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For nearly a full-on decade, movie lovers and comic book lovers have converged into the fan base for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Countless others—loved ones, children, innocent bystanders—have been forcibly swept up by the sheer momentum of this ambitious project that Marvel Studios unknowingly began with 2008’s Iron Man.
If you’d told me 10 years ago that I would become so invested in a string of superhero movies without needing to go through an “attracted to Christian Bale” phase, I would’ve been surprised. But I’m actively hooked. I may not know all the appropriate comic book lore (and the fact that I’m a black girl won’t win me points in certain nerdy circles), but as a storyteller, avid movie watcher, and just generally sane human being, I believe I have the authority to unleash the following hard truth on you all:
Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America, is a piece of shit.
That’s right! Your golden boy is actually a garbage person, and it’s about time everyone just accepted it. Because there’s a really good chance that he’s going to die (or be horrifically maimed) during the events of Infinity War, and that is something that needs to be celebrated—not mourned.
You may think this is an unwarranted stance. I’m just hating on the Captain America movies or Chris Evans or some other lame excuse. But you’re wrong. I consider The First Avenger and The Winter Soldier to be two of the best installations in the MCU, and while I may not be physically attracted to Chris Evans, I have no issues with him.
No, no. The issue lies with the fact that Captain America is a bullshit hero who needs to be taken down several pegs.
One of his biggest faults is the way he expects everyone to follow the rules, but the second rules get in the way of what he wants, he puts a fist through them. He’s been doing this shit since day one. It was illegal for him to keep trying to get into the military (lying about his identity in the process), but it was apparently justified because he just really wanted to serve his country. When he goes to rescue Bucky and the rest of the 107th, he’s in direct violation of his (admittedly useless) responsibilities. He shits all over Tony and Bruce for digging into Nick Fury’s secrets during The Avengers, but once HIS justice senses start tingling, he goes looking for physical evidence to prove Fury’s shadiness.
Don’t even get me STARTED about the events of Civil War.
Then, there’s his need to outdo everyone. Once again, see his multiple attempts to get into the military—he’s just soooo patriotic, isn’t he? The way he dives onto the supposedly live grenade instead of just kicking it away. How he humiliates Sam Wilson as the latter was doing his morning exercise with full knowledge that Sam is bothered by his one-upmanship—a scene that plays especially poorly when put in the context of how racists use black athleticism to justify their hatred.
In fact, I’m pretty positive that Steve is prejudiced and a little bit of a sexist.
Pay attention to how differently he treats Peggy and Howard Stark when he thinks they’re banging. How he tries to be in charge of his and Natalie’s escape during Winter Soldier, despite the fact that as a goddamn spy, she’d be better at disappearing. How he’s unnecessarily mad at Sharon for not telling him immediately that she’s Peggy’s niece. And those are just the sexism moments.
How do I know he’s got issues with people of color?
Well, for one, he grew up in Brooklyn in the 1920s. That’s not exactly a strong foundation for an inclusive upbringing. Then, there’s the undeniable fact that every relationship with a black person he’s had (pre-meeting T’Challa, AKA Black Panther) is disturbingly unbalanced in his favor.
The sole black Howling Commando owes Steve his life, so it’s not like he’s going to go against any of Steve’s wishes. For some reason that I don’t understand to this day, Sam becomes obsessed with Steve after getting his ass handed to him. He literally says that he’ll do anything that Steve does, “just slower”—a nice little reminder that Steve destroys him when it comes to physical ability. He agrees to go on a mission to find someone who actively tried to kill him simply because he was Steve’s best friend back when they had normal, non-genetically altered lives. I feel like Steve could kick a puppy and Sam would be like “Well, that puppy pooped where he shouldn’t have, so he had it coming.”
Finally, there’s the way that Steve frequently undermines Nick Fury, the only black man to be in a position of power over him. And at the end of Winter Soldier, he essentially blames Fury for the fact that Hydra grew within S.H.I.E.L.D. and makes the unilateral decision that the whole house of cards has to come tumbling down.
Did I mention he just HAS to be in charge of everything?
And for whatever reason thinks being frozen for 70 years counts as life experience?
What really pisses me off is how Steve is made to seem like the moral center person at every turn, when he’s usually just being selfish. I will concede that he makes a few good points during Winter Soldier, but he’s a gigantic asshole about it! Meanwhile, his argument in Civil War is so completely flawed, I don’t understand how and why there needed to be a whole movie about it. But because he’s the hero, the symbol of America’s strength, he has to be North on the MCU’s moral compass. It’s sickening. He can try to say his whole thing is about the autonomy to do what needs to be done *cough he just wants to be in charge of everything cough* but in reality, he’s just trying to keep people from hurting his friend WHO LITERALLY MURDERED PEOPLE. What, Steve—all the blood on Bucky’s hands doesn’t matter because he was brainwashed? You were awfully sanctimonious when Tony suggested that there was no way to save everyone in Sokovia because you couldn’t handle risking innocent lives—and spoiler alert, people still fucking died.
Oh, and by the way: Don’t try to mansplain Tony’s grief to him as part of your incessant need to protect Bucky! The man just found out that his parents were murdered by your buddy; you, sir, are a fucking asshole.
At the end of the day, it should be clear to all parties that Steve Rogers is the epitome of white male nonsense.
But, there’s a way he can be redeemed. And that is by dying in Infinity War. If there’s one thing that everyone knows about superhero stories, it’s that few people permanently die. And given the fact that magic gems are already in play, it shouldn’t be that hard for the MCU to cook up a way to bring Steve back to life to finish the fight against Thanos.
“If they just bring him back, why does he need to die?” I’ll tell you why. He needs some fucking perspective. I want him to die because of his own stupidity and arrogance, and I want him to come back realizing that he doesn’t always know everything! I want him to understand that he has thrived by utilizing his privilege (not just as a white man but as a literal super human); I want him to be as woke as Chris Evans is in real life.
Only then will Captain America be worth a damn. But until then, he is a shitty person who doesn’t deserve the pedestal he’s standing on (which he probably built himself).
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