Even though we all would love him too, Chris Evans probably won't play Captain America forever. So, eventually somebody is going to have to take up the mantle within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it is pretty likely that the person who will pick up the shield is already fighting alongside The Avengers. The most likely candidate would of course be Falcon, who is played by Anthony Mackie and thanks to some sweet new fan art, we know what it could look like if Falcon were to become Captain America at some point.

Artist Aiki Aiham, who has done a lot of fan art related to the DC Extended Universe and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, recently took to his Instagram in order to share his take on Falcon as Captain America. In short, it is nothing shy of glorious. The image features Sam Wilson aka Falcon flying upward through the air with his Falcon suit on, but he is also donning a full Captain America suit and the iconic shield. As hard as it would be to say goodbye to Chris Evans as Captain America, this image is very encouraging.

The prospect of someone else taking over as Captain America in the MCU may not actually be all that far off, believe it or not. Captain America: Civil War shook things up quite a bit, and it left Steve Rogers in a bit of a complicated place by the end of it. In a recent interview with The Huffington Post, co-director Joe Russo explained that he feels the end of the movie signified Rogers dropping the Captain America identity. Here is what he had to say.

"I think him dropping that shield is him letting go of that identity. [It's] him admitting that certainly the identity of Captain America was in conflict with the very personal choice that he was making."

Surely Steve Rogers will be picking up the shield for Avengers: Infinity War, but beyond that, things are very uncertain. For those who may not be as familiar with the Marvel Comics source material, there is a precedent for Falcon taking over for Captain America. In 2014, Marvel Comics published a series that featured Sam Wilson as Captain America, so it isn't all that far-fetched. The other option is, of course, Bucky, who also took up the mantle of Captain America at one point in the comics, but Bucky is *spoilers* currently on ice in Wakanda being watched over by Black Panther, so that seems less likely at the immediate moment.

What The Russo Brothers and the rest of the Marvel Studios team have planned for Cap in the future, we really have no idea, so we will have to wait and see how everything shakes out. No matter what, at some point, we will have to accept another version of Captain America, and this art gives us some hope that it can be pretty great. We will likely next see Cap and Falcon in Avengers: Infinity War, which is due out on May 4, 2018. Be sure to check out Aiki Aiham's Falcon/Captain America art for yourself below.