Captain America’s Endgame Plan Came From Scarlet Witch

Captain America‘s (Chris Evans) Avengers: Endgame decision to time-travel and spend his life with his love, Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), came from Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), who planted the vision in his head in Avengers: Age of Ultron. In Joss Whedon’s 2015 team-up flick, Wanda Maximoff attacked Steve Rogers’ heart and mind with a glimpse of Peggy, the one thing he wanted most. But 8 years later, Wanda’s trickery ended up being a gift that Steve acted on to fulfill his heart’s desire.

Steve Rogers fell for Peggy Carter in Captain America: The First Avenger when they fought alongside each other during World War II. Peggy was impressed by the genuine quality of the sickly young man who was chosen to undergo Project Rebirth, and of course, Agent Carter was suitably enamored by Steve when he emerged as the pinnacle of human perfection. Tragically, Peggy lost Steve in 1945 when he was believed killed in action while stopping the Red Skull (Hugo Weaving) from attacking the United States. Before his plane went down, Steve and Peggy lamented that they never got the dance with each other they both wanted. Rogers was cryogenically frozen in the arctic ice and he was revived in 2012; although Steve finally reunited with Peggy in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, by then, she was on her deathbed. Steve attended Peggy’s funeral in 2016 during Captain America: Civil War, and he never got over how he was denied the time with her he wanted most.

When Wanda Maximoff invaded Steve Rogers’ psyche in Avengers: Age of Ultron, she brought him into a fantasy World War II victory party where the youthful Peggy was waiting for him. Agent Carter asked the confused Captain Rogers, “Are you ready for our dance? The war’s over, Steve. You can go home. Imagine it!” At the time, Scarlet Witch was the Avengers’ enemy and she was working alongside Ultron (James Spader) to bring down Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Wanda’s vision was meant to distract and torture Steve, and it worked, just as the other Avengers’ whose minds Maximoff violated were equally rattled by what she showed him. But the dream of being with Peggy obviously stuck with Steve and he must have filed it away in the back of his mind while he continued his duties as Captain America and leader of the Avengers.

It’s clear now in hindsight that Steve never forgot the vision of Peggy that Wanda gave him. R0gers quickly forgave Maximoff after she turned on Ultron, and he accepted Wanda as one of the Avengers. Scarlet Witch was part of the new team led by Captain America and Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff) after the other founding Avengers left at the end of Age of Ultron. Steve clearly bore no ill will against Wanda, and he was the first to counsel and support her after she made a tragic mistake that led to multiple innocent deaths in Lagos at the start of Captain America: Civil War. Later, Wanda didn’t hesitate to stand beside Captain America when he refused to sign the Sokovia Accords, and they became wanted fugitives for two years until the events of Avengers: Infinity War when Wanda was among the millions killed by Thanos (Josh Brolin).

In Avengers: Endgame‘s five-years of mourning post-Snap, Steve urged people in need to “move on” while knowing that he himself couldn’t. Hope unexpectedly arrived when Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) came up with a plan to use the Quantum Realm to heist the Infinity Stones from the past, which could bring everyone Thanos killed back. Rogers was gung-ho for the plan to save everyone, but in hindsight, during Captain America’s time travel, he must have considered the potential of reuniting with Peggy. The moment when the possibility dawned on him was likely when Steve saw Peggy from afar when he infiltrated Camp Lehigh in 1970.

It’s possible to draw a straight line from Wanda planting the vision in Age of Ultron meant to devastate Steve emotionally to Rogers making the decision in Avengers: Endgame that the ideal Maximoff showed him was, in fact, what he wanted most — and could actually have. It’s no coincidence that after Steve returned the Infinity Stones after the Avengers defeated Thanos, he sought out Peggy in 1945 and got the dance that they were originally denied. By the end of Avengers: Endgame, Steve Rogers’ personal war as Captain America was over, and he could go home to Peggy Carter, just as Wanda Maximoff showed him.

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