As the summer of 2018 is winding down, it’s safe to say that Avengers: Infinity War is one of the best films thus far. Since the film’s massive cliffhanger, fans have been speculating and theorizing where the Marvel Cinematic Universe will lead next; especially the fact that Marvel Studios have yet to release the title of the fourth Avengers installment.
Throughout Infinity War, the film contained many shocking surprises and one of the noticeable things was the hilarious dialogue between some of our favorite characters. That was until the end of the film where Thanos gathers all six stones and murdered half of the universe at the literal snap of his fingers. After we see some of our most favorite heroes turn to dust, one of the following scenes is showing Captain America as he’s checking on Vision’s lifeless body on the ground. After a few seconds of staring at Cap, he says “Oh, God” just before it cuts to the final shot of the film. Since then, there have been many theories on why he might have said this.
Captain America’s True Defeat
Throughout the years, we’ve seen Captain America take on some powerful villains including Red Skull, Loki, Winter Soldier (Bucky), Ultron,
Corvus Glaive, Proxima Midnight, and now Thanos. This is one of the things that make Captain America an outstanding leader and also a likable character. He’s always been someone to take on these foes, even if it kills him in the process. Cap is someone who represents the Avengers and America, while also having the mentality of a soldier. Ultimately, he’s had a hand in defeating nearly every main villain he’s fought except for Thanos, and now we see, for the first time, the true defeat of Captain America.
After Thanos turns everyone to dust, we see from Cap’s perspective that Bucky is the first to go. We see his best friend (who he would even call a brother) die so helplessly. Then fast forward to Cap just when he says “Oh, God.” I believe that he solely blames himself for Thanos’ victory.
We’re Now Seeing The Effects of Cap’s Previous Decisions
The reason our heroes lost is that the Avengers were broken up due to Steve’s actions in going against the Sokovia Accords in Captain America: Civil War. Cap was so blindsided by helping Bucky, he out the Avengers second and that’s why they broke up. Like it or not, Cap and a few others are fugitives and they’ve been on the run for over two years. Cap tells Secretary Ross, “Earth just lost her best defender. So we’re here to fight.” This is referring to Tony Stark being “missing” just after one of Thanos’ ships left New York.
You can still sense the strong relationship Steve has with Tony, even though they don’t agree on things. But because of their differences, it caused the Avengers to split and ultimately not being able to take on Thanos together. Although Tony and his crew held their own against Thanos on Titan, they were defeated – nearly killing Tony in the process. After Thanos gets the Time Stone, he knows he has to go to Wakanda to collect the final stone.
Being one of the most insane scenes in Infnity War, Thanos takes out everybody in his way on Wakanda without breaking a sweat; making his way to the Mind Stone. Cap then does one final stand in attempting to hold Thanos back with his bare hands and fails. If all the Avengers were there, along with the help of the Guardians, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, and Black Panther, they may have defeated Thanos. But now, for the first time, Cap knows that he’s failed himself, Bucky, the Avengers, and the world. It’ll be interesting to see how he copes with this in Avengers 4. But make no mistake, Cap and Tony will make amends, and will once again fight alongside the rest of the Avengers, and finally stop Thanos once and for all.
What do you think about this theory? Do you think Cap is truly defeated? Sound off below with your thoughts!