America: Civil War. Since then, Scott Lang has taken on increasingly difficult threats and displayed his leadership skills by teaming up with his own family members. By Phase 5, Ant-Man successfully defeated the MCU‘s big bad, Kang the Conqueror, not only by leading his family and the Quantum Realm’s inhabitants in battle, but also by matching Kang’s hand-to-hand combat skills. After such a feat, Ant-Man has earned the right to call himself a Captain America disciple.