The catchphrase coined by Captain America in the MCU has become almost synonymous with his character and has even been taken up by other versions of Cap in separate universes as “I can do this all day” was also said by Captain Carter in the latest MCU film Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness. While the connotation behind that catchphrase is overwhelmingly heroic, it was completely corrupted by Captain Marvel during her darkest mission in Marvel Comics’ history.
Steve Rogers first uttered the now iconic catchphrase in the MCU film Captain America: The First Avenger before he even became a super soldier. When getting picked on by a group of bullies, Steve planted his feet and continued fighting back against them, and when they asked if he’s had enough since his physical size almost guaranteed he wouldn’t win that fight, he replied, “I can do this all day” proving that he wont' back down from what is right no matter the odds against him.
In Captain Marvel #13 by Kelly Thompson and Lee Garbett, Carol Danvers is being forced to kill her fellow Avengers by a cosmic villain named Vox Supreme who trapped Captain Marvel in a Venom-like suit and is threatening to detonate a number of bombs that have been placed at Kree refugee housing facilities on Earth unless she complies. In the previous issue, Captain Marvel seemingly killed Thor and brought his severed head to Vox Supreme as proof of his demise. In this issue, Captain Marvel is going after Iron Man who is putting up a good fight against Danvers but in the end doesn’t stand a chance. While brutally attacking Iron Man, during her villainous crusade to kill all of the Avengers, Captain Marvel says to herself, “I can do this all day.”
This issue of Captain Marvel used a saying made famous by Captain America (one that conveyed hope and defiance in the face of overwhelming odds) to describe Captain Marvel's non-stop effort to kill the Avengers. This, unfortunately, utterly corrupts the catchphrase. While it is later revealed that Carol was only pretending to kill the Avengers and bringing Vox Supreme the corpses of lifeless clones of the Avengers to keep up the ruse, the scene itself is still decidedly dark. Readers had no idea Captain Marvel wasn’t actually trying to kill Iron Man, so when she perverted Captain America’s heroic saying, her villainous metamorphosis felt all the more genuine.
Not only did Captain Marvel corrupt Captain America’s catchphrase, but she did so while proving her complete and utter dominance over the rest of the Avengers, transforming the saying from something filled with hope, to one that conveyed hopelessness and dread. If Captain Marvel was actually trying to kill the Avengers, this issue made it seem as though she would be able to do so, and in brutal fashion. By saying Captain America’s catchphrase while successfully hunting and killing her former teammates one by one, Captain Marvel was not only killing the Avengers, but was also decimating everything they stood for by completely corrupting Captain America’s MCU catchphrase.