[Criticism Corner] EVERY Captain America EVER (Patreon)

Okay so wow, no new video or update for a while and for good reason.  Uh... this ended up being really long.  Anyway, I would LOVE to hear what you guys think because I'm worried I spent so much time on it that I'm too close to be objective.

Captain America is one of the most iconic superheroes of all time, but he also has a rich history and complex cast of supporting characters that average nerds know a little about, but not all that much.  As I started making a bunch of Captain America videos, I fell in love with this corner of the Marvel universe that I never really paid attention to and one of its most interesting aspects are all the various people that have BEEN Captain America over the years and the reasons why both in universe and behind the scenes.

Now even though I’m the guy who makes what I consider to be some of the most thorough and comprehensive comic book content on the internet, I thought this was going to be a quick and easy video to research and make.  It was not.

*Pours entire pot of coffee into big coffee mug*

Yeah, see I thought I knew pretty much everything going in, but as I kept reading, I kept finding more and more people and things to talk about which was driving me insane.

So okay, ground rules because yes, apparently there needs to be ground rules.  I am more or less only going to be talking about OFFICIAL Captain Americas from the mainstream Marvel Comics universe.  So no, I’m not talking about alternate universes, alternate timelines, imposters, or random people that unofficially took up the mantle even though it’s funny to watch them just… completely fail at being heroes. (Captain America #178 - 1974)

Okay, but what IS an “OFFICIAL” Captain America?  These are dudes that were given the title  by the United States government or are recognized by Marvel Comics editorial as a Captain America.  At the same time, I’m going to throw in a couple of honorable mentions that completely break these rules because screw it.  It’s my channel and I can do what I want.  Okay, let’s dive in!

Steve Rogers

Obviously the first place to start is the main man himself, Steve Rogers.  Y’all know the story by now.  He was a scrawny kid from Brooklyn that really wanted to serve his country during World War II, but was constantly rejected.  Then he was used as a test subject in the mysterious Project Rebirth where through a combination of a special serum and vita rays, Steve was transformed into a super soldier.  When Steve emerged from the chamber, a Nazi spy who was in the room killed the scientist responsible for this breakthrough and as a result, the secrets for Steve’s miraculous transformation were lost.

Working alongside his teenage sidekick, Bucky Barnes, Rogers became the hero Captain America and was crucial during the war, sometimes acting as a part of a super team called The Invaders.  However, during a confrontation with the dastardly Baron Zemo, Steve and Bucky tried to stop a plane loaded with bombs and during the resulting explosion, Rogers was preserved in the frigid arctic water in suspended animation as the Super Soldier Serum prevented his bodily fluids from crystalizing.  Decades later, Steve’s body was found and thawed out, allowing him to fight crime as a superhero in the modern era!

Isaiah Bradley

But Steve wasn’t the only Captain America in World War II.  Let me introduce you to Isaiah Bradley, a fascinating dude with a tragic backstory that I actually have a dedicated video all about.

With the head scientist of Project Rebirth having been killed, the United States government was desperate to recreate the Super Soldier Serum.  By experimenting on quote unquote “replaceable” black soldiers, a platoon of black super soldiers was created, (Truth #3 - 2003) but due to health complications brought on by the experiments, deaths in the field, and in fighting, Isaiah Bradley was the sole survivor.  Despite only having a couple operations under his belt, Bradley was sent on a mission behind enemy lines when a transportation issue prevented Steve Rogers from carrying it out.

Having been a huge fan of the Captain America propaganda comics, Isaiah stole the costume meant for Rogers and parachuted in as the second Captain America. (Truth #4 - 2003)  Bradley dealt some serious damage to the German base, but he was ultimately captured and asked by Hitler himself to defect to their side in hopes of using Isaiah as a symbol to spark a race war within America. (Truth #6 - 2003)

When he declined, Bradley was shipped off to be sterilized and tortured, but was rescued by the German anti-Nazi resistance and smuggled back to the Allies where instead of being welcomed as a hero, he was court martialed and served seventeen years in solitary confinement for stealing Cap’s costume. (Truth #7 - 2003)  Yet while in prison, Isaiah wasn’t free from experimentation with his sperm being harvested to artificially create a new super soldier in the form of his son, Josiah X. (The Crew #5 - 2003)

Bradley was only released when he was pardoned by President Eisenhower, but he was kept a national secret and for decades, he was basically confined to his home.  The Super Soldier Serum used to enhance Isaiah wasn’t quite right and over the years, his mind deteriorated so while he aged at an extremely slow rate and was extremely physically fit, his mind reverted to that of a child and he’s unable to do certain tasks without assistance. (Truth #7 - 2003)  Because of this Isaiah isn’t a huge part of the Marvel universe these days, basically just being here for his interesting history and being honored by his grandson, Elijah, who operated as the hero Patriot.

Oh and quick thing before we move on.  In my video about Isaiah, I said that he was created before Steve Rogers.  I based that off of the original mini-series that he was introduced in and it’s been brought to my attention that I misinterpreted a section.  In my defense, the scene in particular is REALLY awkwardly worded, but other comics that have come out since have made things explicitly clear.  That’s totally my bad for not being as thorough as I normally am for my content.  But hey, all the more reason to support the industry and read stuff for yourself instead of just listening to a dude regurgitate stuff.  ...Please keep watching this and the rest of my videos though, I really need to pay rent.

William Naslund [Spirit of ‘76]

OKAY, so remember how I mentioned that Steve and Bucky were seemingly killed in that explosion during World War II?  Well that was actually a retcon that was added to the lore decades later.  See, even after the end of World War II, Marvel still made Captain America comics, but since Steve’s whole thing was you know… fighting that war and a lot of the readers were soldiers themselves, sales declined and the book was eventually canceled.

Editor’s note: Retcon: New information that changes previous events.

Years later, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby entertained the idea of bringing Steve Rogers back to Marvel Comics, but decided to test it out by having a villain named The Acrobat impersonate him.  This was meant to gauge fan interest with Stan explicitly writing at the end of the issue, "You guessed it! This story was really a test!  To see if you too would like Captain America to return!”

The response must have been pretty good since that following year was when Rogers was brought back, complete with the new backstory about the exploding plane and being frozen, but wait just a darn minute, that’s a plot hole!  How could it possibly make sense that Steve was frozen before the end of the war AND still working as Captain America after it ended?  Simple, the post-World War II Cap wasn’t Steve.  That’s right, because of the retcon… there needed to be another retcon.

Let me introduce you to William Naslund A.K.A. The Spirit of ‘76.  Okay so like I know that his name is a Revolutionary War motto referencing how the United States was founded in 1776, but every time that I hear the name “The Spirit of ‘76”, I totally just imagine some sort of disco ghost straight out of Scooby Doo...

Anyway, much like how the United States had The Invaders during World War II, the UK had their own team called The Crusaders and Naslund was their lone American.  He had no powers, just a bulletproof cape.  Well the team eventually disbanded and William kept fighting with the Allies, but when Steve and Bucky were apparently killed, President Truman didn’t want anyone to know, thinking that it might lower morale.  So the solution was simple, Naslund would take up the mantle instead with a kid named Fred Davis coming on as his Bucky. (What If #4 - 1977)

William worked as Captain America and took up his place within The Invaders, staying with them when the team rebranded after the war into the All-Winners Squad, but during a conflict with an android, William was killed. (What If #4 - 1977)

Jeff Mace [Patriot]

Also on the scene was a man named Jeff Mace who fought Nazis as The Patriot.  He was a founding member of a team called the Liberty Legion which merged with The Invaders to become the All-Winners Squad.

When William Naslund was killed, Jeff donned a spare costume and finished the mission, becoming the new Captain America and continuing to work alongside Fred Davis, (What If #4 - 1977) that is until he was shot. (Captain America: Patriot #2 - 2010)  Replacing Bucky was the hero Golden Girl and Jeff left with All-Winners Squad in favor of training her up since she wasn’t ready for the larger scale threats that the Squad fought.  It also doesn’t hurt that the two were in love and probably just wanted more alone time together.

But the issue is that Golden Girl was also a government agent and was reassigned away from Jeff which, in addition to becoming disillusioned by the idea of the US NEEDING a Captain America, convinced him to hang up the shield and focus on his journalism career.

As a side note, with the retcon of William, Jeff, and the next guy we’ll be talking about soon taking over while Steve was on ice, Jeff Mace is the longest running Captain America before Steve was unfrozen, serving as Cap for longer than Rogers himself.

While in retirement, Jeff got cancer and died from it, but his last wish was for Steve to be there as he passed which he was.  Since then, Mace’s mantle of The Patriot has become a legacy title, being used by heroes like the aforementioned grandson of Isiah Bradley, Elijah. (Captain America #285 - 1983)

William Burnside

Okay, now THIS one is real interesting because he pops up a lot.  So following World War II, the popularity of Captain America started to plummet and Marvel was desperate to rebrand him like making Cap the poster child for a horror comic or bringing him back as the “Commie Smasher” since the nation was in the middle of the Cold War.  These books were blindly patriotic, jingoistic, and full of stuff like racist depictions of Asians.  Yet at the time of release, the Red Scare was coming to an end and the rebranded Captain America didn’t get a strong foothold so the series was canceled once again.

This incarnation of the character was retconned to have been a guy named William Burnside.  He was obsessed with Captain America ever since he was a kid and during his research into Steve’s life, William came across the formula to the Super Soldier Serum and did his best to recreate it. (Captain America #155 - 1972)  Burnside worked with the United States government to become the new Captain America, but he kept the secrets of the serum to himself.

In addition, William wanted the nation to think that Steve had never died, despite having been replaced by people before him.  Regardless, Burnside changed his name to Steve Rogers, got plastic surgery to look like Steve, and even had his vocal cords built so he could sound the part. (Captain America #155 - 1972)

Initially, William was going to fight in the Korean War, but the United States pulled out right before he could join, causing him to instead turn to teaching.  It was here that he had a connection with one of his students, Jack Monroe, who was also obsessed with Captain America.  Burnside brought Jack on as his Bucky and injected him with his recreated Super Soldier Serum, opting to fight Communists within the states.  (Captain America #155 - 1972)

However, the serum wasn’t perfect and without the Vita Rays, it caused severe schizophrenia.  As a result, the two of them started seeing everyone as a threat to America’s safety, assuming that lots of people were Communists and attacking people of color.  When things got out of hand, William and Jack were apprehended by the government and put in suspended animation while scientists looked for a cure. (Captain America #155 - 1972)

Decades later, they were woken up by a disgruntled government employee and were sicked on Steve who was able to take them down. (Captain America #155 & #156 - 1972)  Instead of going back on ice, William was sent to a mental institution where he was manipulated by the villainous Doctor Faustus who turned Burnside into the Grand Director of a hate group called the National Force. (Captain America #236 - 1979)

Once again, William was defeated by Captain America, but activated a suicide button in his costume, which errupted into flames, seemingly killing him.  (Captain America #236 - 1979)

Of course this wouldn’t be the end of Burnside and in between appearances, Jack Monroe was able to be cured (Captain America #281 - 1983) and became the hero, Nomad. (Captain America #282 - 1983)

Once again, William was kept in suspended animation and was brainwashed by Doctor Faustus to be used against Bucky Barnes who had taken up the mantle of Captain America which I’ll talk about later in the video.

Newly thawed, Burnside became Captain America once again, trying to revert the nation back to his 1950’s ideals by leading a paramilitary hate group called the Watchdogs (Captain America #602 - 2010) and trying to start a full on revolution by uniting the country’s anti-government militias.  In the end, William was shot and killed by Bucky, (Captain America #605 - 2010) but knowing his history, I wouldn’t be surprised if he managed to survive and will pop up again later on down the road.

Roscoe Simons

When a Hydra splinter group called the Secret Empire infiltrated the U.S. government with their leader originally planned to be, but then just heavily implied to be President Richard Nixon, Steve became disillusioned with what the United States had become and decided to quit as Captain America and instead become Nomad, the man without a country.

In the meantime, random folks tried to take up the mantle and like I said at the top of the video, they sucked at it…  Really bad.  Well a kid named Roscoe Simons wanted to take a crack at it as well and unlike the rest, he was a natural! (Captain America #181 - 1975)  Roscoe even got the blessing from Steve’s long time partner, Falcon, who offered to take Roscoe under his wing to teach him the ropes, but more to show him just how dangerous the superhero lifestyle is and to encourage him to quit.

Simons really should have quit while he was ahead because looking to get revenge on his nemesis, the Red Skull killed him (Captain America #182 - 1975) which prompted Steve to drop the Nomad identity and come back as Captain America.  Now Steve’s whole retirement only lasted seven issues with Roscoe only being Cap for two.  Normally I wouldn’t count such a short, unofficial stint, but he was included on this list of Captain Americas so yeah, he got the mention.

U.S. Agent

The next time that Steve quit as Captain America was when he disagreed with the government’s attempt at having more control over his actions.  However, since they own the name, costume, and concept of Captain America, the government replaced him with someone more willing to play ball. (Captain America #333 - 1987)

This is John Walker, a former soldier who got powers from a dude called the Power Broker and tried to replace Steve as the face of U.S. patriotism by becoming a vigilante named Super-Patriot.  If you want more information, I have a dedicated video that goes into crazy detail about his complete history.

With the help of his friend, Lamar Hoskins, as Bucky, later rebranded to Battle Star when the writers found out that “buck” is a racist term for black men, Walker was a government lapdog which although he was blindly loyal, really started to get on his nerves.

Although John made for a competent Captain America, he was extremely violent and unhinged, accidentally killing a guy.  Plus, when his identity was exposed to the public and domestic terrorists abducted his parents and killed them in front of him, Walker snapped and absolutely massacred them.  Not to mention that he hunted down the villains that outed him and blew them up as well.

Naturally, all this bloodshed got John fired as Captain America until President Ronald Reagan stepped in to change the committee’s mind.  Despite this, Walker didn’t see himself as being worth of the shield so he gave it back to Steve Rogers, but during the ceremony, John was fake assassinated (Captain America #351 - 1989) so that he could become the government enforcer, U.S.Agent. (Captain America #354 - 1989)

This is the role that Walker acted in for most of his life, but he did unofficially become Captain America again when he was part of a new incarnation of The Invaders, complete with a shield that’s engraved with the name of 9/11 victims.  When the team disbanded, John went back to being U.S.Agent which is what he continues to operate under to this day.

Hawkeye

After the first superhuman Civil War, Steve Rogers was assassinated and I’m sure you’re all ready for me to talk about Bucky replacing him, but actually no! See before Bucky got the shield, a couple more people tried to be the next Captain America, starting with Hawkeye!

With Clint’s insanely good accuracy, Tony Stark that he would make for a good replacement, especially since he was recently back from the dead and a girl named Kate Bishop had been using the Hawkeye persona.  Stark was able to convince Barton to put the costume on for a mission, but when confronted by Kate, especially when she dropped the bombshell that Steve was the one that suggested that she take up the name Hawkeye to honor Clint’s legacy, not replace him, Barton decided to give the shield back to Tony.

Punisher

Around the same time, the National Force popped back up and its leader decided to co-opt the iconography of Captain America to promote their racist agenda.  Now one thing you should know about The Punisher is that he’s a total Captain America fanboy.  In fact, when Steve kicked his ass because Frank is a quote “Murderous piece of trash.”, he refused to fight back. (Civil War #6 - 2006)

Well if there’s one thing that Frank hates more than corrupt cops that idolize him, it’s Nazis, especially Neo Nazis that make a mockery of his hero.  Castle went undercover and joined the National Force, donning his homemade Captain America costume and wrecking their shit, seemingly unaware that by doing so, he was ALSO dishonoring Steve’s legacy.  Well, I mean Rogers totally killed Nazis during the war so I guess it’s not that

After taking down the National Force, Frank went back to just being The Punisher and gave the costume to Bucky, lowkey encouraging him to take up the mantle himself. (Punisher: War Journal Vol 2 #11 - 2007)

Bucky Barnes

Okay, that FINALLY brings us to Bucky Barnes.  As I mentioned earlier, Bucky was Steve’s partner during World War II.  His death during that iconic mission was a huge deal in the world of Marvel Comics which is why for decades, kid sidekicks weren’t really a thing.

This was all retconned when it was revealed that shortly after the crash, Barnes was discovered by Russains who brainwashed him, outfitted him with a bionic arm, and was used as an assassin called the Winter Soldier, being put back into stasis in between missions.  Steve was able to use a powerful relic called a Cosmic Cube to restore Bucky’s memories, breaking him free from Russian control.

Not too long after regaining his freedom, the superhuman Civil War broke out which Bucky abstained from, but with Steve’s assassination in the aftermath, Barnes was convinced by Tony Stark to take up the shield, with Stark having received Steve’s will and decided to kill two birds with one stone regarding giving Bucky a second chance and for there to always be a Captain America.

Armed with both the shield and a gun, Barnes was a solid Captain America.  He even got his arm upgraded which included synthetic flesh. (Captain America #602 - 2010)  Bucky faced such dangers like William Burnside coming back to violently bring America back to the ideals of the ‘50s which as I mentioned ended with Barnes killing him, the Skrull’s Secret Invasion of Earth,

Steve insisted that Bucky continue as Captain America (Captain America: Who Will Wield the Shield #1 - 2010) which was perfect timing since Rogers was shortly thereafter made the head of national security. (Siege #4 - 2010)

However, when Baron Zemo made Bucky’s history as the Winter Soldier public, (Captain America #608 - 2010) Barnes needed to stand trial for his past crimes.

In the meantime, Nick Fury, gave an ex-special forces agent named David Rickford powers and encouraged him to become Captain America.  Though in reality, he set Rickford up for failure in hopes that Steve would take up the shield once again. (Captain America #615.1 - 2011)  While David stepped down on his first night after a stern talking to from Rogers, Nick Fury ultimately got his wish when Bucky was nearly killed by Sin, the daughter of the Red Skull. (Fear Itself #3 - 2011)

Fury was able to save Bucky’s life, but replaced the body with a duplicate which finally encouraged Steve to become Captain America once again. (Fear Itself #7.1 - 2011)

Sam Wilson

This would come to an end years later when Rogers fought against a villain called Iron Nail who drained him of his Super Soldier Serum, catching Steve’s body up to its proper age.  Unable to act in the field, Rogers passed the mantle onto Sam Wilson, his long time friend and ally who helped Steve fight crime as Falcon. (Captain America Vol 7 #25 - 2014)  Fun fact, this would be the first time that Steve Rogers actually chose a successor because if you’ve been paying attention, the role was given to other people by the government or just straight up taken from him in either his absence or his death.

Despite being a long running and well developed character, Sam Wilson was a controversial Captain America, mostly from people who don’t actually read comic books, but this was reflected in the comics themselves as Sam was met with skepticism for being a black man, he was seen as a Communist for setting up a hotline in an attempt to work closely with average Americans

Mic close to chest: Even though Steve Rogers also did that.

And because he pulled away from S.H.I.E.L.D. after he publicly opposed putting a hacker whistleblower on trial.  Sam was frequently met with “Not my Captain America” and the social media campaign of #GiveBackTheShield.  It was only made worse when Steve Rogers was restored back to normal by a sentient Cosmic Cube.

Steve initially wanted Sam to keep the position of Captain America, but at Wilson’s request, they decided to BOTH be Captain America at the same time.  However, Sam decided to step down after his friend and fellow superhero, Rage, was unjustly incarcerated and nearly beaten to death in prison. (Captain America: Sam Wilson #22 - 2017)

Sam needed a little time in nature, away from all the noise in order to think and when he came back to town… the United States had been taken over by Hydra with Steve Rogers as its supreme commander.

Supreme Commander

Okay so remember that sentient Cosmic Cube that restored Steve back to one hundred percent?  Yeah, she was manipulated by the Red Skull into rewriting reality so that Rogers was actually a Hydra sleeper agent.

In this new world order, Sam worked as a smuggler, helping persecuted folks escape from Hydra. (Captain America: Sam Wilson #22 - 2017)  Outside of this, Sam had no desire to join the resistance nor take up the Captain America identity once again, that is until he got a pep-talk from a kid going by Patriot.  Oh and that’s not the same Patriot that I mentioned earlier who is the grandson of Isiah Bradley, this is a different kid entirely.

Anyway, the real Steve still existed within the Cosmic Cube who was horrified with what she had done and all the chaos that resulted from her changing Steve into a Hydra agent.  With a heroic speech from Rogers, the Cube brought the real Steve back, existing as a separate entity from his Hydra counterpart who’s ass he thoroughly kicked.

With the day saved, Sam decided to go back to his identity as the Falcon and cleared the way so that Steve Rogers could earn back the trust of the world as the one and only Captain America. (Generations: The Americas #1 - 2017)

And that’s it!  Every single Captain America ever… until Marvel decides to change things in like two days, rendering this video null and void.