2

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

A Fun, Romantic Origin Story

Captain America: The First Avenger introduces audiences to Steve Rogers, and in many ways feels separate from the larger MCU, not only in its time period but in its storytelling and visual style. The First Avenger was the fifth MCU film, before the studio had established what is sometimes derisively described as their “house style.” Veteran director Joe Johnston evokes a warm, nostalgic tone, similar to his underrated classic The Rocketeer. The film firmly and effortlessly establishes what kind of man Steve Rogers is before he’s ever sH๏τ up with super-soldier serum.

Aside from a delightful villainous performance from Hugo Weaving as Red Skull, the heart of the film is the relationship between Steve and Peggy Carter. Their doomed romance looms large over the entirety of Steve’s MCU story, mostly because it’s so immediately affecting. Perhaps appropriately for a film set in the 1940s, Captain America: The First Avenger feels like a film from a different era, before the wry atтιтude and inescapable interconnectedness of the MCU took root. It’s far from the MCU’s biggest hit, but it’s the movie where audiences first fell in love with this version of Captain America.

1

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

A Tense Thriller That Is One Of The MCU’s Bests

Captain America: The Winter Soldier was the first MCU film that truly muddied the waters between who was good and evil in the universe, revealing a mᴀssive Hydra conspiracy at the highest levels of the ostensibly altruistic S.H.I.E.L.D. Anthony and Joe Russo seemingly came out of nowhere to make the most visually appealing and dynamic MCU film up to that point, while simultaneously leaning into some political thriller tropes that Marvel Studios hadn’t really touched before. It also served as the introduction to Sam Wilson, who would go on to become Captain America.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is also the point where it was made plain that Steve Rogers’ Captain America was more than a loyal soldier, and that his own sense of right and wrong superseded powerful insтιтutions and direct orders. Captain America: The Winter Soldier not only solidified Steve Rogers as the MCU’s arbiter of justice, but it also proved that Marvel Studios was capable of being more than just an ᴀssembly line of blockbuster films, and they could tell timely, important stories about big ideas.

Upcoming MCU Movies

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  Captain America: Brave New World

  Release Date

  
  February 14, 2025
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

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  Thunderbolts*

  Release Date

  
  May 2, 2025
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

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  The Fantastic Four: First Steps

  Release Date

  
  July 25, 2025
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

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  Avengers: Doomsday (2026)

  
  
  
  
  

  
  

  
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  Spider-Man Homecoming 4

  Release Date

  
  July 24, 2026
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

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  Avengers: Secret Wars

  Release Date

  
  May 7, 2027
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

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