The Marvel Cinematic Universe began as Tony Stark’s franchise. The other heroes Captain America movies, Steve Rogers became just as important as Stark.
It is the dichotomy between these two characters that has formed the backbone of the MCU for a good few years. It all began when the Russos showed up to get Cap’s solo franchise into shape. Here are 5 Things Captain America’s Solo Trilogy Did Right (And 5 It Did Wrong).
Wrong: Generic origin story
While the MCU’s set-menu origin story formula.
We meet Steve Rogers as a young man searching for his purpose. He has an older, wiser mentor figure who offers him the chance to fulfill his destiny. The mentor figure dies, which pushes him to fulfill that destiny. Everything’s going great until a villain shows up with similar powers to Steve and he’s finally met his match. The only non-generic thing about it is the fact that the hero is catapulted into the future at the end.
Right: Cap’s character arc
Captain America’s character arc as a whole lasted until The Winter Soldier, that government betrays him and he realizes he can only trust himself.
In the Steve we first met doing that, yet it doesn’t feel out of character when we see it. That’s what character development looks like.
Wrong: Villains
The The First Avenger.
It was an intriguing turning of the tables to have Cap’s best friend become the villain in Civil War, since the focus was on the Avengers’ animosity towards each other, while his “getting caught was all a part of my plan” schtick has been done a thousand times before.
Right: Steve’s friendship with Sam
When we catch up with Steve Rogers in a man out of his time. He’s trying to get by, but it’s not easy, because all of his friends and family are dead and he doesn’t recognize the world. And then he meets Sam Wilson, a fellow vet who is similarly struggling to fit in.
Sam wasn’t frozen for 70 years, but he did go to war and return home to find that he had no place, so the two can relate to each other. Chris Evans and Anthony Mackie have fantastic chemistry and Cap’s solo movies have used this well.
Wrong: Steve’s romance with Sharon
In the years between Cap going into the ice and missing his date with Peggy and a weird, kind of creepy, pseudo-incestuous relationship with Peggy’s great-niece, Sharon.
Fans were never on board with this pairing, and it seems right that the MCU just sort of forgot about it. It’s even worse in retrospect, since we now know that Steve would eventually go back in time, marry Peggy, and technically become Sharon’s great uncle.
Right: Upping the stakes in the second movie
All these years later, Captain America: The Winter Soldier still stands as one of the best movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
It suitably upped the stakes following The Winter Soldier solidified Cap’s place as one of the MCU’s most well-defined and interesting characters.
Wrong: Third acts (except for Civil War)
The third act of he’s torn between his best friend and his closest ally.
But the third act of an all-too-familiar CGI smash-‘em-up for the final battle.
Right: Final lines of dialogue
The final line of dialogue in a movie is incredibly important, because they’re the words stuck in your head as you leave the theater and head home. The MCU understands this, and it’s never been on finer display than in the Steve responds, “Yeah, I just...I had a date.”
His first thought is that he’s missed his chance with Peggy. At the end of Civil War, Steve sends Tony a letter that concludes, “No matter what, I promise you, if you need us, if you need me...I’ll be there.” Powerful stuff.
Wrong: Making Civil War pretty much an Avengers movie
That story needed to be told – the Avengers had to break up before Thanos showed up, because that’s how Thanos won – but maybe it shouldn’t have been a Cap solo movie. Cap deserved a true closer to his solo trilogy.
Right: Completing the Cap/Bucky arc
The MCU as a whole gives us a rounded portrait of Steve Rogers and Captain America solo trilogy focused more specifically on his friendship with Bucky.
In the first one, they fought in World War II together and Bucky “died,” spurring Cap on to sacrifice himself. In the second one, Bucky returns as a brainwashed assassin out to kill Cap. In the third one, the Avengers are torn apart and the UN pokes around in superheroes’ business. But despite the epic scale, it still didn’t lose sight of the focus on the Cap/Bucky arc and gave it some closure, which is pretty irable.
