Captain America

The only way I can think of utilzing the last passion blog is by dedicating it to the First Avenger, Captain America. Steve Rogers was always a scrawny but courageous kid from Brooklyn just trying to make the world a better place. He ended up being a hero in World War II, a savior of the modern world, a fugitive, and even worthy to handle the mighty hammer of Mjolnir. Rogers was the epitome of a hero and an American, standing up for his beliefs and his ideals, while saving lives in the mean time. Cap led the Avengers throughout, and sacrificed every piece of him that he could offer until the very end.

Captain America was always a patriot but unfortunately was rejected from the militairy many times due to his fragility and health issues. Rogers constantly argued with his friend Bucky Barnes, who is already enlisted,  about how one day he will be able to serve in the militairy alongside him. Steve always focused on joining the army so that he could help people. A scientist of the SSR, Strategic Scientific Reserve, named Abraham Erskine gives Rogers the all-clear to enter the super soldier program. Due to his physical attributes being enhanced, Erskine needed a soldier with pure will and determination for the project. Throughtout training led by Agent Peggy Carter, Rogers showed exempelary progress as a soldier and a candidate, showing bravery, courage, and that he deserved to be the super soldier. Meanwhile in Nazi Germany, the science branch known as Hydra had rose to power using revolutionary power and methods to create futuristic weapons to prevail in World War II for the Axis Powers. Hydra is led by a man named Johan Schmitt, who is attempting to recreate the super solider serum on himself. In doing so, Schmitt turned his skeleton red, and his skin and muscle above the skull decayed. Back in America, Rogers undergoes the super soldier experiment and becomes taller and bigger in muscle mass, he also gains increased strenght, speed and stamina. A Hydra agent hidden in the facility tries to steal the serum, and kills Erskine in the process. Cap chases him down only for the agent to kill himself with a cyanide pill. Rogers is left back as the SSR is directed to enter the war and fight Hydra so that he may be studied on. Rogers instead becomes a symbol of hope for the war, raising donations for the war efforts under the name of Captain America. Rogers goes over seas to boost the morale of the soldiers, where he again meets Agent Carter. He learns that Bucky is missing along with his crew, so Rogers single-handedly went to go free them. Rogers does so, causing havor throughout the entire Hydra base and saved the squadron. Cap, Bucky, and a group of freed captives known as the Houling Commandos celebrated thier freedom by liberating other Hydra outposts, until only Schmitt’s remained. In an attemtp to ctach Schmitt’s right hand man, Arnim Zola, a high speed train pursuit takes place, and Bucky Barnes falls from the train to his death. Zola is captured, reveals the final locaion, and Rogers leads an assault on the base. The SSR rips through Hydra, leading Schmitt to evacuate with an object known as the Tesseract, an object of immense extroardinary power. Schmitt, known as the Red Skull, tries to absorb the power and create mass destruction. He is disintegrated leaving Rogers to divert the plane and save lives. Rogers sacrifices his life, crashing the plane into the arctic ocean, and freezing himself. This preserves Cap into modern times around 2010, where Nick Fury introduces Cap to an organziation we are very familair with here at An Antiheroe’s Anecdote, S.H.I.E.L.D.

The First Avenger finally got to meet the rest of the team in the first Avengers. Rogers is approached in a Brooklyn gym by Nick Fury where he is told to suit up for a mission. Rogers meets the new team aboard a helicarrier, where they are briefed on the matter at hand. A god named Loki was ravaging through the country after stealing one of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s favorite toys, the Tesseract from the first Captain America. The team finds Loki’s location, at a formal party overseas, and after a brief altercation where Captain America used the gift of gab to school Loki’s dictator-like speech over the civilains, the god of mischief is detained. However, on the way back, Loki’s brother Thor steals Loki from the ship in an attempt to arrest him for crimes committed in Asgard, the brothers’ homeland. Iron Man and Captain America follow after him, where Tony and Thor begin brawling, and Cap tries to intercede. In doing so, Thor smashes his mighty Mjolnir onto Cap’s vibranium shield, made by Howard Stark, and the clashing reuslts in a sonic boom, wiping out the trees around them. Thor tags along with the Avengers, ultimately joining them, and Loki is brought on the helicarrier. The team divides as secrets withheld by S.H.I.E.L.D. are revealed by Tony, and after Cap finds Hydra weapons on board, joins the bombardment. Even Tony and Cap begin to argue, with Thor joining in, until the helicarrier was attacked. Captain America and Iron Man teamed up to restore the generators as well as one of the wings keeping the helicarrier in flight. Loki escapes but his minions are defeated including one of The Avengers named Clint Barton otherwise known as Hawkeye. The Avengers begin to track Loki and find out that he is in New York City. after figuring out that Loki has a flair for the dramatic, they realize that he’s trying to put on a show for the rest of the world and prove that he is powerful. in doing so The Avengers understand that Loki plans to use Tony Starks tower as a base of operations. after investigation they find Erik Selvig, who is under mind controlled by Loki, building a portal to the Chitauri mothership. Loki plans to open a portal above New York City and unleashed the race of Chitauri to destroy it. Captain America and the rest of The Avengers fend off some of the chitauri while Tony Stark begins to banter with Loki inside of his penthouse. Rogers starts commanding the police while also wiping out many of the chitauri, and establishes his role as leader of The Avengers in commanding them against the invaders. after many aliens are taken out, and Iron Man pushes the nuke into the wormhole (which you could read more about in our first post dedicated to Iron Man), Captain America and the rest of The Avengers confront Loki and apprehend his staff which is given to S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel. Following the victory, the team go for a celebratory shawarma feast at a nearby restaurant. S.H.I.E.L.D. besides to keep The Avengers in touch and following the world-renowned respect and love for The Avengers now earned for their valiant effort against the Chitauri, S.H.I.E.L.D. recognizes The Avengers as not a threat, but as heroes. little do they know, S.H.I.E.L.D. themselves would be the ones that could not be trusted. 

If you don’t get rid of your demons oftentimes, they will come back to haunt you. Steve Rogers this means a lot more than just a few accidents in the past. The Nazi group known as Hydra had reestablished themselves within S.H.I.E.L.D. After Nick fury shows Steve Rogers project insight, which reveals the creation of three new helicarriers, that will be able to use facial recognition and high caliber weapons to destroy evil before they commit a crime. if in the wrong hands it could be extremely detrimental and millions possibly even billions could lose their lives which was the argument that Steve Rogers made against project insight. later Steve Rogers returns to his apartment and here’s that there is an intruder inside. Steve takes precaution only to find a bleeding Nick Fury sitting in his lounge chair. fury is writing messages for Steve to read so that no one can overhear them. in doing so Fury tells Rogers that  S.H.I.E.L.D. is compromised. following a small discussion, a sniper shot flies in from Steve’s window, piercing Nick Fury’s chest and killing him. Steve chases after the culprit, a man with a metal arm and a lot more eye shadow than necessary. Steve meets his friend and fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. operative named Natasha Romanoff otherwise known as the Black Widow, where they’re both confirmed by a doctor that Nick Fury is dead.  Captain America returns to the triskelion where project insight is continuing and is told by a man named Rumlow that Alexander Pierce, the world secretary of security, is expecting him. Captain America retrieves a USB from Nick Fury and hides it out of suspicion. After trying to leave the building Rogers is assaulted by Rumlow as well as a few other S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives. Steve gets the USB back and teams up with Black Widow yet again to continue their search. their search leads them to camp Lehigh where Captain America had been chosen for the Super soldier project. there they find an ancient computer system with a conscience. The conscience is assumed by old Hydra scientist Arnim Zola. Zola explains to the pair that Hydra had been living inside of S.H.I.E.L.D. this entire time and using project insight to finally make their mark on the modern world. Zola explains how Hydra has been secretly pulling the strings this entire time, and that S.H.I.E.L.D. it had always been a cover for Hydra. The building is targeted by a missile, but Romanoff and Rogers survive. afterwards they go to a friend of Rogers house named Sam Wilson otherwise known as the Falcon. They not only use the Falcons house as a base of operations but they in list the Falcon on their road to fighting Hydra. the three storm the triskelion, only to be infiltrated by the man who had killed Nick fury. This man goes by the name as The Winter Soldier and is leading a group of other mercenaries against the trio. The three are arrested and placed inside of a van with two guards. one guard stands the other garden reveals herself to be Maria Hill the right-hand woman of Nick Fury. Hill leads the group to a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. location where Nick Fury is alive and well. The remaining agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. prepare for an all-out battle, where Hydra led by Alexander Pierce pry into the mind of Bucky Barnes, who was secretly the Winter Soldier. Hydra erases Bucky’s memory so that he would forget that he was lifelong friends with Steve Rogers. The people aligned with shield and Hydra divide within the triskelion as the group of Falcon, Captain America, and the Black Widow make their appearance known. Black Widow infiltrates Alexander Pierce’s meeting with some of the world highest council members and make Pierce surrender. fury arrives via helicopter and reminds Pierce that he’s always one step ahead of him. Both scan their retina so that Black Widow can unveil all S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra’s files to the Internet. Meanwhile Falcon and Captain America take out the Heli carriers one by one. on the last helicarrier Captain America finds conflict with The Winter Soldier. Rogers refuses to fight with one of his lifelong friends and decides to instead beat him to a pulp, try and get him to remember who he is. Rogers and Barnes lay on the floor as the helicarrier crashes into the ocean surrounding the triskelion. Rogers is assumed dead until Barnes drags him from the river, leaving him on the shore and going on his own path to figure out who he really is. Fury decides to keep his status as dead unbeknownst to the public and holds a fake funeral for him. Bucky travels to the Smithsonian where he finds an exhibit about Captain America and the howling commandos, where he learns more about himself as a soldier in World War Two and more importantly as captain America’s most trusted friend. It is then hinted that another Hydra superior officer named Baron Wolfgang von Strucker is attempting to recreate the same experiments that red skull was doing in World War Two. with a little bit more Intel from the Agents of Shield TV show, the Avengers raid Wolfgang von Strucker’s base in the next Avengers franchise film.

The Avengers team up once more to drain out any more Hydra personel left in the world. The most important at the time is Wolfgang Von strucker, who is performing experiments on people using the staff of Loki, apprehended by S.H.I.E.L.D. in the first Avengers film. Captain America as well as the rest of The Avengers teamed up and took down many Hydra forces storming the base in Germany. once breached Captain America took on von Strucker himself and apprehended him while Iron Man took the staff from its pedestal. During their conflict The Avengers met up with two villains with superpowers. one was a young girl who can move items with her mind while the other one was able to run at supersonic speed. The Avengers returned home for a party at Starks penthouse. the party featured many of the normal Avengers teammates such as the Falcon, Rhodey, and even Stan Lee doing a cameo as a veteran. The Avengers got into a little bit of a competition trying to lift Thor’s hammer Mjolnir. Brody and stark tried to use their Iron Man suits to do so, Bruce banner pretended to use the Hulk’s force, Black Widow refused to participate, the only one who can move it a smidge was Captain America. a little behind the scenes fact tells us that that is because he is holding back a secret that is revealed to us during Captain America: Civil War. During the party’s conclusion a robot of starts had burst into the room commanding his presence. seem to have a mind of his own and as if he was being powered by some sort of artificial intelligence, which was weird as banner and stark had just created an all-powerful artificial intelligence to act as “a shield around the world”. This AI named Ultron went onto the Internet for a mere 5 minutes and saw all the disaster that humanity has caused and represents. It just goes to show you a lot about who we are as people. Ultron recognized the biggest threat to humanity were The Avengers who continued to save them. he then attempted to take them out using other stark industries issued robots. Ultron is destroyed but his mind is transported through the Internet into a facility in Sokovia. it is here that Ultron builds an army of other robots. The Avengers try to track down Ultron and track him down to a man named Ulysses Klaue, who was a known smuggler of vibranium. Ultron had hoped to build himself a body of vibranium and power it with the essence inside of Loki’s staff, which in fact was the mind stone. The Avengers and Ultron clash when Ultron tries to strike a deal with Klaue and ultimately chops off his hand. The Avengers are then attacked by Quicksilver who quickly disarms them, otherwise known as the boy who could run fast, the girl who can move things with their mind, or Scarlet Witch, made every Avenger see their worst nightmare except for Hawkeye. Captain America So what his life would have been like if he never went into the ice, and if he finally got to live the life, he wanted with the girl he was in love with. He was emotional before coming back to reality, where Ultron was again destroyed but replaced with another body through the Internet. Tony goes to battle the Hulk after he goes on a rage following scarlet witch is interference with his mind, and when he returns, they go to a S.H.I.E.L.D. safe house with the rest of The Avengers. it turns out that the safe house was Clint Barton’s farmhouse with the rest of his family inside. Thor leaves after encountering a vision of scarlet witch’s, and decides to act upon it, and the rest of The Avengers contemplate their next move. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, otherwise known as Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, uncover ultron’s true plans for reality. it revealed that even though they don’t trust The Avengers after Starks missile had killed their parents, they would rather side with them than a homicidal robot. The Avengers, with the help of the Maximoff Twins, steal the body that Ultron had planned to use for himself, and try to make another robot. they insert Jarvis, iron man’s AI system, into the body and before they could animate the body Captain America interferes. in the middle of the fight, Thor returns and animates the body himself using his lightning. the red figure emerges, and instantly grabs Mjolnir, proving that he is worthy enough to be trusted. he is known as the Vision, and he helps The Avengers, and the Maximoff Twins fight against Ultron. The Avengers travel to sokovia where Black Widow is being held. Ultron uses hundreds of jet boosters to send the city miles into the sky. The Avengers, alongside one of Nick fury’s Heli carriers, evacuate the city and continue their brawl with the artificial intelligence. While Hawkeye tries to save a young boy’s life Quicksilver steps in front of an attack and is killed from the bullet wounds. This causes scarlet witch to go on a rampage destroying hundreds of robots at a time. The Avengers can place sokovia back down on the ground, but there were still many casualties. the nearby forest vision destroys the last of the Ultron robots. Hulk disappears on the Quinjet, most of The Avengers retire except for Captain America and Black Widow, will continue to train the new recruits which consists of Scarlet Witch, Falcon, War Machine, and Vision. Despite the happy ending, the detriment in Sokovia will come back to haunt The Avengers.

The Avengers are tested when controversy and personal trial intervenes as well as a international restriction on superpowers. the new Avengers are off on a mission to stop the smuggling of a bio nuclear chemical weapon by Rumlow, now known as Crossbones, in Lagos. Crossbones Attempts to kill himself with a suicide vest but the explosion is contained by scarlet witch. her powers overwhelm her any explosion is released destroying the building and killing many of the workers from Wakanda. Steve Rogers consoles Wanda and tells her that mistakes happen, and it makes people better heroes. Meanwhile Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross explains that since the explosion occurred The United Nations has barred The Avengers from working privately and will need to sign the Sokovia Accords which gives all jurisdiction of The Avengers to the United Nations, as well as document a rapid growing number of enhanced individuals. Captain America believes that signing the accords is basically surrendering what they had planned to do Meanwhile Tony Stark disagrees saying that The Avengers have caused numerous lives in collateral damage. during the debate, Steve Rogers learns that his old love, Peggy Carter had passed away in her sleep. A man named Helmut Zemo continues to learn about a mission in 1991 performed by Hydra. Zemo plans to rip The Avengers apart by revealing secretive information. The United Nations meet to sign the Sokovia Accords, but during a speech from King of T’Chaka of Wakanda, a bomb goes off killing the King and many other UN representatives. It is rumored that The Winter Soldier is to blame, like the fact that Bucky Barnes was not a man of violence anymore. Bucky is captured after an altercation between Captain America, Falcon. and Prince T’Chala as the Black Panther. While imprisoned, Zemo poses as a psychiatrist and reads the signal words that activate the sleeper agent within The Winter Soldier. This causes Bucky Barnes to relive his moments as The Winter Soldier and try to escape the facility before being apprehended by Steve Rogers. he reveals to Rogers that Helmut he’s headed to a Hydra facility in Siberia that contains five other winter soldiers. Captain America understands that he needs more firepower to defeat him and pause upon the retired Clint Barton to free Wanda Maximoff from The Avengers facility. Rogers also recruits Scott Lang also known as Ant-Man. Captain America tries to flee Germany and get to Siberia but is stopped by Iron Man and his compatriots, including a new hero named Spiderman. a large brawl ensues but ultimately Captain America and The Winter Soldier can escape thanks to Black Widow’s betrayal. The rest of Steve Rogers’ team is apprehended and arrested for their crimes. Captain America and Bucky Barnes reach Siberia but are met by Iron Man, who thanks to a recent discovery learns that Bucky Barnes could not have been the one to cause the explosion at the UN, as Zemo had left all the evidence in his Berlin hotel room on purpose. The three continue through the facility find the five sleeper agents murdered in their tanks. Zemo stands behind a wall and explains to the trio that he alone could not have destroyed The Avengers, which he wanted to do because his family was murdered when Sokovia collapsed. he then plays a video of Bucky Barnes as The Winter Soldier murdering Howard and Maria Stark, Tony’s parents. it is revealed that Captain America had been keeping the secret that he knew that Bucky had killed Tony’s parents. it is this secret that prevents Steve from wielding Mjolnir Age of Ultron. The three begin to fight with each other with Iron Man opposing the other two. pieces of iron man’s armor are chipped away but Tony ultimately prevents The Winter Soldier from a scaping before doing damage. using his arc reactor, Tony blows off the winter soldier’s metal arm. Captain America then incapacitates Tony Stark ripping off his mask and destroying his arc reactor. Tony tells Steve to drop his iconic shield as he does not deserve it and Steve obeys. Steve walks away with the crippled Winter Soldier as Black Panther captures Helmut Zemo on the roof of the facility. Black Panther then agrees to facilitate Bucky Barnes while he rehabilitates due to his unjust anger and accusations. Meanwhile Captain America breaks out every member of his team, except for Hawkeye an Ant-Man who accepts plea deals, from the supermax facility. he explains to Tony via phone call that he will always be there for him no matter what. this promise is tested in captain America’s last two movies in the Marvel cinematic universe.

In Infinity War, Steve Rogers and his band of fugitives are working as antiheroes still doing good around the world without anyone commanding them what to do. first time we see them onscreen is when they defend Vision and Scarlet Witch from the children of Thanos. Captain America and the rest of his squad go meet Rhodes and Bruce Banner. they understand that Thanos is after the Infinity gem within Vision’s head. The squad decides to go to Wakanda to have the stone removed. in the process, Steve reunites with Bucky Barnes now known as the White Wolf, and they fight side by side against the waves of Chitauri until Thanos arrives. Steve goes toe to toe with Thanos, but he’s ultimately thrown aside as Thanos retrievs the last stone from Vision and does his iconic snap that wipes out half of all existence. Steve survives with Black Widow, and Rhodes, but Scarlet Witch, Falcon, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, and Bucky Barnes are among the deceased. In Endgame, Captain America is leading support groups for those who lost loved ones in the snap. he still works alongside the remaining Avengers and plans with them to bring back those they lost. After Ant-Man comes to The Avengers facility and introduces the idea of time travel, Captain America quickly tries to employ Tony Stark and Bruce Banner to help. stark at first refuses, but later returns to the facility with Cap’s old shield and the secret to breaking time travel. Captain America stays alongside Tony Stark the entire time throughout their time traveling adventures, which included a nod to the comic in which he said hail Hydra to Brumlow and Sitwell during the attack of New York, and even getting into a fight with his former self, which he disarmed with the knowledge of Bucky Barnes living status. After running out of Pym particles and still needing the tesseract, cap returns to camp Lehigh retrieve more Pym particles while Tony retrieves the tesseract. this is where Captain America gets the idea of going back to Peggy Carter once this is all over after seeing her office. The Avengers come back to modern day and build the new stark gauntlet, which Hulk uses to bring back all those that were lost. Meanwhile, Thanos from 2011 returns to destroy the entire universe instead of only half of it. Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America team up for the last time as they take on Thanos. Iron Man is thrown away, Captain America’s indestructible shield is broken, and Thor is nearing death from Thanos’ hand when the Mad Titan is struck by Mjolnir. When Mjolnir flies back to its users’ hand, it lands in the palm of Steve Rogers who now possesses the power of Thor. with this new power, Steve Rogers challenges Thanos one on one, and ultimately does more damage than any of the other Avengers did once again showing his bravery and his strength not only in physical form but in his heart. Meanwhile, when the end looked grim, multiple portals opened up with thousands of heroes ready to stand by The Avengers side, all of which were snapped away five years prior. Cap assembles The Avengers, as they charge Thanos and his Chitauri army. Steve Rogers is not seen for most of the battle as the stark gauntlet is passed repeatedly. in the end Tony Stark retrieves the stones, and snaps away Thanos and his army, killing himself in the process. Rogers attends Tony’s funeral Before he is sent back into the past to put back all the stones. When Hulk attempts to pull Steve back through time, he doesn’t show up. as it turns out, Steve went on to live the rest of his life with Peggy Carter and is seen on a park bench nearby as an old, crippled man. he passes on the helm of Captain America to Sam Wilson, who will portray Captain America alongside The Winter Soldier in the upcoming Disney+ series the Falcon and The Winter Soldier. The final Avengers movie fades out Captain America and Peggy Carter dancing, and we see Rogers finally at peace in the world, getting the joy that he finally deserves.

Captain America will always be my favorite Avenger, although it is close between him and Iron Man. The sheer will that he possesses, the courage that he inspires, and the strength of a superhuman really inspire people like me and captivate audiences into watching these movies dozens of times over again like I have. it was Captain America that made me fall in love with the Marvel cinematic universe, and it’s only right that Captain America deserves the last and hopefully the best blog post on the Antiheroes Anecdote. Steve Rogers will always represent the true meaning of an Avenger and the epitome of a hero. 

 

 

“I can do this all day” -Steve “Captain America” Rogers