My Pitch to Marvel

A Soldier Out of Time

PREMISE: 
Captain America goes back in time to put all the stones back where he got them, but he didn't come straight home. Our last view of the young Captain Rogers we knew and love was him dancing with Peggy back in 1948. However, this leaves a lot of plot gaps. One: Can you return the soul stone once you've sacrificed your loved one? Can they return in exchange for the stone? Two: Peggy married a man who did not look like Steve Rogers. Three: The whole idea that when you go back and change the past, it creates an alternate dimension instead of affecting the time and place you came from. Yet, Steve Rogers ends up on that bench to give Sam his shield. Also, knowing what we know about Steve and time travel, are we really going to believe that he lived happily ever after with Peggy while Bucky was being tortured off in tundra town, Hydra was bleeding into S.H.I.E.L.D, and not to mention the non MCU related problems in history. And four: With the introduction of the TVA in the new Loki miniseries, it raises the question of whether or not maybe the TVA did round up possibly Steve for all the messing around in the timeline? Maybe the reason why we don't see the TVA arrest any of the Avengers in present day after everything is because they had arrested Steve sometime either during or after he put the stones back, or even after he married Peggy. Actually, how are we so sure that it was Peggy he married? Or even if the MCU Steve Rogers is fully straight? In some of the MCU comics Captain America has been an advocate for the LGBTQ community, and I am not 100% sure about this, but my friend I believe said once that he might've been Bi? Maybe, maybe not, but it would add a sweet little twist to Steve Rogers' character and be a total win for all us LGBTQ Marvel fans.

My personal opinion, though, I absolutely adored the scene with Steve and Peggy dancing. However, seeing old Steve come back it leaves some plot gaps. Also, it is how Steve comes back to her that makes me think in depth about the ramifications that could have on the timeline he is inhabiting, and how him staying with Peggy actually could force the TVA to arrest him. Now here's why. When you compare what the Ancient One said in Endgame with what little we can gather from the Loki trailers on the TVA, one thing is for certain. When you mess with the infinity stones it completely screws with time. Also, one thing to mention is there is nothing specific that tells us exactly what time Steve actually goes back to Peggy, but we know that the tesseract is found in 1945 and that he and Tony went to 1948 when getting the Tesseract. So it is assumed that he stayed in 1948. The only clue as to when Steve returns is the song playing while they dance. "It's been a long, long time" wasn't released until 1945, so it is a safe assumption that he just stayed in 1948. Some Marvel theorists think that maybe he also brought back the same amount of Pym particles as they took when they were trying to get back, while others think that him taking those ties into Hank Pym's distrust for Howard Stark. Hank Pym returning to find a significant proportion of his particles had been stolen, obviously he would blame Stark... but again, when you change something in the past, it does not alter the present in which you came from. So, sadly, in order to stay true to this rule I'm going to say he did return the Pym particles, however it isn't really a crucial part of any of this except for everyone who has plot OCD. 

Now, when Steve returned it really is crucial as to exactly how he reintroduced himself into this time. Did he see Peggy alone? Did he just bust in and shout 'Hey guys, I'm home!'? Who knew Steve Rogers was back? Here's why, Peggy and Stark had been looking for the frozen Capsicle up until he was finally unthawed in 2011. BUT if our Steve, the one from 2023, came back to 1948 then... wouldn't they stop looking for the frozen Captain America? Now, if he came back and just went to Peggy alone, in order to make sure the frozen him was found, he'd have to explain to her that he was from A future. Which, once she found out, knowing Peggy Carter as the beautifully badass and selfless character she is... A part of me just can't believe that she'd be okay with Steve leaving the future and staying in the past. So maybe they had a falling out? Maybe she told him to go back? Who knows. What I do know is her quote: "The world has changed, and none of us can go back. All we can do is our best. And sometimes... the best that we can do is to start over." Is tricky when considering how she'd respond to future Steve coming home. She doesn't want him to go back, she wants him to start over. Some may argue that he was starting over with her by going back in time and I'm not convinced. He literally is going back in time. Going. Back. But Peggy is younger in the past, so maybe she's not burdened with glorious wisdom just yet. OR if we run with the idea that maybe small ripples in the past can change your present, maybe this was older Peggy trying to warn Steve not to go back in time and stay with her and to just start over after Endgame. It's all just so crazy to think about, but I'm going to stick to the rule that changes to the past do not affect your future. 

For my pitch for a possible miniseries, or even just maybe a reference clip to "A Soldier Out of Time", I'm going to go with Steve does NOT tell Peggy that he's from the future. He does NOT tell ANYONE he's from the future and instead just assimilates into a settled down life with Peggy like the insane Bucky abuser he is. By doing this, they STOP looking for the frozen Captain America and that leads to a complete tidal wave in time. The frozen Captain America is not found in 2011, therefore in this alternate timeline he NEVER joins the Avengers. That, however, does not stop 2012 Loki from his invasion of Earth with the Chitauri army. So, the big 6 is now the big 5. Tony, Bruce, Clint, Thor, and Nat. No Captain with the annoyingly inspiration speeches, Tony has no one to keep him in check, and no one to keep everyone level headed when Loki tries to screw with their minds. The Avengers fall apart miserably, New York is in ruins, Loki is king of all Earth, and Thanos now has two infinity stones premature. Now 2023 Steve's little ripple in the time continuum has turned into that tidal wave I was talking about, and completely decimated 2012 Earth. Not to mention, it has sent two infinity stones completely off course. It also means, Wanda and Pietro never get experimented on, so now no Quicksilver or Scarlet Witch. Meaning Ultron never exists, Vision is never born, and Sokovia is never a pancake. Now, whether or not the sorcerers would step in is definitely a serious thing to consider. For a smooth decline into utter chaos and an early demise of half the universe, no they do absolutely nothing. HOWEVER, if instead of a fake world written for a specific purpose and outcome, it were a real thing happening in real life. Yes, they do something. So, lets say there's an epic battle between Thanos and his two infinity stones, and the Ancient One and the time stone. To be honest, I'm not sure how this would pan out. Doctor Strange lost to Thanos relatively before on Titan, and for the sake of Steve's actions having more gravity to them in this alternate reality lets say the Ancient One loses the fight. Now Thanos has the power to manipulate Time, Space, and Minds. The only stone he'd really have any trouble with would be the reality stone. All he'd have to do though is wait a couple of years, or maybe with the stones he can sense where the Aether actually is hidden like the Dark Elves are able to in Thor: Dark World. 

Just in showing the alternate reality and how the timeline gets completely skewed from the one we already know of, we would get this devastating glimpse of how the TVA has proper justification for arresting 2023 Steve for staying in 1948. And if we add that to the possibility that maybe you can't return the soul stone, or even worse, Steve chooses not to return the soul stone then that would make 4-5 stones Steve has completely thrown off course in the timeline. Personally, I would be slapping a Variant jumpsuit on Steve already. And that could lead more into the TVA and tie into the Loki series. It could also, fast forwarding to old Steve, pose the question of whether or not Steve could've jumped from an alternate reality or came there directly after the TVA. 

ALSO, Peggy gets married to someone sometime before 1953. If you watch Winter Soldier. She says (referring to Steve Rogers in Volgrod 1945) "That was a difficult winter. A blizzard had trapped half our battalion behind the line. ... Captain Rogers, he fought his way through a blockade that had pinned our allies down for months. He saved over a thousand men, including the man who would... who would become my husband as it turned out." So Peggy is either married, divorced, or widowed when Steve goes back in time to 1970. If she were married, I find it very hard to believe that she'd just give up 20-something years of marriage. Yes, it's Steve, but being married to someone for 20 years is a big commitment and definitely would be something that you couldn't just walk away from. Then again, it's Peggy Carter, and well, as much as a kind person she is she also is a badass who does what she wants. We know that Steve didn't go back to that 1945-1953 time because of the song playing while they dance. So, that is definitely something that we need explained... RIGHT?!

I know everyone liked Steve's happily ever after with Peggy and his amazing character arch, but there are some plot gaps that need answers and one last Steve Rogers mini series could fill some of those gaps for us. Plus, we'd get to hang on to Steve Rogers just for a tiny bit longer. The Loki series hasn't come out yet, and neither have the new movies delving deeper into a multiverse, so I have no idea what's to come. I do know that A Soldier Out of Time would be a way to sort of set Endgame in stone without changing the movie in any way, and it would be a nice one last adventure to send off the old Steve Rogers while having gotten some kind of closure and answers. If you like this idea or have more to add to this idea drop a comment. If you want me to try and write a script for this idea leave a like. Thank you!!!!