Warning! Spoilers for S.W.O.R.D. #6!
Captain America is one of Marvel’s most iconic heroes, but after being revived from his icy slumber after decades of being M.I.A., he was having a tough time adjusting to life in present day. Luckily for him, Iron Man was there to give him hope by showing Cap one of humanity’s greatest achievements, giving him the strength to move forward in a world that he did not recognize in the process.
Admitted by Cap in the Hellfire Gala related issue of S.W.O.R.D. #6 by Al Ewing and Valerio Schiti, Captain America is having a quiet moment alone at the end of the night as he gazes at the stars above, no doubt reflecting on how the X-Men quite literally just terraformed and colonized Mars in a matter of minutes. Joined by the successful villain and ruler of Latveria, Doctor Doom, Cap and Doom begin to muse over the fact that the stars are now much closer than ever before for the people of Earth.
Giving Doom a bit of an inside peek at the early days of his revival, Captain America tells him, “That first week after I came out of the ice… It was a dark time,” going on to say that at that moment he thought he’d lost everything he had, not knowing what he could “hang on to” anymore as he began his life anew. Visited by his new friend and eventual co-worker, Iron Man, Cap says that Tony then showed him a “newsreel” of an achievement that Cap had absolutely no inkling of: Lance Armstrong's first steps on the moon.
Telling Doctor Doom that, “Right there, I saw a man walk on the moon. For all mankind,” Captain America continues by saying, “And in that moment, I felt hope again,” immediately telling Doom – and fans – what and who exactly helped him through one of his darkest times. Knowing that Captain America needed a huge boost in regards to the wholly unique predicament he's found himself in, the fact that Iron Man chose the moon landing as the specific event to show Cap first, says a lot about not only the resourcefulness and drive of humanity as a whole, but why there’s more to fight for in a world that has come a long way since Cap’s freezing.
Being lost at the tail end of World War II, Cap never had a thought as to how far humanity would come in regards to space travel or even technology itself for that matter. And now, years after his thawing, having literal space battles for the fate of the world seems like a normal day in the park for a hero who’s hope was restored by something he never thought possible in his lifetime.
So although Cap is a bit deflated at the thought of standing on the sidelines as another great space event in mankind’s history is achieved in Magneto's terraforming of Mars, it can’t be denied what the impact of seeing a man walk on the moon did for the guy in the long run. Iron Man may have been a lot of things to Captain America over the years, but above all he was a friend who gave Cap hope in the moment he needed it most.