On Thursday, Chris Evans damn near broke the internet when he revealed that he’d finished work on Avengers 4 by posting a moving goodbye message to the character of Captain America on Twitter. The Tweet seemed to suggest that he wouldn’t be playing the Sentinel of Liberty again, which has understandably left Marvel fans bereft.
Now, his longtime co-star Robert Downey Jr. has responded to Evans’ farewell with a perfect photo that’s both hilarious and weirdly moving. The actor shared a drawing of an Avengers/Toy Story mash-up featuring Woody and Buzz dressed up like Captain America and Iron Man. Above them’s a play on Lightyear’s famous catchphrase, “To infinity (war) and beyond,” and in praise of his pal, Downey captioned the pic: “We all know who the real sheriff in town is.”
If you think about it, there are actually a lot of similarities between Woody and Cap and Iron Man and Buzz. The cowboy and the Captain are both old-fashioned, occasionally stubborn, guys who’ve had to adjust to change while the armored Avenger and the space ranger are two initially arrogant space-age fellas who become more heroic through their friendship with the other. Let’s just hope Tony Stark and Steve Rogers won’t have to face a giant furnace in Avengers 4.
Anyways, with Evans on his way out now, fans are wondering if Downey Jr. may join him. The granddaddy of the MCU has yet to comment on whether he’s finished with the franchise yet, but if he does leave a message like Evans’, then we can assume that Avengers 4 will cost the team the lives of both Iron Man and Cap.
Whatever ends up happening, things should start to become much clearer when the marketing for Avengers 4 – or is it Avengers: Annihilation? – finally kicks off next month (which is when the first trailer is rumored to drop).