Facts About Captain America:
Captain America is one of the most popular and oldest heroes in the Marvel Universe. He has come to more prominence after appearing on the silver screen under the banner of the MCU. Captain America aka Steve Rogers is a beloved character whose journey started during World War II. Before becoming the pride of America, Steve was a scrawny boy whose biggest strength was his bravery and loyalty. This brought him under the notice of a research experiment titled, Project Rebirth. Steve was then injected with the Super Soldier Serum and henceforth became Captain America.
He represents morality, kindness, and courage. But there isn’t much that movie fans know about Cap apart from the era he belongs to. This list throws light on some interesting facts about Captain America that every fan must know.
1. Steve Rogers’ Career
Steve Rogers wasn’t headstrong about joining the military from day one as it was shown in the MCU. He aspired to be a writer and a comic book artist. He even took a course in the art to pursue his dreams until World War II arrived. That’s when he decided to leave his pen and get on the battlefield. Initially, he faced a lot of rejections from the military which compelled him to volunteer for the Super Soldier Serum. However, Cap did become an artist later in his life.
2. Sparked Political Uproar
Captain America was published at a time when the US had still not entered World War II. The cover where Cap punches Hitler had fueled many controversies and hatred from everywhere. The character’s artist and writer, Jack Kirby and Joe Simon were subjected to lethal threats. But lucky for them that the Mayor of New York was a fan of their work and assured them support and protection.
3. He Wasn’t Named Captain America At First
While Captain America was being sketched and conceptualized by Joe Simon, he had come up with several names. His first choice was “Super American” for the powerful American superhero. However, he had his doubts about the name and therefore added more alternatives. Joe Simon knew better than giving another hero the title of “Super”. He wanted something new and unique like “Captain”, and that’s when the name was born. Steve’s best friend, Bucky was named after Simon’s friend, Bucky Pierson.
4. First Generation American
Steve’s parents were Iris immigrants who moved to America where he was born. He was the first of his generation to be born in the United States.
5. He Doesn’t Have Superpowers
Cap is a Marvel superhero of Earth but he doesn’t have any superpowers. He was exposed to the Super Soldier Serum that enhanced his human abilities but didn’t confer on him any new superpower. The serum aided in pushing his speed, stamina, immunity, agility, and strength to their highest potentials ever witnessed by a mortal.
6. Government Scandals Affected Him
Captain America’s change in political stance and belief in the government was reflected on his uniform in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Civil War, and Avengers: Infinity War. With every movie, his associations with the government, SHIELD, and Avengers were stripped of his uniform. By the time, Infinity War came out, all the blue and red and the ‘A’ from his helmet were taken off.
Something similar happened in the comic books after the Vietnam and Watergate scandal which forced the President to resign. His beliefs in the government were put in question and as a result, he decided to take the blue and red strips off his uniform and become Nomad. He became an independent hero and continued to save mankind from danger.
7. Not The First Avenger
Contrary to popular belief and the MCU movie title, Captain America: The First Avenger, Steve Rogers isn’t the first Avenger after all. Cap was born in the ‘40s, long before the Avengers was founded. He fought in World War II and was later frozen under the sea. He remained in that state even after the Avengers was founded in the 1960s. He didn’t appear in The Avengers comic books until the fourth issue.
8. Other Caps Before Him
The name Steve Rogers and Captain America are associated with the US government and World War II. But the original and first Captain America was Steven Rogers from the Colonial Era who fought for the freedom of his nation during the Revolution. His uniform was similar to that of his popular successor of the 20th century with the blue, white, and red stripes and the Shield. However, this Shield was made of iron and couldn’t protect the hero during the war. He fought through the American Revolution and sacrificed his life during the final battle.
9. Captain America’s To-Do List
It’s cute to watch Steve Rogers feel out of time in the 21st Century with his Avengers friends. It’s even cuter to watch how hard he tries to keep up with them and with everything else that he missed in the years he was frozen. He maintained a little to-do list which recorded some of the major names, songs, movies, business, and political revolution. This list was different in every country where Captain America: The Winter Soldier was released.
10. Received The Shield From The President
In the movie, Captain America got his Shield right after he took the Super Soldier Serum. Naturally, the film couldn’t beat around the bush for so long. But the Cap from the pages didn’t get his famous Shield so fast. Captain was awarded the Vibranium Shield by the 32nd President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
11. His Deaths
As mentioned above, Cap doesn’t have superpowers, making him susceptible to death. However, being a comic book character rewards you with many lives and resurrection. Apart from being frozen under the water for decades, Cap has met painful deaths many times in the comic books. Once he was brutally shot multiple times by an assassin who wanted to rescue Winter Soldier. In another instance, his insides were severely damaged due to the Super Soldier Serum.
12. His Successors
Just like the MCU passed on Captain America’s Shield to Sam Wilson on his retirement in Avengers: Endgame, the comic books have also seen many successors of the hero. Whenever the Marvel superhero was running out of strength and powers or simply chose to stand down, new heroes like Bucky Barnes, Sam Wilson, Clint Barton, Danielle Cage, Scott Summers, William Naslund, and many more showed up for the duty.
