Captain America Young

A cynic might say that the film makers were over-emphasizing an All-American gung-ho patriotism in a post-9/11, post-Bush economic crisis era when anti-Americanism was beginning to creep in across the pond. A misstep would have jeopardized their box office takings and the success of the Avengers movies due to come out a year later. Fortunately, Joe Johnston kept the escapist drama in check, and Chris Evans underplays his role to great effect. His skinny, asthmatic hero is as believable hunching over the controls of a bomber fuselage as he is barreling through agents of HYDRA with his mighty ricocheting shield. Hayley Atwell and Sebastian Stan are also good, but it’s Evans’ performance that makes this movie memorable.

The story begins with Cap being rejected for the Army as a 4-F because of his puny physique. But he tries a second time, and this time is accepted. He is then injected with a serum that will make him as physically superior to a normal person as he is mentally superior to an enemy of the state.

The serum turns him into Captain America, and he spends seven decades fighting war criminals and terrorists while acclimating to modern times and forming relationships with S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives like Natasha Romanoff (AKA Black Widow) and USAF operative Sam Wilson. His old-man days came to an end in 2016’s Avengers: Standoff! a crossover event that revolved around the secret S.H.I.E.L.D town of Pleasant Hills solely populated by brainwashed evil villains who had regained their memories. During this battle, Crossbones drained Rogers of the super-soldier serum, and the older Cap was forced into his supposed age.