I think Marvel's way was much simpler and more effective. No alternative realities were were needed. I know it's still a bit anal, but the story worked well with Captain America.

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There was nothing "anal" about AVENGERS 4. That all came later. When Stan and Jack brought Captain America into the current stories, they were operating at a time when the fan audience turned over about every five years, and when few (at least, few who mattered) worried about the passage of time in comics. Cap had been in the ice around 20 years when he first emerged. That span would create problems for later anal-retentives. Those who, for instance, felt the need to explain how Cap's adventures could have extended some ten years past the end of WW2. Roger Stern used to scoff at such nonsense, saying it was easy enough to simply have those later adventures be comic books published at the time.

There was nothing "anal" about AVENGERS 4. That all came later. When Stan and Jack brought Captain America into the current stories, they were operating at a time when the fan audience turned over about every five years, and when few (at least, few who mattered) worried about the passage of time in comics. Cap had been in the ice around 20 years when he first emerged. That span would create problems for later anal-retentives. Those who, for instance, felt the need to explain how Cap's adventures could have extended some ten years past the end of WW2. Roger Stern used to scoff at such nonsense, saying it was easy enough to simply have those later adventures be comic books published at the time.