Just watched a video essay about Steve and they finished by trying to justify his ending 😐
Their argument was that since the war the avengers were fighting (Thanos) was gone, Steve didn't have to keep fighting anymore. Tell me you don't understand Steve without telling me you don't understand Steve.
I do like the idea of his ending involving the idea of not needing to fight anymore, but in the sense that he doesn't need keep physically fighting. Him realising that there's other ways to save the world that don't involve him getting hurt (this is a good conflict that could happen between him and Bucky post cacw). Not him deciding that he doesn't give a shit about anyone else and just does something to make him happy. Not that his ending would actually make the real Steve happy. It's really fun being a fan of a character that a lot of people don't get.
Anyway I'm gonna go read some stucky fics to feel better.
AGHH I hate that! I hate when you stumble upon what seems to be a good essay for the character you love, only for it to crash and burn in the end and get that character completely wrong.
I've said this before and I'll say it again, Steve Rogers is not a fighter. He is a defender. He defends the weak and helpless, the little guys all over the world. He stands for justice and doing what's right. He gives people hope. If there are still people in need of him, in any way shape or form, he is going to keep protecting and fighting for them. Put Steve Rogers in a world where millions of people that have been dead for 5 years suddenly return?? Where all those people have to grapple with their deaths, their resurrections, and the repercussions that came with it?? Where there are countless people that are still dead and will remain dead due to those millions of people being killed in the first place (newborns, elderly, and disabled that were suddenly without their parents and caregivers, passengers on planes/in cars that suddenly had no pilots/drivers, etc)?? (Thanks for that, Tony!!!) Steve would help repair the damages in any way he could.
Is he selfless to a fault? Could he stand to be more selfish? Yeah, I would say so. But that doesn't mean he would just abandon his friends and his team to go back to the past. Even if he was in love with Peggy (which I heavily doubt he would be, but that's another topic for another post), he still would never do it.
"In order to grow, you must let go of the past." -Sarah Rogers (Captain America (Vol. 7) #11)
"It's tempting to want to live in the past. It's familiar, it's comfortable. But it's where fossils come from." -Steve Rogers (Captain America: Man Out of Time (Vol. 1) #5)
Steve Rogers' whole character is about moving forward, despite his grief and the isolation he must feel. His story is about moving forward and forming new reasons to live, even if it's hard. It's about finding a new beginning for yourself in the face of an unfamiliar and unforgiving world. Steve found just that via the Avengers and, even more fittingly, Team Cap. Sam and Natasha were his best friends. Clint, Scott, and T'Challa were trusted allies. Wanda was his budding protege (maybe even his little sister figure) and someone he was fiercely protective of. And Bucky? Bucky was his soulmate. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Whether you viewed their relationship as strictly platonic or romantic, Bucky was without a doubt the one Steve would burn the world for. He was Steve's sole connection to his past and the vital part to a life in the future.
And you're telling me that Steve would leave Sam the shield without any guidance, during a time that is extremely chaotic? That he would throw Natasha's sacrifice away like trash? That he would leave Clint and Wanda, who were both grieving over the people they couldn't get back despite everything? That he would abandon Bucky--the one he fought against Thanos for in the first place--in a world still unfamiliar to him after he just got him back? That he would do all of that for a woman he already canonically moved on from? A woman who lived her own life and had a family of her own?? A woman who literally told Steve herself that the best thing for him was to start over and move on??? You're telling me Steve would just...rip away her agency, go against her wishes, and claim her like a prize to be won, simply because his fight was over and he deserved it???
You're telling me that Steve Rogers would stay in that past--a past that includes segregation, racism, and gender inequality--with the knowledge that his best friend since childhood is actively being kept as a prisoner of war and is being horrifically tortured and that Hydra is alive and well and preparing to infest the country....and he would do nothing about any of that???
No. That's fucking bullshit. And it always will be bullshit, because that goes against everything Steve Rogers is.
I've seen this be said before and I think it was very fitting, so I shall repeat it to the best of my memory now;
Steve Rogers would sooner choose the picket line over a picket fence.
