The storyline of Captain America: Civil War brought a conflict of perspective into play between Earth’s mightiest heroes. Captain America (Chris Evans) and Ironman (Robert Downey, Jr.) differed on the stance that The Avengers should work for and be regulated by the government. At the end of the movie (spoiler ahead), Captain America drops his shield after fighting Ironman, and when he goes to break out Falcon and his other comrades from imprisonment, he’s without his uniform.
Civil War directors Joe and Anthony Russo talked to Huffington Post about Cap officially putting the shield down:
“I think him dropping that shield is him letting go of that identity,” said Joe. “[It’s] him admitting that certainly the identity of Captain America was in conflict with the very personal choice that he was making.”
This doesn’t mean that Steve Rogers is done being Captain America for good. He told Tony Stark at the end of Civil War that he’d be there if they needed him, which they will when Thanos shows up for the Infinity War films.
The confirmation about Cap’s identity does serve as part of the core shift in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It will be interesting to see if Rogers makes any appearances in the meantime.
