'Captain America 4': Everything We Know, and What Could Happen

Shortly after the season finale of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier aired on Friday, news broke that Marvel Studios was developing Captain America 4. TWATWS showrunner Malcolm Spellman, who was the lead writer and executive produced of the second MCU installment on Disney+, will co-write the script. The finale saw Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson pick up the shield and take on the Captain America mantle. While the finale seemed a little rushed and tended to leave a few loose ends not getting wrapped up, Sam’s arch was finished perfectly. I blame the COVID-19 pandemic as production halted for a few months, and presumably forced the show to be six episodes instead of nine like WandaVision was.

Fans were curious as to when Sam would appear again. TFATWS planted the seeds for Sam to take the shield in the pilot, and there was no movie announced at the time that would seem like a logical fit for the new Cap to appear. Announcing a fourth Captain America installment mere hours after the show concluded, was the perfect plan. Like always, I’m here with a few theories as to what could ensue in the fourth movie

Now all we want to know is… What will the plot be and who will be the villain? There are a handful of characters that I see as the prime adversary, and it all starts with Madame Hydra. Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, played by Julia Louise Dreyfus, will surely appear in the MCU again. In the comics Madame Hydra’s goal is to be what Red Skull couldn’t be… In charge of everything and everyone on the planet, and uses her sly ways to get what she wants. While she could be an evil version of Nick Fury assembling a team of villains as either the Thunderbilts or Masters of Evil, I think her goals are greater than that. I don’t think she’s assembling a team, just trying to get an evil Captain America on her side. Which takes me to John Walker.

We see him in the finale team-up with Sam and Bucky, and even goes as much as to giving Sam a head nod in the end when Sam fully embraces the role as Captain America to the world. His path to redemption has started, and seeing him go full-on villain to possibly retake the shield, seems likely. Walker being used as a pawn by Val, only to switch sides and sacrifices himself to save Sam, or even Bucky, is what I’d probably go with. But him becoming Hydra Cap would be pretty interesting nonetheless.

While we didn’t get a direct nod to the Thunderbolts, we got the next best thing. Possible direct setups that could mean something more in the future. Also known as Marvel’s number one way at keeping people glued in, and talking about the project and its characters for years to come. Zemo was sent to the Raft, which if you’ve forgotten is the floating, yet, underwater prison ran by then General Ross in Captain America: Civil War, before being promoted to Secretary of the State by Avengers: Infinity War. Who has also been an inmate on the Raft for over a decade now? Emil Blonsky aka Abomination who will be returning in the She-Hulk series on Disney+. We also saw Walker get his US Agent name and costume, who in the comics is a reoccurring member of the anti-hero team.

If and when we get the Thunderbolts, which I fully believe will be coming to the big or small screen in the coming years, I have an idea for a team.

Bucky/White Wolf

Baron Helmut Zemo

Yelena Belova, who will be making her MCU debut in Black Widow played by Florence Pugh, and will be appearing in the Hawkeye series on Disney+

Red Hulk (Ross)

US Agent

Songbird

Ghost, who was played by Hannah John-Kamen in Ant-Man and the Wasp

While it might be hard to envision Bucky and Zemo working together, let alone Zemo and Walker, or all three for that matter, it would make for an interesting dynamic.

The last we saw of Toby Jones’ Arnim Zola was in 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, where he was seemingly destroyed once and for all. Well, Marvel Studios has done a nice job at planting the seeds for Zola to return, this time as M.O.D.O.K. It’s also Marvel, and in the comics world, no one is ever really dead. Walton Goggins’ mysterious character from Ant-Man and the Wasp was working for someone, and I have had a feeling for a while now that it could be MODOK, or Norman Osborn. The latter seems a little unlikely, but Zola could be in search for tech to make his MODOK suit. The pictures above are what the designs that were seen in The Winter Soldier were based on. There is the classic “floating head” suit, but that’s a little cheesy and it would be a lot cooler to see MODOK as a giant robot controlled by Zola’s consciousness.

Fans, myself included, have wanted to see Zola’s return as MODOK for nearly a decade now. Captain America 4 would be a nice way to get out with the old, and in with the new. Wrapping up Steve Rogers’ enemy from the past as Zola might be angry that he can’t fight Rogers but settles for Sam Wilson. Zola could also be set up through Captain America 4 and be used as the main villain in the inevitable Young Avengers project, which could be a Disney+ series, but I’d assume that a movie would be most likely. And better frankly. MODOK’s henchmen, A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics) could also be used as well. A.I.M. is the villainous organization that MODOK runs and would be a neat “next Hydra” type of threat.

We’ll find out Taskmaster’s fate in Black Widow when it finally releases this summer, but I can’t do this article without including him… Or her. I’ve believed since the first trailer was released well over a year ago, that Rachel Weisz’s Melina Vostokoff is not Iron Maiden like in the comics, but is the best fighter in all of Marvel, Taskmaster. We’ll find out this summer if I’m correct, but I’m willing to bet on it.

Taskmaster has ties to: General Ross, John Walker, and the Thunderbolts in the comics. Could he/she be working for Madame Hydra, or could Taskmaster be assembling their own team? OR, be recruited for the Thunderbolts? We’ll find out, but mind you, Black Widow was originally supposed to come out last summer, nearly a year before TFATWS. Julia Louise Dreyfus will be appearing in that film, which takes place 7-years before TFATWS. In other words, the film was supposed to set-up TFATWS, in a way. Ross will also be appearing, so maybe we’ll see if he is in cahoots with Taskmaster, or even Val. Taskmaster could be left for dead and Val could come in to save him/her, therefore confirming that Val is assembling her own team. Considering her fascination with Walker, and making his US Agent suit. Whose to say she won’t be a shady villain for the MCU’s future, by taking near-dead villains, and being their savior?

In the final moments of the climatic battle in the Falcon and the Winter Soldier finale, it was revealed that Sharon Carter, as I suspected after episode 3, was indeed the Power Broker all along. But that wasn’t the most interesting tidbit from the now pardoned femme fatale. As the kingpin of the criminal fictitious haven of Madripoor, Sharon was responsible all along for funding the development of the Super Soldier Serum used by the Flag Smashers, who were actually her personal paramilitary force before they abandoned her to pursue their own evil agenda.

If you stayed for the credits you’d see Sharon walking out of the Congress building, and getting on the phone with unseen character after Sam Wilson’s promise came to fruition and got Sharon pardoned by the U.S. government. Sharon seemingly intends to use her newly recovered access to put "government secrets, prototype weapons, you name it" onto the black market for anyone to buy. This means that the bad guys of the MCU are about to become even more dangerous.

It’s highly possible that Sharon could be the main villain, or in actuality, playing a Norman Osborn-like role which might surprise some mainstream moviegoers. In the comics, newer comics I should say, Osborn uses his wealth and scientific power to control villains, and assembles his own villainous team; the Masters of Evil. Seeing how Sharon was able to pull a double cross with Batroc on Karli, maybe she already has other villains on her payroll? I’ll stay away from mentioning Taskmaster again, as that’s too obvious, but maybe this is where Abomination, Ghost, or even Justin Hammer could come in to play.

I don’t think she’s a Skrull. While it’s safe to assume that people that Skrulls replace do a complete 180 character shift and become evil… That’s not in their nature. This is just a classic example of someone being wronged by her allies and government, and unlocks their darkness within them. There is a way for Sharon to be redeemed, AGAIN, but she isn’t a Skrull. Sharon is all of the sudden one of the handful of characters that I am very eager to see again in the MCU.

In terms of an actual plot, it will surely set the stage for Wilson’s future as Captain America. Stabilizing him as the new face of the MCU, and it’ll be a massive movie. I’m assuming that Mackie will get his own Captain America trilogy now. And if so, I expect this film to mirror Captain America: The First Avenger, in a sense. Being that it was Rogers’ transition from “wimp” to super soldier, whereas the fourth movie will be about Wilson’s transition from Falcon to Captain America.

We definitely got that in TFATWS, but I’d assume that it’ll linger on for a time being. Battling his own inner demons as he doesn’t want to straight up replace his friend. Having Taskmaster, whose prime ability is memorizing people’s fighting skills and is able to go toe-to-toe with them as he/she expects their every move, could be a formidable threat to Wilson.

No release date is set for Captain America 4, but I expect it to come out in 3-4 years.