Captain America is considered the greatest hero in the Marvel Universe. His life as a hero began during World War II when he became the Sentinel of Liberty and it still hasn’t ended. Captain America never gives up and fights anyone who endangers the innocent. While some believe he fights for the American government, he fights for the people and ideals. His life has never been easy, but he keeps going no matter what.
While Cap is one of the strongest people around, there’s no doubt that being Captain America isn’t easy. It doesn’t matter who’s in the costume; there are a lot of downsides to being Captain America.
10 The Fight Never Ends
Captain America fights to make the world better for everyone, not just Americans. He wants liberty and equality for everyone everywhere, but that’s not an easy thing to ensure. Captain America’s fight is endless. It doesn’t matter who wears the costume and wields the shield; there will never be any peace for Cap.
Superheroes have a tough life, but being Captain America is very different from being another hero. Cap is about giving the best American ideals, those that are the easiest to deny, to everyone. The fight will never end, and Captain America can’t ever stop because his mission will never be accomplished.
9 Being Captain America Cost Steve Rogers Everyone He Loved And Grew Up With
Becoming Captain America allowed Steve Rogers to be all he could be. He saved countless lives in WWII, and he believed he’d go home to be with his family and friends after the war. Unfortunately, that never happened; he fell into the icy cold water and froze, his super-soldier serum keeping him alive in stasis for decades.
Cap’s family died never knowing what happened to him. He lost them forever, and even his few mementos from them were destroyed by the Masters of Evil. While being Captain America made him into a hero, it also cost him his family.
8 The Super Soldier Serum Could Give Out On Him At Any Time
Captain America’s super-soldier serum made him into the hero that he was always meant to be. It heightened him to the peak of human perfection and gave him the ability to save the country and ideals he loved. However, it also failed him more than once, giving out and causing him to age rapidly.
Steve Rogers has to live with the fact that the serum could stop working again at any time. He’s not afraid of death, but he doesn’t want to leave his work undone. He trusts the serum to keep himself strong and healthy. Without it, he would lose his ability to fight for what he believed in, which is the worst thing for him.
7 Working With S.H.I.E.L.D. Means Getting In Bed With Devils
Captain America is known for working with S.H.I.E.L.D., but the organization isn’t exactly the best to work with for him. It all starts at the top; Nick Fury has done a lot of good in the world, but he’s often had to do terrible things in order to ensure victory. S.H.I.E.L.D. helps the heroes, but they are a spy organization first and foremost. Working with them means working with people who do terrible things at times.
Captain America is a hero and the men and women of S.H.I.E.L.D. often follow different rules than he does. He’ll work with them if he has to, but he knows that they aren’t the best people to work with.
6 He Has To Live With The Death Of Many Friends
Captain America has been the de facto leader of the Marvel Universe for a long time. In the battles he’s led, his fellow heroes have died. Cap was in command, and he blames himself for everyone who has died while he was in charge. Cap’s fellow heroes are his family, and every time he can’t save one of them, it kills him inside.
Heroes die all the time, and some of them even stay dead. Cap takes his responsibilities seriously, and one of those is to the men and women he leads. He’s had to live with the deaths of so many over the years, and nothing will ever make him feel better about that.
5 The Public Questioned Sam Wilson’s Fitness As Captain America For No Reason
Sam Wilson accomplished some great things over the years, but the biggest was becoming Captain America. As the Falcon, Sam proved he had what it took, and his fellow heroes had no question in their minds that he was suitable for the job. The problem was everyone else. The public was so used to Steve Rogers that they questioned whether Sam was worthy of being Cap.
Part of it was racism, as those hidebound people believed that a black man should never be Captain America. The way people treated him as Captain America and how he went about the mission affected him deeply, but it never stopped him from doing the right thing.
4 Steve Rogers Blames Himself For What Happened To Bucky
Between the last time Cap saw him and his return as the Winter Soldier, Bucky Barnes changed an unimaginable amount. Steve Rogers blamed himself for all of it; his inability to save Bucky put him in the position to be transformed into the Winter Soldier. To Steve, all of the terrible things that Bucky did were partly his fault.
Steve fought for his friend, doing everything he could to redeem him and bring him back to the side of angels. While this paid off, there’s not a day that goes by that Steve doesn’t feel terrible for everything that happened to his one-time sidekick.
3 Heavy Is The Head That Wear The Crown
Captain America is considered the greatest leader in the Marvel Universe. He’s led the Avengers for years, and when the heroes assemble for huge threats, he’s the one they look to for strategy and guidance. Steve Rogers is always the leader, and while he apparently has no problem with that, there’s no doubt it’s hard for him.
Cap has to make all the plans and call all the shots. Being a leader is never easy and Cap has to deal with the responsibility of it all the time. Wearing the costume of Captain America means that one has to lead, no matter if they want to or not, as Sam and Bucky have also learned in the past.
2 The Red Skull Never Goes Away
Captain America and the Red Skull are inextricably linked. Since WWII, the two have been fighting each other, and it’s truly a never-ending battle. Cap knows this, and there’s no way it doesn’t wear on him. The Red Skull casually commits atrocities, and even though he’s died, it never keeps him down. He always comes back, and more people die at his hands.
Captain America knows that the Red Skull always comes back, and he knows that the Red Skull will never stop killing. He’s watched his foe come back to life numerous times to take up their war all over again, and Cap knows he can never truly beat him.
1 The Reality Of The U.S. Devastates Him
Captain America is the most inspirational hero because of the things he believes. Cap has based his entire life around the words and ideals that make the U.S. a great place. Unfortunately, the reality of the U.S. often falls far short of the ideal, and Cap has to deal with that fact. More than once over the years, Captain America has been disillusioned by the realities of the world around him.
The vaunted equality and freedom of the U.S. isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. People’s rights are trampled on. The powerful take everything and give a pittance to those who worked for it. Equality is more often than not a joke, and Cap has to live with being the symbol of a country that can’t live up to what it preaches.
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