CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER marks the final Marvel Comic’s origin story before Joss Whedon’s highly-anticipated AVENGERS. This promises be the biggest cinematic crossover since ALIEN VS PREDATOR, though hopefully nowhere near as disappointing.
Although Chris Evans has already stepped into the boots of one Marvel superhero (FANTASTIC 4’s Johnny Storm), he takes the titular role here, along with support from Tommy Lee Jones and Hugo Weaving. For those unfamiliar with ol’ Cap’ and his place his the comic-book world, here’s a brief history of one of Marvel’s oldest and most patriotic characters.
Born on 4th July 1920, Steve Rogers was the son of poor Irish immigrants who both died before he was 20. He was a sick and frail young man growing up during the Great Depression. When World War II exploded, Rogers was horrified by events he heard about on the wireless. He tried to enlist in the US Army but was rejected due to his poor health. However, General Chester Phillips witnessed Rogers’ passionate plea to serve his country and invited him to participate in Operation Rebirth, a top-secret, performance-enhancing experiment. Agreeing to be involved, Rogers headed to a secret laboratory to meet Dr Abraham Erksine, the creator of the Super Soldier Serum. After weeks of testing on Rogers, Dr Erksine finally administered the formula and Steve Rogers emerged from the testing chamber as a perfect specimen of peak human condition. Unfortunately only minutes after Rogers emerged from the chamber, a Nazi spy – who had just witnessed the transformation – murdered Dr Erksine. As there was no complete written record of the Super Soldier Serum, Rogers was left as the only living example of Dr Erksine’s genius experiment.
Rogers then went through extensive physical and mental training that ranged from gymnastics and combat to military strategy. The United States government decided that Steve Rogers could be a huge asset against the imposing Nazi war machine and decided to use his unique abilities as a symbol of propaganda to counteract that of the infamous Nazi agent Red Skull, who had been tearing his way through Europe. Rogers was given a costume modeled on the American flag and the codename ‘Captain America’. He was also issued a steel diamond-shaped shield and a sidearm, until President Roosevelt gave him the legendary disc shield that also functioned as an impressive offensive weapon. Rogers was then sent to boot camp, under the guise of a clumsy infantryman. It was here that he befriended teenager James ‘Bucky’ Barnes, who accidentally learned of Rogers’ secret identity. Bucky offered to keep the information to himself on the condition that he could train and become Captain America’s sidekick, to which Rogers naturally agreed.
Throughout World War II, Captain America and Bucky fought both the Japanese and the Nazi’s, as well as other threats to America, and sometimes as part of the super-hero team ‘The Invaders’. During the closing days of World War II, Bucky and Captain America were caught in an explosion that was thought to have claimed both their lives. It wasn’t until the 1960s that Rogers’ frozen body was found in the North Atlantic (by the newly-formed super team The Avengers), apparently having survived because of his Operation Rebirth enhancements. Rogers was then invited to join The Avengers and, despite his time displacement, he quickly became the de facto leader of the team. During this period he battled a revived Red Skull, worked for S.H.I.E.L.D alongside Nick Fury and teamed up with Falcon, one of the first African-American superheroes.
It was during the Secret Empire (Watergate) scandal that Steve Rogers had a crisis of conscience and became disillusioned with his life. He abandoned the Captain America identity and became ‘Nomad’. Following the Red Skull’s murder of the replacement Captain America, Rogers re-assumed his identity, positive that The Cap’ could be a symbol of American ideals rather than governmental.
It was later, after an attack on the Avengers Mansion, in which Rogers lost many of his cherished memories, that he once again became disillusioned with his identity and once again abandoned Captain America to become ‘The Captain’. Rogers even handed his iconic shield over to the replacement, John Walker. As The Captain, Rogers went on to lead a new team of Avengers that included Reed and Sue Richards of the Fantastic Four. Due to Red Skull’s trickery and interference, Rogers’ The Captain and Walker’s Captain America were forced to eventually team up and defeat their common nemesis. Afterwards, Walker resigned from the role and handed the reigns back over to Steve Rogers who took up the mantle of The Cap’ once again.
During the events of Avengers Disassembled, Captain America and the Avengers faced one of their darkest hours. After the destruction of Avengers HQ and the shocking deaths of some of its members, the surviving Avengers were disheveled and decided to part ways. Shortly after this, Rogers discovered that ‘Bucky’ Barnes had also survived the explosion in 1945 and was still alive under the guise of ‘Winter Soldier’. It was later, after the events of House of M, that Captain America formed the New Avengers, with the likes of Wolverine, Luke Cage, and Spider-Man; although this team was to be short-lived due to the superhero Civil War. With the government forcing every superhero to either register their true identity or be arrested, superheroes were divided in their opinion and lifelong friends became enemies in the blink of an eye. Rogers considered that the Superhuman Registration Act was encroachment on the civil liberties he had fought for and upheld for most of his life. Rogers lead the anti-registration resistance and became a fugitive, even going as far as to enlist the help of unsavoury characters such as The Punisher and Kingpin. Rogers also battled his friend and fellow Avenger, Iron Man, who led the opposing side. Rogers soon realised he was endangering the very people he has sworn to protect, and ordered the resistance to stand down and surrendered himself to Iron Man.
After the Civil War, Steve Rogers was charged with numerous criminal offences and was ordered to attend court in restraints. Red Skull had other plans for the beloved Captain America and ordered Rogers’ assassination. He was shot multiple times on the courthouse steps and succumbed to his wounds in hospital. Although he was given a public state funeral, Rogers’ body was secretly taken back to the Arctic – the same place The Avengers had originally found him in the 1960s.
During this time, Bucky took up the veil of Captain America using Rogers’ original disc shield, albeit with a new costume. However, it was discovered that Steve Rogers had not died, but in fact had been transported by Red Skull to a fixed position in time and space. Red Skull then brought Rogers back to the present day, where a weakened Rogers managed to overcome and defeat the Red Skull. Following his return to the present, Captain Steve Rogers re-established the Avengers and managed to restore the Super Soldier Serum to his body. Rogers’ also became the leader of the Secret Avengers, a covert black-ops team. In May 2011, Marvel has stated that Steve Rogers is set to resume his Captain America identity following Bucky’s tenure.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER is out now in cinemas. THE AVENGERS is set for release on 4th May 2012.
