Captain America the First Avenger it is ten years after arriving at the cinema. It was an event of considerable interest to comic book lovers, but also a challenge for Marvel.
How could the studio adapt a character that is emblematic of a nation without exceeding the accent of patriotism? How could Chris Evans’s Steve Rogers become a symbol of good? The line was very thin and Joe Johnston tried to deal with it with a powerful message. Captain Rogers would be a good man before a great soldier.
The version of the character was a way of assuming the collective good. And although it seems like a premise that exceeds simplicity, in reality Captain America has always been a political symbol.
From the beginning, and thanks to his covers in which he hit Nazis in the face, Captain Rogers has been a complex emblem. Its political relevance has evolved, and the recent Disney Plus series Falcon and the Winter Soldier proves it.
Again, Captain America is debated as a symbol and a form of transition to something more powerful and profound. But for the occasion, Marvel made the decision to add substance to the metaphorical theme. Sam Wilson, a common man, African American and without powers, has a duty to embody the good. He does so reluctantly, but in the end fully aware of his responsibility.
Ten years before, Joe Johnston’s movie he made similar decisions and carefully considered how to create a universal character. Marvel was aware that the title The First Avenger it was not just an advertising formula. It was also a way to establish the character, meaning and future of several of his heroes. And he achieve it.
Captain America and his long transition to an exemplary hero
It is difficult to understand the importance of Captain America the First Avenger after the character’s long journey through the cinema. Especially after the extraordinary Captain America: Civil War, almost unanimously considered one of the best Marvel productions. But the Marvel Cinematic Universe had managed to create the best conditions for his character to develop in an elegant, powerful and brilliant way.
In fact, Joe Johnston’s film is considered the best origin story in the franchise. And not just because of the patient, elaborate and consistent way the director built the character. Also because the screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely emphasized the need for a symbol.
Steve Rogers is the bearer of a shield and an emblem. It is the spirit of a way of doing good related to a certain lifestyle. Steve’s behavior, his way of seeing the world and even the way he understands heroism is a revision to innocence. Also, and following its evolution in the comics, it is a transit towards the way North America is analyzed.
This hero born to metaphorize the integrity of a troubled age, is at the same time the first condition of the Marvel hero. With his perception of the good in its purest form, Steve Rogers wanted to fight for the right. It is also a reflection of the state of mind of the country where he was born.
Do good without patriotism
In an age when Henry Cavill’s Superman murdered on screen and Batman is an enigma, Marvel’s Captain America can seem squishy. Especially when the speeches between the two publishers could not be more different.
DC’s erratic, and often unconvincing Expanded Cinematic Universe has yielded some heroes and scenes of chilling ambiguity. On the other hand, Marvel hardly dares to analyze its heroes and villains from another perspective.
Maybe that’s why, Captain America the First Avenger be a risky experiment. One that tested the character’s ability to transition from comic to film in a cynical age. Steve Rogers is a hero who believes in great ideals, regardless of the country in which he was born.
And at least on screen he is willing to defend the power of good in a sincere and almost innocent way. Steve’s naivety, in contrast to the layers and dimensions of many other characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, surprises. And it comes right from its source movie, the way it managed to show a symbol of heroism and not of nationalism.
‘Captain America: The First Avenger’, the power of good
Steve Rogers has a considerable political past. On his first cover he was shown hitting Adolf Hitler in the face, an unequivocal display of his intentions and plot weight. But for the movies and at a time when America’s image was tarnished, the challenge was to translate that forcefulness into something else.
The answer was to make Steve Rogers an admirable man, rather than a champion of good. One who was also capable of asking himself questions and questioning about the reason for his fight. Captain Rogers’ heroics did not stem from a traumatic event. Nor of something that could change the essential in his personality. The script subverted the order of things and gave the character enough weight to move.
Steve, who knew it could be used for propaganda and that it could be a simple and banal item, earned a place in history. And he did it by showing his enormous capacity for frank honesty, complete respect for the duty entrusted to him. Steve embodies the idea of Nation, but in particular of the foundation of North America. It embodies the possibility of fighting for ideals in a much broader and more consistent way.