I don’t like bullies. I don’t care where they’re from.
– Chris Evans as Steve Rogers to Dr. Abraham Erskine, Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
Before I saw Captain America: The First Avenger in 2011, I was pretty much over the MCU and comic book movies in general. I had gone into theaters again and again, hoping to see my favorite comic book character well-represented on the screen, only to leave the theaters feeling underwhelmed and dejected. (Like many of you, I had been reading and collecting comic books since the eighties, and like many of you, I did not like most movie adaptations of my favorite comic book titles.) Warner Brothers seemed determined to ruin every DC comic book character, from Batman to Green Lantern, and Marvel was doing only slightly better. Robert Downey Jr., Edward Norton, and Chris Hemsworth were all good in their roles, but the MCU still seemed to lack that comic book magic that only nerds like me seemed to grok.
Until I saw Captain America: The First Avenger, I remember wondering if Captain America might be the last straw. That was before I saw the movie, but afterward, my faith in the MCU was restored. Was it corny? Yes, it was mercilessly earnest and forthright, but that’s accurate to the comic books. Chris Evans portrayed one of the most iconic Marvel characters perfectly, and it didn’t seem to play too heavily into the patriotic bullshit that can make Steve Rogers seem like a one-dimensional character. It’s important to remember that before the MCU, Tony “Iron Man” Stark was a second-tier superhero in Marvel comics. He was most popular as a member of the Avengers or various other teams, but Spider-Man, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, X-Men, Thor, and even Dr. Strange were all bigger deals than Iron Man, but the MCU changed the literary landscape of the Marvel superheroes. In doing so, the Marvel movies messed with the superhero dynamics of the Marvel universe. Perhaps, I should have realized that Kevin Feige’s plans for the MCU would extend much farther than the world(s) of the Avengers, but I was feeling fairly jaded about Hollywood’s regular failures to create cohesive live action shared superhero universes (whereas the animated titles were extremely successful—even DC had excellent animated shows and movies).
On the other hand, the Captain America filmmakers actually seemed to understand Steve Rogers aka Cap, the hero with a heart of gold. I read that the director Joe Johnston did extensive research before production started, reading as many Captain America comic books as he could find, guaranteeing greater comprehension of the character, as exemplified in the following scene: before being given the experimental super soldier serum, undersized Steve Rogers and his platoon are running drills in basic training, when an irritable Colonel Chester Phillips throws a grenade among the platoon, creating havoc as almost everyone runs for cover—except for Steve Rogers, who throws himself on the grenade to save his platoon from harm; when tiny rail-thin Steve Rogers doesn’t explode and everyone realizes that Colonel Phillips had thrown a dummy grenade, Steve Rogers’s worthiness of the super soldier serum is confirmed, and Steve Rogers becomes Captain America. Rogers was always first to a fight, to stand up to bullies and oppressors, to defend the weak and the innocent. Captain America represents the best in humanity, what all of us should be—selfless, courageous, compassionate, generous, honest, kind, vigilant—essentially the opposite of Donald Trump in almost every conceivable way, to which his orangeness would say, “Actually, I see a lot of myself in Captain America, he’s blonde and he’s tall and he’s blonde, very blonde, like me, because I’m blonde and I’m tall, a lot of people don’t know this, but I’m a lot like Lincoln, who was tall, and I’m also blonde, natural hair color, I have great genes, the best genes, but Lincoln had a beard, so you know, there are differences, too.”
The second great hero-defining moment in Captain America: The First Avenger happens when Steve was aboard the HYDRA Valkyrie bomber, which was headed for New York City to destroy the “world’s greatest city.” Steve couldn’t turn off the Valkyrie’s autopilot, so instead manually piloted the bomber to crash into the ice of Greenland before entering a populated area; to save millions of lives, Steve Rogers chose to sacrifice his life and his chance to be with the woman he loved. Seventy years later, Steve woke in a SHIELD facility just off Times Square in Manhattan, giving him the opportunity first hand to appreciate the future his sacrifice helped to ensure. It was incredibly important that the Marvel Cinematic Universe establish Captain America as a hero above reproach, to stand as the counterweight to Iron Man’s glossy all-American entrepreneurialism, and against Thor’s well-meaning brashness, Captain America represented a level-headed battle tactician. Captain America was the only person with the unwavering certainty to stand up to both the Mighty Thor and Tony Stark, the “invincible” Iron Man, whose equally great resolves helped create dynamic tension that will be tough to beat in future MCU movies.
Rosliw Tor Raekül 