The First Avenger is an MCU high point

It’s been 10 years this week since Captain America: The First Avenger came out and – more than any other film from the early “phases” – established the strongest foundations of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: namely a healthy distrust of large and powerful institutions.

It’s hard to believe that the now sprawling, interconnected MCU stumbled while trying to gain a foothold just a decade ago. It wasn’t until The First Avenger, the fifth MCU title, that a defining ethos began to develop. Even though the first Captain America movie is so (relatively) late in the game, it really feels like the beginning of something new.

Especially in retrospect, we see that the last piece of the puzzle is exactly where it belongs. The inevitable team-up of the Avengers (teased in the title) suddenly makes sense, paving the way for over 20 films and a number of original series on Disney Plus in the following decade.

Director Joe Johnson drafts an exciting and captivating genesis that is worth revisiting as a defining entry in the MCU canon. Johnson was a good choice. He’s picking up where he left off 20 years ago with his excellent and underrated The Rocketeer, a kind of Captain America / Iron Man prototype that now reads like an undeniable forerunner of the MCU.

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warning: This story includes a discussion of the main plot points from Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Endgame, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and other Marvel Cinematic Universe titles. Potential spoilers ahead!

Captain America: A hero is born

Building Captain America: The First Avenger is refreshingly simple. As World War II rages on, the American government seeks an added advantage by developing a super soldier program and upgrading its fighters to make them, well, great.

Come in, Steve Rogers, a skinny boy from Brooklyn who, despite his asthma and general lack of physical abilities, is dying to get involved in the war effort and make a difference. Chris Evans is doing a great job. Reduced in size and stature with eerie CGI, he immediately reads as the type we should get excited about. More known for playing Jocks in Not Another Teen Movie and Fantastic Four from 2011, Evans instantly embodies Steve Rogers’ underdog goodness.

Given the serum, Steve becomes a huge hero guy ready to fight the Nazis and Red Skull, Germany’s very own super soldier, disfigured by an early super soldier serum prototype. But Steve doesn’t change. At least not his character and identity, as well as his body. He continues to face bullies and fight for what he believes in, not because he has the upper hand now, but because he always has. Steve doesn’t care about the odds if his intentions are good.

And it is not used as a puppet. The government initially portrays Steve as a propaganda tool singing and dancing on stage to sell war bonds. This is not for Steve. Instead, he goes to war and fights against orders himself. He is not against symbols (as his American flag costume can attest), but he also needs action to support those symbols. What good is a sign if it’s just a support?

The hero inside

Doing the right thing, regardless of the cost, is a theme that runs through the film. Erskine, the scientist who developed the super soldier serum, sees something in Steve that is far more precious and noble than raw strength or patriotism.

“I don’t like bullies. I don’t care where they’re from, ”Steve tells Erskine when they first meet. Erskine isn’t just a government lawsuit out to win. He is a German defector who fights his own demons and hopes to be able to make a difference. Erskine has been lied to by politicians before. He saw Hitler corrupt his country and take advantage of the fears and insecurities of his people after the First World War. He is suspicious of those who believe they have all the answers and tell him exactly what he wants to hear.

Erskine loves his homeland as much as Steve loves his, but this is not about America versus Germany. It’s about what’s right. America is a convenient tool to help him fight an impossible power. But Steve stands for something more. He is a real outsider who stands up for what is right, even if it means that he knocks out for it in an alley. He’s seen power abused, and that’s why Erskine trusts him.

Steve’s best friend Bucky sees something similar in him. He doesn’t follow Captain America into battle. He follows “the little guy from Brooklyn who was too stupid not to run away from an argument.”

Avengers unite

As a prelude to The Avengers of 2012 and the MCU phases that follow, Captain America: The First Avenger has done quite a bit of work. Starting with Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk in 2008, followed by Iron Man 2 in 2010 and Thor in 2011, the MCU originally focused on very personal travel.

The films certainly had their strengths. Iron Man deals with personal responsibility for systemic ills, but it’s primarily about a man’s growth. Despite a military enemy, The Incredible Hulk is a story of internal conflict. It can be read as a metaphor for male aggression or simply to find inner calm and balance. Thor was perhaps the loneliest of them all. Although the Norse god of thunder comes to earth, he tries to impress his father and regain his place as king in Asgard.

While short scenes provoked a possible team-up, the films weren’t particularly cohesive. But after The First Avenger, a common theme emerged. Captain America, frozen during the war and brought back to the present, would be the symbol to unite an abundance of heroes for a common cause.

Thor would continue to challenge the power and dark history of Asgard himself. Steve would continue to fight irresponsible institutions like the government-run SHIELD, which has been corrupted by Nazi-affiliated HYDRA. Black Panther challenged his nation’s isolationist practices.

Tony Stark (Iron Man) would eventually tear the Avengers apart to consolidate power to protect Earth. His break with Steve connected directly to the lessons of The First Avenger. How can you stand up for the little guy if you only know how to be the big guy?

Captain America and the road to the endgame

Captain America has one of the most satisfying character arcs in the MCU.

He was a real outsider at first, seeing how systems are built to benefit the strong. While trying to do good within these systems (the military, SHIELD), he ultimately refused to obey rules for their own sake and did what to do, sanctioned or not.

As Tony Stark eventually sacrificed himself for the common good and learned selflessness, at the end of Avengers: Endgame we saw Steve finally stop fighting and accept some measure of peace in his life. The skinny boy we saw standing up again and again when he was knocked down gave himself permission to retire. He grew old with the love of his life and passed his shield on to the next champion of the oppressed.

Captain America in phase 4 and beyond

The nice thing about Captain America: The First Avenger and everything it represents is that it doesn’t rely on Steve Rogers or any individual.

Steve had a good life without a doubt. But what mattered was his mission. He realized that he had a right to a life outside of combat.

Now the fight continues. The new Captain America, anointed in the Disney Plus series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, is Sam Wilson, who fought alongside Steve as one of the Avengers. Sam is reluctant to accept the title and even refuses it for a while. As a black man, he worries about how Captain America and the entire Super Soldier program prioritized whiteness and supported racist institutions in America.

This is the legacy of Captain America within the MCU, which started 10 years ago in The First Avenger. Fighting for the little one means always keeping the big one in check. It means not just obeying orders. Don’t automatically take your own country’s side. That tension is the heart and soul of the MCU. This will hopefully guide Phase 4 and beyond as we meet new heroes like the Eternals, Shang-Chi, and more. This is what Captain America: The First Avenger stands for.

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