MCU fans were shocked at the end of Avengers: Endgame when Captain America (Chris Evans) seemingly ended his superhero career by choosing to stay in the past with his love Peggy Carter instead of returning to the present-day Marvel Universe. Possibly over 100 years old when time finally catches up with him, Steve appears too old to continue as Captain America and passes his shield on to Sam Wilson (aka The Falcon).
However, one earlier detail may hint that Steve Rogers, while definitely elderly, may still outlive all the other Avengers and may even be more powerful than his aged appearance might suggest. During the movie’s climactic battle scene, Steve proved he was worthy of wielding Thor’s hammer Mjolnir – which, in the comics, could potentially make people immortal.
To explore this possibility, we need to break down what immortality means, and all the different ways humans can acquire it in the Marvel Universe. First, we should establish that although the Super Soldier Serum gave Steve Rogers a near-perfect physical body, it is not immortal. His enhanced body likely ages slower than most humans (which accounts for how well-preserved Steve looks even at 100) but barring periods of suspended animation, it will age. Some comics, like Neil Gaiman’s Marvel: 1602 series dispute this by indicating that Steve does not age at all, but most agree that, Super Soldier or not, Captain America will gradually get older and eventually die.
Second, Asgardians like Thor or Odin aren’t truly immortal in either the comic books or MCU. Odin tells Loki in Thor: The Dark World that Asgardians live, age, and die just like mortals (to which Loki sarcastically adds, “give or take five thousand years”). Nevertheless, it’s commonly accepted in both Marvel Comics and the MCU that even “gods” have finite life spans.
That being said, Asgardians do have ways of maintaining their youth and vigor – possibly indefinitely. Borrowing ideas from Norse Mythology, the Marvel versions of Thor and the other Asgardians are said to regularly consume “The Apples of Idunn” a miraculous rare fruit that keeps the gods from aging. Those denied the apples will gradually become old and infirm, but the majority of Asgardians are able to stay young and active thanks to regular consumption of these apples.
The apples can even restore a regular human being to good health – as Marvel’s youngest superhero team Power Pack discovered when they journeyed to Asgard to fetch some apples for their dying grandmother. Although the apples were normally reserved only for the gods, Thor sympathetically gave one of them (as applesauce) to the kids’ grandmother so they could have a little more time together. Nevertheless, it’s very unlikely other mortals, including Captain America, could gain access to these apples.
However, the Asgardians do have other means of attaining immortality – and here’s where things get a little tricky. In the one-shot 2099: Manifest Destiny, Steve Rogers is again frozen and revived in the year 2099 where he meets Miguel O’Hara, the former Spider-Man of this era. After going through a period of culture shock, Steve agrees to be 2099’s hero and is given Thor’s hammer Mjolnir which enhances his power to godly levels. Later, however, Steve gets thrown into space and he tosses the hammer to Miguel, who discovers he is also worthy of the Asgardian weapon.
To Miguel’s surprise, however, the hammer doesn’t grant him any extra abilities or increase his strength. It does, however, make him immortal to the point where he is able to guide humanity into a brighter future over the next thousand years. The only caveat is that Miguel’s body continues to age, meaning that he’s a very old man (albeit a very well-preserved one) when the year 3100 rolls around.
All of this indicates that Asgardian magic and technology can make an ordinary human immortal – and since the MCU version of Captain America was found worthy of Mjolnir, he likely gained many extra powers from it – including immortality. Naturally, this didn’t come up during his fight with Thanos (“immortal” doesn’t mean “unkillable” so that wouldn't make much of a difference in a life-or-death battle).
However, Steve’s time with Mjolnir may have had a lasting effect on his body that would only become apparent later on. While he does give up the hammer to return it to its proper place in the timestream, Steve’s physiology had gone through some massive changes during his fight with Thanos. In summoning lightning down on the Mad Titan, Steve’s body literally had lightning coursing through its veins, which indicates he gained a Thor-level metabolism. As even ordinary Asgardians can live for thousands of years – and a god like Thor could potentially live even longer – this could mean Steve’s lifespan has been similarly extended.
The question, then, is whether or not the changes to Captain America’s body are permanent after he stops wielding Mjolnir. Odin’s exact words were, “Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.” The words don’t specify that the person needs to keep holding the hammer to possess Thor’s power after being found worthy. Since Cap had to throw the hammer constantly during battle, it’s actually logical to conclude he kept the power even when the hammer left his hand, although even that extra strength wasn't enough to take down Thanos.
Moreover, Cap’s “worthiness” didn’t end when he gave up the hammer, meaning some of the power could have remained with him. Given that Steve’s body was already enhanced by the Super Soldier Serum, having the lightning of Thor running through his veins would almost definitely extend his lifespan to godly levels. However, since Mjolnir doesn’t stop a body from aging (as Miguel O’Hara discovered), Steve Rogers grew older through the decades, giving him an “elderly” appearance in the present-day Marvel Universe. Even so, he could potentially live many more centuries.
Even if Captain America’s lifespan hasn’t been extended beyond human (or Super Soldier) limits, however, he is still worthy of Mjolnir and could possibly encounter another alternate version of the hammer in any number of parallel universes, allowing his body to live forever. Indeed, since Steve spent a lot of time crossing through multiple universes, there’s actually the possibility that he already acquired a different Mjolnir along with his new shield in an alternate reality where Thor had died (or gave up the hammer). While it’s still unlikely that audiences will see Captain America return to active duty, it’s nice to think that Steve Rogers still has a lot of life ahead of him.
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June 22, 2020 at 06:35AM
