Captain America (Marvel)
Today’s big winner: Captain America
There’s plenty of reasons Steve Rogers is your day’s big winner. For starters, He has a new movie in theaters, The Winter Soldier, which experts project to make one gajillion dollars. He’s the most patriotic superhero ever conceived. Few can say they’ve started their career with a blow for freedom by punching Adolf Hitler.
Captain America doesn’t have the super strength of the Incredible Hulk or the tortured nuance of Wolverine — he isn’t particularly conceited like Tony Stark, or flashy like Stark’s alter ego Iron Man.
On the surface, Captain America is the most milquetoast hero in the Marvel Universe. But when you peel back the stars, stripes, and the giant letter “A” on his forehead, the Captain is Marvel’s greatest hero. He’d also make one hell of a rushing quarterback (Sports!).
There are four very easy reasons Captain America should be your new favorite hero and role model.
1. He’s just a guy.
Yeah, just a guy. He lives in New York and tries to be a decent human being. He isn’t very big or strong, but he plays the game the right way with sound fundamentals and uncompromising morals. When he’s given the opportunity to be bigger and do more, he seizes it, and becomes the leader his team needs. This sounds so familiar, right?
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
2. He’s trying to save his best friend.
Rogers’ best friend Bucky Barnes was believed dead, killed when trying to defuse a bomb on an airplane in midair. It turns out Barnes isn’t dead. The Soviets saved him, turning him into the Winter Soldier; a ruthless assassin responsible for the deaths of hundreds.
Captain America and the Winter Soldier. (Marvel)
But Rogers knows there is still good buried within his friend and he will do anything to bring him back and restore the glory of yesteryear. It’s Rogers’ unfailing loyalty, dedication, and ability to rise above the adversity which ultimately saves a lost and hopeless cause. You know, like …
(Getty)
3. He’s trying to manage a team of superstars with constantly clashing egos and abilities.
It’s Captain America who summons the Avengers with the iconic phrase: “Avengers, assemble,” rallying the greatest heroes of the Marvel Universe to fight a mutual foe. The Avengers are comprised of the greatest talents the world has ever seen. But the egos attached to that talent put the entire team (and the WORLD) at risk. But Captain America demands the respect of the entire team — he’s who they all aspire to be.
If you haven’t already guessed that Captain America is Phil Jackson then you’re not having any fun. It’s Friday, lighten up people.
Jayne Kamin-Oncea, USA TODAY Sports
4. In a broken society, he’s the one person who remains pure.
When the system fails him, and he learns that S.H.I.E.L.D. has been run by the terrorist organization HYDRA all along, Captain America is the only person who can save the world from ruin. Cap is brash and unwilling to compromise his ideals because he knows how the game should be played. He does it the right way and you can’t help but love him for it.
Mike Trout and Bryce Harper. (PHOTO: H. Darr Beiser/USA TODAY Sports)
Steve Rogers is the foundation of every great hero. He represents everything that is good and right with the world. A desire to live in a world free of oppression, willing to die for his ideals, and an unwillingness to compromise for anything less. Captain America is Derek Jeter, Dan Marino, Phil Jackson, Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Apple Pie, Bruce Springsteen, a ’65 Mustang, John Wayne, Red Sox beards, John Deere, Thanksgiving, Hot Dogs, and George Washington rolled into one.
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