This article is about the original Captain America of the MCU Universe. For his successors, see John Walker or the current holder of the role Sam Wilson.
| Main Article |
Overview[]
Captain America has battled for the American Dream and Freedom against the Axis Powers since the darkest days of World War II! He is renowned for wielding his remarkable and indestructible star spangled shield in combat.
In the 2011 film Captain America: The First Avenger, he is portrayed by Chris Evans who has gone on to reprise his role in several feature films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He was also portrayed by Patrick Gorman as an elderly man.
Background[]
The Punch Heard Around America!
Captain America Comics #1 (Mar. 1941)
Captain America is a major superhero based upon the comic book character published by Marvel Comics. He debuted in Captain America Comics #1, published in March 1941 by Timely Comics (which was subsequently renamed as Marvel Comics) and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby.
Born in the dark days of hopelessness in the Great Depression, Steve Rogers was a frail and sickly young man who was horrified at the news of World War II. His father who passed away in his childhood, had been a decorated soldier during "World War I" and Steve immediately sought to enlist but was soundly rejected and declared 4-F as being physically unfit for military service.
However, his desperation and patriotic desire to serve his country in any way sparked the interest of a military officer, General Philips who offered him the chance. A dangerous one. He would serve as a test subject for a radical project known as "Project: Rebirth" led by Dr. Abraham Erskine who used a special serum to transform Rogers into the peak of human perfection. Rogers was to be the first of a new breed of U.S. soldiers ... but that dream died when a Nazi saboteur assassinated Erskine. For security reasons Erskine never fully committed the full formula to paper, thus Rogers became the sole recipient of the Super-Solider Serum and its only true success.
Originally intending for Rogers to serve as a regular solider on the front lines, the US Army decided at the last second to use him as a patriotic icon due to the terror invoked by the Nazi's most fearsome agent known as the Red Skull for the terrifying skull-like mask he wore. Thus, Rogers was dressed up in a colorful flag-inspired uniform and outfitted with a bulletproof shield as Captain America. He would later gain a sidekick, Bucky Barnes who inadvertently discovered Rogers' secret identity and was pledged to keeping his secret as the pair fought the Nazi menace through the darkest days of World War II at home and aboard.
The character was one of Timely's most successful and popular superhero during its run and was part of a wave of US patriotic war-time heroes such as the American Crusader; the Star-Spangled Kid; and the Fighting Yank from other rival comic companies who debuted in response to "World War II".
But with the end of the "Golden Age of Comics"; his series was ultimately discontinued in 1954, resulting in Captain America vanishing for a time. However the character remained an iconic and enduring symbol of the Unites States and with the rise of superhero comics in the renamed Marvel Comics in the 1960s from the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man once again, he was subsequently revived in Avengers #4 in March of 1964.
Captain America, The Sentinel of Liberty
It was retconned that during the final days of WWII, Captain America and Bucky were seeking to disable a drone weapon aimed at England. Unable to prevent it from taking off, the pair jumped onto the weapon which was in midair when it exploded, killing Bucky and sending Rogers plummeting into the freezing waters where the super-soldier serum in his blood preserved him and kept him in a state of cryogenic suspended animation.
When his frozen body was found by the superheroes known as the Avengers, he was revived and quickly inducted as a member. The Avengers soon realized that his military training and battlefield experienced made him unequaled as a field tactician and his natural charisma led him to emerging as their leader; a role that he has served for decades as a key member of the Avengers and as a major influential superhero in the Marvel-verse ever since.
Captain America has made numerous appearances in various live action films and animated television programs over the decades, in both guest star and starring roles. He remains one of the most popular and enduring symbols of pop culture and an icon of the United States itself; representing the best and most noble qualities of the American Dream―justice, freedom, and liberty for all regardless of color, creed, and religion.
Major Plots[]
Personality and Traits[]
Appearances[]
Films[]
- Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
- The Avengers (2012)
- Thor: The Dark World (2013)
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
- Ant-Man (2015)
- Captain America: Civil War (2016)
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Trivia[]
- Marvel superheroes are not unfamiliar to the actor who plays Captain America, Chris Evans. Several years earlier, Evans played another Marvel superhero; portraying Johnny Storm aka the Human Torch in the 2005 film, Fantastic Four and the 2007 sequel; Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
- The mantle of Captain America has been carried on by a number of other people in the Marvel Comics-verse. Because of the 1964 Avengers #4 issue which retconned of Steve's final days of being lost in action at the end of WWII which deliberately contradicts several comics published earlier that proclaimed that he was active long past that period; Marvel writers introduced the concept that several men had in fact served in the role of Captain America. This included William Nasland, Jeffrey Mace, and William Burnside who all filled in as Captain America for brief periods from WWII to the 1950s before Rogers' resurrection. In the modern age, Rogers has also been temporarily replaced by several others for various reasons which led to Roscoe Simons briefly assuming the mantle in 1975; John Walker in 1986; James Barnes/Bucky/the Winter Soldier to adopt the alias in 2005; Dave Rickford in 2011; and Sam Wilson/the Falcon in 2014.
Quotes[]
- "The serum amplifies everything that is inside, so good becomes great; bad becomes worse. This is why you were chosen. Because the strong man who has known power all his life, may lose respect for that power, but a weak man knows the value of strength and knows... compassion." ―Abraham Erskine to Steve Rogers; Captain America: The First Avenger
- "Whatever happens tomorrow you must promise me one thing. That you will stay who you are. Not a perfect soldier, but a good man." ―Abraham Erskine to Steve Rogers; Captain America: The First Avenger
- "When I went under; the world was at war. I wake up ... they say we won. They didn't say what we lost." ―Captain America to Nick Fury; The Avengers
- "You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else ... we ended up disagreeing." ―Captain America to Loki; The Avengers
- "That was not my first kiss since 1945. I'm 95, I'm not dead." ―Captain America to Black Widow; Captain America: The Winter Soldier
- "I know I'm asking a lot. But the price of freedom is high. It always has been. And it's a price I'm willing to pay. And if I'm the only one, then so be it. But I'm willing to bet I'm not." ―Captain America to S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents; Captain America: The Winter Soldier
- "You get hurt, hurt 'em back. You get killed... walk it off." ―Captain America; Avengers: Age of Ultron
- "What kind of monster would let a German scientist experiment on them in order to protect their country?" ―Captain America sarcastically referring to the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver; Avengers: Age of Ultron
Other Versions[]
- Captain America (Captain America 1944)
- Captain America (Marvel Super Heroes)
- Captain America (Captain America 1979)
- Captain America (Spider-Man 1981)
- Captain America (Captain America 1990)
- Captain America (X-Men)
- Captain America (Spider-Man 1994)
- Captain America (Fantastic Four)
- Captain America (Avengers: United They Stand)
- Captain America (X-Men: Evolution)
- Captain America (Super Hero Squad)
- Captain America (Ultimate Avengers)
- Captain America (Next Avengers)
- Captain America (Black Panther)
- Captain America (Avengers: Earth's Mightiest)
- Captain America (Ultimate Spider-Man)
- Captain America (Avengers Assemble)
- Captain America (LEGO Marvel Super Heroes)
- Captain America (Marvel Disk Wars)
- Captain America (Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.)
- Captain America (Heroes United)
Related Pages[]
Affiliations[]
- U.S. Army
- Strategic Scientific Reserve
- The Howling Commandos
- S.H.I.E.L.D.
- Avengers
Captain America Legacy Characters[]
