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Captain America loves claiming he can do this all day. But where Avengers: Endgame left him, he might be a bit slower than fans are used to.

After the events of that film, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is guaranteed to look a whole lot different. For starters, a whole new generation of Avengers will have to pick up the mantle going forward. The original six Avengers have all — to varying degrees — been taken out of commission.

Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) sacrificed themselves to the cause. Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) suffered severe, possibly irreversible damage to his right arm. And Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) is off to mentor Kate Bishop to take his place. Of course, the only other Avenger still in fighting shape is now a senior citizen.

Chris Evans at the 'Avengers: Endgame' world premiere
Chris Evans at the ‘Avengers: Endgame’ world premiere | Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

‘Avengers: Endgame’ introduces fans to a very different Steve Rogers

After the Avengers — okay, every hero in the MCU — teams up to take down Thanos and his army, Captain America (Chris Evans) embarks on a journey through time to return the Infinity Stones to their rightful places. When he returns though, he’s an elderly man who took that opportunity to settle down with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell).

But Steve Rogers has returned with a mission: to deliver a new shield to friend Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie). By the sounds of it, Sam will have to fight to become the next Captain America though. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will directly deal with the aftermath of Steve’s decision. And many fans speculate Evans could briefly reprise his role for a cameo.

Spider-Man: Far from Home established that Steve is either dead or presumed dead by that point. But it’s likely the original Captain America will factor in some small way into Phase 4. The better question is whether this will be in the form of flashbacks. Perhaps an elderly Steve Rogers will have to reveal his survival to the world in order to defend his friend.

Captain America’s age is detailed in the ‘Avengers: Endgame’ screenplay

In the meantime, fans are left to speculate about all the unanswered questions involving Captain America’s final mission. That story could still be told somewhere down the line — most likely on the Loki Disney+ series — but one mystery we can more or less put to bed is Steve Rogers’ age at the end of Avengers: Endgame.

Determining how old he is when he appears to Sam really depends on how far back in time Steve traveled to reunite with Peggy. Thankfully, the Avengers: Endgame script clarifies both Steve’s age and when that poignant dance takes place. During awards season, Disney released the screenplay online, and it clearly states Steve is 112 years old when he returns.

To make matters even clearer, the script — by longtime MCU writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely — reveals the Steve-Peggy dance happens in 1949. Doing the math, this puts Steve’s age at roughly 38 for the bulk of Avengers: Endgame. And he has lived 74 years by the time he shows up to pay a visit to Sam.

The Super Soldier Serum allows Cap to live longer than regular people

While not completely impossible, 112 is a remarkably long life by normal standards. But of course, Captain America isn’t like everyone else. His abilities come from Dr. Erskine’s (Stanley Tucci) Super Soldier Serum. And as such, his lifespan is much longer than that of a regular person.

Both the comics and the films explain how Cap’s serum heightens a person’s potential. After the experiment, Steve becomes stronger, faster, and more resilient than any human could otherwise be. But the serum also gives him the ability for his cells to regenerate more rapidly than humanly possible.

Because of this, the aging process is dramatically slowed down. So while Steve is 112, he could conceivably be the equivalent of 60 or 70 by normal standards. Although it’s unclear what age he can live to (in the comics, Steve’s lifespan is closer to 200), we’re guessing the character will probably be able to linger in the MCU for as long as Evans and Marvel Studios want.

Could we see a 150-year-old Captain America pop up in Phase 12 of the MCU? Given that Steve is unlikely to die by natural causes, we can’t see why not.

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