Captain America may have a new color scheme in Avengers: Endgame

Steve Rogers may no longer be the “star-spangled man with a plan” in Avengers: Endgame, but he may bring white back into his color scheme.

Sometimes, costumers need to let everyone know that this is all very serious without actually saying that things are all very serious — showing not telling in the most literal way possible. In the case of Captain America’s journey through the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s been the slow muting of his patriotic color scheme. Contrast his Avengers costume with Infinity War, for example.

However, it’s time for a little narrative whiplash, at least according to new rumors reported by CBR, because not only is the white back in this LEGO leak, it’s back in a bigger way than we’ve ever seen Cap wear before. That’s a sharp contrast to the other Avengers: Endgame rumor, which puts him in a re-helmeted variant of his typical costume. Now, as CBR notes, he isn’t the only character to wear a white suit in marketing materials, as both Rocket Raccoon and Thor have the same suit, but the site doesn’t interrogate what this could mean.

Speaking only in terms of arc and narrative, we know that Steve is going into Endgame pretty much desperate. He says as much in the trailer. However, the last time he wore this much white, he was (slightly) less jaded and had something left to lose. At this point, he really doesn’t, so why the reintroduction of white? As Amanda Steele notes in the above-linked post, fans have started to theorize that he may sacrifice himself at some point. If that’s so, then the connection makes sense. Why?

It’s simple: the last time Steve wore this much white, he was in Captain America: The First Avenger, both in training and in his Cap suit, and he sacrifices himself both literally and figuratively to put himself on ice and save his fellow cadets from a fake grenade (though he doesn’t know it’s fake).

We know Steve doesn’t really seem to have a plan B in Endgame, at least by the indications of the trailer. If his only plan ends in a sacrifice, then the white suit he wears might be more than just a return to the Avengers team of old and more a representation of what Steve has always been: someone willing to lay it all down.