Warning! Spoilers ahead for Winter Guard #1
In the latest issue of Marvel Comics' Winter Guard, Alexis Shostakov's Red Guardian gives the first sign that he would have the advantage in a fight with Steve Rogers' Captain America. While Alexei has plans to return to Russia as a hero after years of imprisonment, times have changed and he and Yelena Belova have both been marked for death and facing the Winter Guard (Russia's version of the Avengers). However, Red Guardian does incredibly well fighting this entire team of superpowered Russian heroes, while also proving that there are some tactics he's comfortable using that Rogers would never stoop to, thereby giving Shostakov his advantage in a hypothetical fight between the two.
In Winter Guard #1 from writer Ryan Cady and artist Jan Bazaldua, Red Guardian and Yelena Belova crossed the Ukrainian border and entered Russian territory, seeking to reach Alexei's old base of operations in search of valuable intel. However, it's been a long time since Shostakov was a free man in Russia, and he and Yelena have been marked by Russia's government as high-level threats and traitors. This prompts the Winter Guard to be deployed to bring them in despite the Red Guardian's former status as a national hero.
While Red Guardian and Yelena obtained a hard drive containing information about Shostakov's last sanctioned mission codenamed Snowblind, the Winter Guard arrived before they could make their escape. However, Red Guardian was nothing if not prepared, having had the entire abandoned airbase rigged with booby traps. Not only that, but he easily handled his replacement Vanguard before being surrounded by the entire Winter Guard. This was where Shostakov played his final card by hacking into Crimson Dynamo's systems to make him attack his fellow teammates, resulting in the brutal death of the synthezoid Vostok. The sorts of tactics are something Steve Rogers' would never resort to, proving that while Captain America is a Super Solider, Red Guardian is a black ops Super Solider.
By using such dark tactics, Red Guardian has his advantage in a theoretical fight with Captain America. It's hopefully only a matter of time before Alexei does fight Rogers for real, especially after the character's rise in popularity thanks to the MCU's Black Widow, which saw the film version of Red Guardian claim that he once beat America's Super Soldier.
Clearly, Red Guardian is not playing around, and whatever he has planned next with the information he and Yelena secured is going to be big. However, his means of escape nearly crippled the entire Winter Guard, and that's something that won't be left unaswered. As a result, Shostakov will most likely be facing the full wrath of the Winter Guard in future issues. Here's hoping the Red Guardian survives the experience long enough to make his fight with Captain America a reality in the Marvel Comics Universe.