Marvel Cinematic Universe Part 1: Captain America: The First Avenger

In this series of blog posts I wanted to take everyone along on my journey through the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far. This series will do a simple breakdown of the plot of the film while also highlighting some of my favorite moments and elements from the films. I will also bring up small moments in the films where they set up things in future films that we saw pay off and some that haven't yet paid off. We will be going in chronological order, so not in the order they came out in theaters but rather in the order the take place in the MCU timeline.

We Are starting this series off with the film that kicked off my personal favorite comic book trilogy, Captain America: The First Avenger. This film takes place during World War II and introduces Steve Rodgers and his journey in becoming the famous captain. The film shows how he goes from a small, weak boy with a strong heart to the super soldier hero to lead the front against Hydra.

Some of my most favorite moments of the film is the way they show how good and pure of heart he is as a person. Early on in the film they showcase Steve being beaten up in a ally, not giving up and saying he could do it all day. There are other moments when he is talking with Peggy and Bucky where he explains to them why he does things a certain way like not finding a woman or insisting on fighting for his country. His selflessness, determination, and caring heart is consistent throughout the entire film and really hits the nail on the head about who he really is as a character.

There was a interesting fact I discovered about this film that I thought was really cool. So I want to refer to the point in the film to when they do the montage where Steve is being used to sell war bonds and if taken around the country to all these cities to put on a show and be a symbol to the people. This idea of Captain America being used to sell war bounds isn't new and is actually the initial purpose of one of his first comic runs. I thought this was a really interesting and smart way to use the character like this film and have it be a call back to his initial use.

So one of the biggest Easter Eggs used in this film in the inclusion of the tesseract or the space stone. The Cosmic Cube is critical to the plot of the film as we see red skull trying to harness its power of energy and weapons. (this becomes a very common theme in multiple Marvel films) If you are watching this in the order I am, this is the first time we get introduced to a few characters and concepts actually. The first being of course being the cube and the idea of a greater power in the universe. Its unclear at this point if the cube represents the Cosmic Cube from the comics which is a separate thing from the infinity stones. Since this is a re-watch we do have some future insight and know this is the space stone. This is also the first introduction to the existence of Thor and Asgard, Red Skull reveals this when he first finds the cube. He gazes upon the tree of worlds which is how the different realms of Nordic mythology explains their controlled territory. He mentions how the cube originated from the vaults of Odin's castle, which made me wonder how the cube happened to find itself on earth. My thoughts are that Odin put the cube on earth because he deemed it safer on a virtually unknown world to the greater cosmic evils at the time. But I also wonder if something in the upcoming Eternals film which will cover thousands of years of Marvel history will somehow explain this.

The super soldier serum is also a huge comment of the film. The Weapons Plus Program is very important throughout the comics and leads to the origins of multiple heroes and villains. Many attempts have failed but the ones that work are the most important. Red skull was a failed attempt at creating a super soldier as they call it. Captain America being the first successful use of the serum and is notably named Weapon 1. Now some other notable characters related to the serum is Hulk, who was created while trying to researched the serum for Thunderbolt Ross, Wolverine who is Weapon X, and eventually Bucky Barnes. It will be interesting to see how is eventually makes its return in The Falcon and Winter Soldier Disney+ series and how it is used to introduce new characters like Wolverine in the future.

The last element I would like to discuss is the character Red Skull. He is the main villain of the film and we don't really seem his defeated. Obsessed with harnessing the power of the cube he tries to hold it and it transports him into the cosmos. Now Spoiler Alert for Infinity War and Endgame but Red Skull reappears as the protector/guardian of the soul stone of Vormir. Now we learned from some recent interviews that once the soul stone was taken, Red Skull's dept to the universe was paid and he was now free to do as he pleased. It's going to be interesting to see the role he may play as the MCU moves forward. Will he reappear as a villain to seek revenge on Captain America? Will he try to reform Hydra? Or will he be a more cosmic villain now since he has resided there for more than 80 years.

Up next will be one of the more recent entries to the MCU, Captain Marvel. I will also be giving the typical Worm Rating and Worm Score at the end of each post just in case anyone is curious.

Worm Rating: Worm Approved

Worm Count: 77/100