2011’s Captain America Is The MCU’s Best Period Piece By Far

2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger is a good reminder that simpler foundations can age quite well. Thanks to our current Super Rant Rewatch of the MCU ahead of Avengers: Doomsday, I found myself really enjoying the opportunity to look back at the first Captain America movie in light of Steve Rogers’ imminent MCU return later this year.

More than a decade later, the origin story of Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) still stands out thanks to its unique World War II setting, with The First Avenger also being the penultimate Phase 1 film before Marvel Studios’ very first Avengers movie.

While it’s not without flaws, 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger remains one of the MCU’s strongest period pieces, grounding superhero spectacle in the MCU’s history while simultaneously setting up its future.

Despite Its Rough Pacing, The First Avenger Is Still A Solid MCU Foundation For Captain America

One of the most common criticisms of The First Avenger is its uneven pacing, something I have to agree with despite my love for this early MCU movie.

As soon as Steve Rogers gains the Super Soldier Serum and becomes Captain America, the movie accelerates far more rapidly with major montage sequences. While these montages are exciting, with one in particular having some of the best action sequences in the entire movie, it can be argued that there could have been more time given for deeper character development.

For example, it would have been nice had Steve Rogers been able to spend more time and build relationships with the Howling Commandos beyond Sebastian Stan’s Bucky, his best friend since childhood. Likewise, there could have been more time for Steve and Peggy Carter’s relationship to be further developed as well.

Additionally, the third act feels extremely rushed compared to the rest of the movie. Red Skull and Captain America’s final confrontation aboard The Valkyrie should have been much bigger/longer than it was.

Regardless, I still believe that The First Avenger succeeds where it matters most by establishing Steve Rogers’ Captain America as a major moral cornerstone in the MCU. By the end of The First Avenger, after Steve Rogers wakes up in the modern era after 70 years frozen in ice, Captain America is presented as a major living legend ahead of The Avengers (and it’s pretty dang perfect).

On the more positive side of things, one of the things that struck me most with this latest rewatch was how well cast The First Avenger is across the board. There’s not a single role I wish had been cast with someone else.

Naturally, Chris Evans delivers a career-defining performance as Steve Rogers, while Sebastian Stan makes Bucky just as dynamic (which pays off enormously in later films).

The same goes for Hayley Atwell as Agent Peggy Carter. Not only is she an incredibly capable female lead among her fellow SSR officers, but the chemistry between her and Evans’ Captain America easily makes them one of the MCU’s best romantic couples, making Rogers’ sacrifice at the end of the movie and waking up 70 years later all the more tragic.

That said, Marvel Studios absolutely scored with Stanley Tucci as Dr. Erskine and Hugo Weaving as Red Skull, not to mention Tommy Lee Jones as Col. Phillips. Each of them provides some of the most memorable performances in the early MCU.

While it may be one of the MCU’s most basic and straightforward origin stories, it can be argued that that’s part of the appeal. Despite its flaws, the story of Captain America: The First Avenger is told with a lot of sincerity, heart, and some of the MCU’s best characters, setting the stage for everything Steve Rogers would become in the MCU’s future.

With Steve Rogers’ Doomsday Return On The Horizon, It’s Good To Remember The Start Of His MCU Journey

If there’s one scene that perfectly defines Steve Rogers’ Captain America, it happens well before he starts to wield the iconic shield in the MCU.

During basic training with the SSR, Col. Phillips throws a dummy grenade at the recruits, trying to prove to Dr. Erskine that wars are won with guts over “niceness.” While everyone else scrambles and jumps out of the way, Steve alone dives onto the explosive, ready to sacrifice himself without hesitation to save his fellow soldiers.

At the end of the day, that’s really the only scene we need to tell us everything about who Steve Rogers is in the MCU, why he was chosen for the Super Soldier Serum, and the choices he makes going forward.

Fifteen years of MCU storytelling have only reinforced this core truth revealed during WWII when Rogers was “still skinny”. From crashing the Hydra plane full of bombs into the Arctic to wielding Mjolnir in Avengers: Endgame, Steve’s Captain America will always put his own life on the line before anyone else’s, a worthy hero determined to always do the right thing, no matter the cost.

In that context, one can argue that Chris Evans’ return as Steve Rogers in Avengers: Doomsday, despite returning to his own time to be with Peggy and have a child, is actually quite an organic decision. Of course, Steve is going to suit up again to protect those he loves. From the very beginning, Steve Rogers has always been the guy who’s going to jump on the grenade first.

Without a doubt, Steve Rogers’ journey remains one of the MCU’s most satisfying. With Marvel Studios preparing to bring him back to the MCU spotlight with Avengers: Doomsday, revisiting his first movie is a great reminder of why he remains one of the MCU’s greatest heroes and was perhaps even destined to return.

Let us know your thoughts on Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) in the comments, and be on the lookout next week for our Super Rant Rewatch of The Avengers (2012)! You can also check out our Super Rant: Doomsday Preppers podcast on Spotify and YouTube.