Captain America was one of the most formative superheroes in the Infinity Saga of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As the franchise looks forward to the Multiverse Saga, which includes the highly-anticipated Captain America: New World Order, fans are looking back at the original Captain America, Steve Rogers.
Over the course of his appearances in the MCU, Steve Rogers's life would change drastically, as he went from a skinny kid growing up in Brooklyn to one of the Earth's mightiest heroes. During this journey, certain important events served to alter Steve's life forever.
Leaping On The Grenade
After finally joining the army in Captain America: The First Avenger, Steve finds himself under the watchful eye of Dr. Abraham Erskine, who secretly wants him to become the first super-soldier. When Colonel Phillips tosses a dead grenade into the midst of the soldiers as a means to prove Steve's cowardice, the young recruit acts unexpectedly, leaping atop the grenade himself.
This action would prove to be one of Steve's best decisions in the franchise, immediately identifying him as the perfect first candidate to receive Dr. Erskine's experimental super-soldier serum thanks to his good heart and selfless personality.
Getting The Super-Soldier Serum
Steve Rogers finally becomes Captain America after receiving an experimental super-soldier serum created by Dr. Erskine. This serum strengthens his body and physique, turning him into the world's first successful super-soldier.
Receiving the serum would allow Steve to embark on many heroic endeavors throughout his lifetime, including the hostage rescue mission that would define his heroism shortly thereafter. Without having received this experimental treatment, the world might have never had a true Captain America.
Bucky's Death
After putting together his team of Howling Commandos, Steve soon learned the perils of war when, during a mission aboard a train traveling through Siberia, he loses his first soldier. Bucky Barnes, Steve's best friend is knocked from the train, falling into the mountains far below.
Bucky would be the only Howling Commando to die, to appear to have died, in combat. The loss of his best friend broke Steve, who was never the same after Bucky's death. From that point onward, Steve would strive to never again lose a soldier, a successful endeavor for the remainder of the war.
Crashing The Plane
After defeating the villainous Red Skull, Steve soon learns that his plane is about to drop a bomb on a populated city. Seeing a chance to save innocent lives, Steve chooses to crash the plane with himself aboard, trapping himself in the icy waters below for 70 years.
This was a turning point in the life of Steve Rogers, as he would awake decades later in an entirely new world. Now in the 21st century, Steve would forever be known as a man out of time, with most of those whom he had known in the 1940s dead and gone.
Joining The Avengers
Though Steve awoke to find himself incredibly alone in the 21st century, it wasn't long until he surrounded himself with a new family in the Avengers. The group formed in 2012 during the Chitauri invasion of Earth, promising to always be there when the world needed them most.
As a founding member of the Avengers, Steve soon became one of the team's most formative leaders. While his contributions to the team were invaluable, they also provided him with some much-needed camaraderie in the loneliest period of his life.
Bucky's Return
As he finally began to adjust to his new surroundings, Steve would receive the biggest surprise of his life after discovering that his best friend, Bucky Barnes, was still alive and moonlighting as the assassin known as the Winter Soldier.
After his encounter with Bucky, Steve would spend the next few years tracking down his brainwashed friend in an attempt to restore his mind to what it had once been all those years ago. Bucky's return shaped the rest of Captain America's arc in the MCU as he struggled with the morality of protecting his friend in spite of the law.
The Civil War
Steve could have used a lawyer like Jennifer Walters during his legal trouble in Civil War, which saw the star-spangled man pitted against the Avengers and his country after the ratification of the Sokovia Accords. Choosing to protect his ideals over his loyalty to either party, Steve went rogue, tearing the Avengers apart in the process.
Steve's decision during Civil War was the culmination of his larger character arc that saw him slowly begin to question the morality of his superiors at S.H.I.E.L.D. and in the nation's government. Refusing to sign the Accords and instead going rogue meant that Steve was finally learning to trust his own judgment, no matter what the rest of the world told him to do.
The Decimation
2018's Avengers: Infinity War brought about the Avengers' worst defeat of all time at the hands of the Mad Titan Thanos. As one of the few left alive after Thanos's fateful snap, Steve was left deeply missing his dead friends for the next five years, trying to figure out where he and the other Avengers had gone wrong.
Steve admits to Natasha during the events of Endgame that he still hasn't moved on from the team's defeat five years prior. The superhero never stopped feeling responsible for the immense pain and suffering that Thanos had wrought on the universe. This guilt would drive them to restore the lives that the Mad Titan had taken, thereby bringing the universe back to its former state once more.
The Battle Of Earth
The events of Avengers: Endgame culminate with the Battle of Earth, which features several character-defining moments for Steve Rogers. The battle begins with Captain America's greatest accomplishment of all time, wielding the hammer of Thor, and ends with the death of Tony Stark, one of Steve's closest friends.
In wielding Mjølnir, Steve proved that his worth came not from the super-soldier serum coursing through his veins, but from his good heart. By lifting the hammer, Steve proved himself a true hero regardless of his size or stature. Yet, in such triumph also came heartache, as he lost Tony Stark forever, whose tumultuous friendship had continuously pushed Steve to become a better man.
Returning To Peggy
After Thanos's final defeat and the end of the Battle of Earth, Steve goes back in time to live out the rest of his days with his true love, Peggy Carter. Returning once more to pass his shield and mantle on to Sam Wilson, Steve reveals that he and Peggy shared a beautiful life together.
Returning to Peggy was Steve's long-awaited boon for decades of selfless heroism. In spending the remainder of his days with her, Steve achieved the simple ending he had always wanted, a worthy compensation for all he had done to protect the world during his time as one of Earth's mightiest heroes.