Steve Rogers has spent decades standing tall as the Marvel Universe’s first super-soldier. Whether alone or alongside Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Captain America’s battlefield prowess has only ever been matched by his unwavering sense of duty. Unfortunately, he now begins to uncover a sprawling conspiracy, one with the very shield that has become an indelible part of his own legacy at its heart. Not only that, but Cap finally revealed the deepest, most fundamental aspect of every super-soldier, and it has nothing to do with winning wars on his own.
Captain America: Sentinel of Freedom #1 (by Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, Carmen Carnero, and VC’s Joe Caramgna) found Steve Rogers embracing his role in almost every part of his life. Even during his morning run, Cap kept his shield firmly in place. It’s a powerful moment, but not one that goes away once things take a turn for the worse. When the now-villainous super-soldier known as the Destroyer attacked a 4th of July parade, Cap and Bucky were quick to spring into action against him. But as capable as they are, Cap knows full well that their ultimate goal has nothing to do with the battlefield.
Steve is well aware of why he exists today. While the top-secret program from which he sprang could have aimed to create a new breed of soldier, Captain America has always been primarily a symbol. As Cap himself reasoned, he and others like him are just “fear incarnate”, a means to deter a nation’s enemies. From his first adventure in the 1940s Captain America Comics #1 by comic book legends Joe Simon and the iconic Jack Kirby, until the stories told today, Steve never questioned what he was supposed to do. Of course, this truth has never been particularly disappointing until now.
Acting like a symbol isn’t problematic on its own, but how it reframes the existence of Cap and his fellow super-soldier may be. Steve himself has only ever wavered on rare occasions, usually due to the reality-altering machinations of a Cosmic Cube-wielding Red Skull. But he is absolutely the exception to the rule. The Destroyer may have been manipulated, much like Bucky Barnes was as the Winter Soldier, though the latter never shied away from taking drastic action. More than Steve, Bucky understands the power of being a true icon even in the shadows.
Captain America may be the sentinel of freedom, but the Winter Soldier has always been something else entirely. Steve’s presence has always been an inspiration, but Bucky’s is the reputation that made his haters think twice about going after his overall direction. Almost every villain Steve has faced had in mind that breaking America’s most prominent hero would be more than just a personal triumph. Although they rarely, if ever, declined when it came to their plans only for Cap to retaliate against them.
That being the case, it’s probably only a matter of time before Cap decides he wants or needs to become a completely different type of symbol. Especially when everything it has adorned itself with for nearly a century is about to come horribly undone, the idea that it might be the shining bastion of an unseen threat may very well be too much to bear in mind. support. On the other hand, Steve Rogers didn’t make a name for himself by backing down, so if anyone is trying to tarnish what his shield represents, they’ll certainly have no trouble doing so.
