Ever since the first trailer for Hawkeye debuted fans have been eager to see the much-teased musical inspired by Steve Rogers. Titled simply Rogers: The Musical, the play is key to the first episode. It’s where we first see Clint and his kids on their holiday trip to NYC. But something strange is afoot. As Clint mentions, Ant-Man is in the musical and, according to the titular hero, he shouldn’t be there. Of course, at first glance, Clint is right. Ant-Man wasn’t at the Battle of New York, was he? Well, actually, post-Avengers: Endgame he was. And if the makers of the musical somehow know that, then we’re in a brave new MCU timeline.
Is Rogers: The Musical Telling the Story of the Battle of New York?
The song that we see in the first episode is called “Save the City.” Its refrain “I could do this all day” is a reference to the famed Captain America line we hear in The First Avenger, Civil War, and Endgame. But, interestingly, it’s not in the first Avengers movie where the Battle of New York took place. As Clint and his daughter talk about the show, Clint mentions another anomaly. Ant-Man is part of the chorus, implying he was at the Battle of New York. But, as Clint explains, Ant-Man was never actually there. That makes it seem like the musical’s creators have taken some creative license. But there is another option too, and it has much bigger implications…
What if Rogers: The Musical is Actually Telling the Story of Endgame?
While the NYC setting and team makes it seem like we’re watching the Battle of New York, the fact that Ant-Man is there and Steve is singing “I could do this all day” got us thinking. If we cast our minds back to Endgame then another answer becomes clear. When Steve Rogers and Tony Stark returned back to 2012 in order to collect the Mind Stone, they had company in the form of Scott Lang A.K.A. Ant-Man. That places Ant-Man at the Battle of New York. And it retcons another key part by adding Steve saying “I could do this all day” while fighting himself. Those two things make it easy to argue that Rogers: The Musical is actually telling the post-Endgame version of the Battle of New York. But if that’s the case then it causes a big problem for the MCU’s timeline and the rules the Ancient One laid out in Endgame.
Why Does it Matter Which Version We’re Seeing?
Well, if we’re seeing a song about the 2012 Battle of New York, that makes perfect sense. It means that post-Endgame the world went back to normal. And potentially the creators of the show just put some questionable continuity into the play for a laugh. But if we’re watching a version that actually represents the Endgame iteration of 2012, then something’s wrong. In Endgame, the Ancient One and the Hulk explain that once all the Infinity Stones are back in their rightful place the timeline will go back to the way it was before. We saw Steve leave to return them at the end of the movie. But if people know that Ant-Man was at the Battle of New York and that Cap said “I could do this all day,” then the timeline never reset. While we trust that Steve put the stones back, there’s one thing that wasn’t in its rightful place… Steve himself.
While we all assumed that everything had gone back to normal post the Blip, there may be an anomaly. Steve going back in time and living his dream life with Peggy would have likely started a paradox. And if the musical number we saw in Rogers: The Musical is anything to go by, his choice might have stopped the timelines from fixing themselves. It could also be that when Loki stole the Tesseract, he created a variant timeline where people know what happened during the Endgame version of 2012. Whatever the answer, this is either a silly continuity joke or a massive hint that the timelines are messed up. And with Kang now in the MCU, the second option seems more likely than ever.
Featured Image: Marvel Studios
