[spoilers for Spider-Man: Far From Home]
Spider-Man: Far From Home is the first Marvel Cinematic Universe movie to take place entirely post-“Snap,” and with great blip comes great responsibility. The film, starring Tom Holland, Zendaya, and Jake Gyllenhaal, does a nimble job of explaining how the rules of this new world work — and does so almost immediately. Following a brief Mexico-set cold open, the action moves to New York’s Midtown School of Science and Technology where the students (including Betty Brant, one of Far From Home‘s many standouts) have put together a slideshow tribute to the galaxy’s greatest fallen heroes, complete with a Whitney Houston watermarked Getty Images photo. There’s Iron Man, of course, as well as Black Widow, Vision, and… Captain America?
My immediate thought was, “Huh, I guess Cap died off-screen,” which would be weird. But that’s (probably) not the case. In the closing minutes of Avengers: Endgame, Steve Rogers returns the Infinity Stones to their original timelines… and instead of immediately coming back to the present, America’s Ass decides to spend his life with his true love, Peggy Carter. He then transfers the Captain America mantle to Sam Wilson (who almost made his Cap debut in Far From Home), much to the confusion of Steve/Bucky shippers. So, why was he included in the slideshow? Because as far as the general public knows, Steve was never seen again after defeating Thanos; as far as we know, the living Avengers told everyone he died, or something, so he could hide in plain sight.
It’s more than a little confusing, even to Chris Evans. When the Knives Out star was asked to explain Cap’s timeline during a recent appearance at ACE Comic-Con, he said, “You know, I’m not sure I can give you those answers. That’s weak as sh*t, but ask the writers. Look, I understand there’s a lot of things you can question about the time continuity but if there’s one thing I’ve learned about working with Marvel, they don’t leave stones unturned. They really don’t.”
Either way, Spider-Man: Far From Home gave Steve Rogers-as-Captain America gave the ending he deserves, because it’s the ending he wanted.