Rumors are swirling that Chris Evans' Steve Rodgers/Captain America character could be killed off in either Captain America: The Winter Soldier or 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron. 

The announcement that Winter Soldier would also begin reshooting some scenes four months before the film's worldwide release in April 2014 has only added more fuel to the speculation.

Rumors began when it was revealed that Brock Rumlow/Crossbones would be features in upcoming Marvel films. In the comics Crossbones plays a large role in Steve Rodgers' death, leading Bucky "The Winter Soldier" Barnes to take up the shield and become the new Captain America. He will be played by actor Frank Grillo in the upcoming superhero film.

Grillo hinted in a November interview with Crave Online that new characters featured in Winter Soldier -- including Crossbones, Barnes, and The Falcon -- all had the potential to show up in later films part of the Marvel franchise.

"It's an origin film," he said. "You meet people who are going to be around for a while, so they introduce the characters. It's almost like a series. It's fun."

A film reshooting so close to a release date is usually not a good sign, but Marvel did the same with Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World.

According to Classicalite, the new scenes for Captain America will begin filming Dec. 16 and 17, before taking off for the holidays and reconvening in January for two additional weeks. Marvel successfully reshot the epic end battle scene for Iron Man 3 and added more scenes of fan-favorite Loki for Thor during this period.

If the reshoots do see Chris Evans' character killed off, it wouldn't be the first time a beloved hero exits a Marvel film. Agent Phil Coulson was allegedly killed by Loki in 2012's The Avengers, before reappearing in the new ABC show Marvel: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in September 2013. Loki (Tom Hiddleston) then appeared to die in Thor: The Dark World, only to show up again mid-credits masquerading as his father, Odin (Anthony Hopkins).

Captain America: The Winter Soldier will be released in theaters April 4, 2014. Watch a trailer for the movie below.