Captain America is considered the symbol of truth and justice in Marvel Comics. Captain America is the hero other heroes aspire to be like, and he is often seen leading teams of Avengers with members far more powerful than himself. He was one of Marvel’s first superheroes and has been a centerpiece of the publisher’s output since being brought back in Avengers #4 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
Despite that, Steve Rogers has still had moments where his ugly side shows, and he unleashes a bit of cruelty on his enemies and allies. To clarify, this is referring to Steve Rogers himself and not the Hydra Cap from Secret Empire or other people who wielded the shield such as Sam Wilson, Bucky Barnes, John Walker, and William Burnside. Even Steve Rogers can get ugly sometimes.
10 Generally Being Uninvolved In The Mutant Struggle
Cruelty can be passive in Marvel Comics, and often in relation to the mutant cause. Captain America and The Avengers have been allied with the X-Men a few times over the years, but they far too often turn a blind eye towards some of the grandest atrocities levied against mutant-kind.
The genocide on Genosha, the Legacy Virus, and M-Day were all events that mutants were left largely to deal with on their own with minimal or no help from the Avengers.
9 Telling Wolverine That He Will Never Be An Avenger
In a similar vein, Captain America’s first in-comics solo team up with Wolverine found Steve taking a fairly high and mighty attitude towards Logan. This took place in Captain America Annual #8 by Mark Gruenwald and Mike Zeck.
The villain of the day was a mutant named Overrider, and Logan went against orders and took a more violent approach to deal with the rogue. This led to Captain America becoming incensed with Wolverine and saying, “I guarantee the Avengers would never have you!”
8 Berating Iron Man About The Illuminati Then Joining Anyway
The existence of the Illuminati became known to the Avengers after a two-bit villain known as the Hood began stealing the Infinity Gems from the Illuminati members. The Avengers came together to stop the Hood, but Cap and the other Avengers let their anger with the Illuminati known, with Steve particularly coming down hard on Iron Man.
However, this must have all been for show and posturing, as Steve allowed the Illuminati to continue to exist so long as he received an Infinity Gem and became part of their future plans.
7 Telling Moon Knight That He Doesn’t Want His Help In Civil War
Moon Knight first joined the Avengers as part of their West Coast team, but the team was eventually dissolved. Moon Knight eventually moved back to New York and had some particularly violent and brutal adventures penned by the creative team of Charlie Huston and David Finch. When the Superhuman Civil War kicked off, Captain America was looking for any allies that he could get to fight against registration.
That is, Cap wanted any allies he could get except Moon Knight. Steve personally visited Marc Spector to tell him to stay out of the Civil War. Steve thought Moon Knight was too violent and unstable. Needless to say, Marc Spector was insulted, but he agreed. Ironically, Steve Rogers would later recruit Moon Knight to his Heroic Age era Secret Avengers team.
6 Using The “Joy Buzzer” On Iron Man During Civil War
Another rather cruel move made by Steve Rogers during Civil War was the false olive branch that he offered to Iron Man before one of their major battles. Captain America extended a hand of friendship to Iron Man, but this turned out to be a ruse.
Captain America had a “joy buzzer” which temporarily shut down Iron Man’s suit and kept Tony Stark out of the fight for much of this particular showdown.
5 Dating Sharon And Peggy Carter At The Same Time
When Cap initially came out of the ice in the 1960s, his old love Peggy Carter was still alive, just older. One would like to think this wouldn’t be much of an issue for Steve, but it was.
By contrast, Peggy’s niece Sharon Carter was young, spry, and had much of the same fire that Peggy had. Steve ended up dating Sharon for a time without breaking things off with Peggy. He eventually did, but that doesn’t take away from the cruelty of it.
4 Letting Marcus Immortus Take Carol Danvers To Limbo
Avengers #200 by Jim Shooter, George Perez, Bob Layton, and David Michelinie told the story of Carol Danvers, then known as Ms. Marvel, suddenly becoming pregnant and giving birth to Marcus Immortus. This child rapidly aged to adulthood and claimed to be the son of Avengers villain Immortus (another version of Kang the Conqueror). He also claimed to be infatuated with Carol Danvers and that he needed to be birthed into our dimension to leave Limbo.
Eventually, Carol claimed to have feelings for Marcus and the two left for Limbo. The Avengers apparently had no complaints about this perverse turn of events, Captain America included. Carol Danvers returns in Avengers Annual #10 by Chris Claremont and Michael Golden to let the Avengers know how bad they screwed up. Marcus was manipulating Carol, and they did nothing to stop it. This led to Carol taking a long time away from the Avengers and becoming a regular ally to the X-Men.
3 Launching A War Against The X-Men On Utopia
When the apocalyptic Phoenix Force was on its way back to Earth, Cyclops thought it might be an opportunity to bring mutant-kind back from the brink of extinction. However, Cap and the Avengers were worried that this could spell the end of the world. Both knew that the mutant messiah known as Hope Summers was the likely target of the Phoenix.
Cap then went to the mutant island of Utopia to take Hope Summers into custody. Cyclops wasn’t willing to let this happen and when Cyclops resisted, Cap revealed that he had dozens of Avengers floating on a cloaked helicarrier above Utopia. This led to an all-out war between the Avengers and X-Men.
2 Turning On Sam Wilson During The Falcon’s Tenure As Captain America
When Sam Wilson became Captain America, he took a more openly political approach to the role. He also allied with an outlaw hacker known as the Whisperer who had been accessing S.H.I.E.L.D. data files.
This led Steve, then a part of S.H.I.E.L.D. himself, to go after Sam and interfere with his work as Captain America. Sam was even trying to save immigrants who were being attacked by bigoted would-be vigilantes, only for Steve and a group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents arrived to arrest him.
1 Fighting To Ensure That Iron Man Died During The Final Incursion
When the Final Incursion promised to destroy what was left of the Multiverse, Mister Fantastic, Black Panther, and a few other heroes created a spacefaring lifeboat that could survive the ensuing destruction and the subsequent void. Steve agreed to let them take a small group of heroes on the lifeboat as long as it didn’t include Iron Man.
Steve was still angry at Iron Man over the activities of the Illuminati, which included ordering Doctor Strange to wipe Steve’s memory of the Illuminati’s existence. Cap then took a suit of power armor to confront and fight Iron Man, keeping him away from the lifeboat and ensuring both men’s violent demise as the world ended around them.
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