The Legacy of Captain America’s Shield

While being an ass-kicking Avenger, the hero known as Captain America has been used as a propaganda tool for the American government since his creation. After creation during World War 2, the use of Cap in his time in Marvel has always been to present the American ideals and values. His famous shield has be the one constant as many different heroes have taken up the mantle of Captain America, not just the traditional Steve Rogers. Within the MCU, the legacy of the shield has been a focus of many films and looks set to be brought back as The Falcon and The Winter Soldier continues to stream on Disney+.

Impact of Cap on History:

In March 1941 around a year before America actively joined the Second World War, the first Captain America was published with its famous cover of Cap punching Adolf Hitler. This iconic image is still used today and began the journey of Captain America. Without question during the war Cap was used to get people on side of the allies, as the strong warrior would fight against the villainous Nazi’s. However, what aren’t talked about as much is how Cap grew to become a pop culture icon and how the shield began to represent American values. The use of propaganda does this which is why the values that were on display in Captain America comics always had to be strong and help gain the support of the American public in times of crisis.

Another example where Captain America was used to unite a nation was after the shocking events of 9/11. A year after the disaster, a new Captain America series began to be released and by some of the titles it was once again obvious that Cap was used to help raise morale while growing support against terror. On the covers we saw slogans like: “Fight Terror”, “Never Give Up” and “Honor Them” which was strong emotive language even for comics. Each slogan is used to unite the nation against terror and once against shows how Captain America stood for the true American values. Moreover on each cover there was a heavy focus on the shield which is what the true symbol of these values was.

As a whole in times of suffering it was the symbol of the American shield that helped bring the nation to some peace. The values of belief, honour and bravery are what the legacy of the shield carries and when someone sees the shield in the modern era this is what they think of. Captain America in the comics is a propaganda tool to show the type of example everyone should be setting but it’s the shield which has more of a legacy as the wielder of the shield has to take on the values which are synonymous with it.

Values in the MCU:

When the Marvel Cinematic Universe launched in 2008, the introduction of Captain America was followed shortly, with Chris Evans playing the iconic role of Captain America. Just like the comics Steve Rogers held up the values that make Captain America such an iconic character. We also got to see Steve go on tour as a performer as he helped gain support at home which was a nice nod to what Captain America actually did during the Second World War. However, the urge to do the right thing is what makes Steve Rogers different as he joined the war even though he wasn’t sanctioned to.

After crashing the Hydra ship into the ice, we got our first sign of what the shield means. As the shield was found, the immediate recognition of it by those who discovered the ship just goes to show the legacy that the shield left behind. In later movies when we visit the Smithsonian museum we get to see how much of a legacy was left behind. Despite highlighting Steve as the man wielding the shield, it still has to be known that the museum made it clear that the shield stood for so much more.

We then got to see more of what the shield stood for during Captain America: Civil War. After Steve Rogers beat Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), he left the shield behind as although doing what he thought was right it wasn’t what the shield represented. As such we get a clearer picture once Steve dropped the shield as to what the values of the shield were not the values of Steve. The shield doesn’t represent fighting your allies and becoming a criminal.

We have to remember there is a difference between Steve’s values and what the shield means to people. As we mentioned before the shield would be used in times of suffering to give people hope, this is something Steve Rogers couldn’t do while he was frozen in ice. As such the shield is so much more than one person. Steve also realises this as it was Tony bringing up his father which caused Steve to drop the shield. The fact Tony says this indicates that the shield also represents everyone as a unit and not just what the one person carrying it believes is right. Credit to Steve because he understood this and left the shield behind as he went against those that helped make the shield what it was.

After the attack by Thanos which wiped out 50% of all living creatures, Cap was gifted the shield back by Tony which was an iconic moment in the MCU, as after 5 years of sitting in a garage the hope and belief which the shield represents was brought back to life.

The legacy continues:

With the legacy of the shield being so complexed, its next story begins in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. After Steve seemingly passed the shield to Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) we thought the Falcon would don the mantle of Captain America. However, the show has taken a completely different route and the legacy of the shield seems to be one of the plot’s main driving forces.

When Sam made his speech before handing the shield over, he talks about the symbol it represents. However, Sam missed the point as he believes the shield belongs to Steve because of what he did with it. What Sam misses is that the shield is more than one person, which is why Steve was happy to pass it to Sam. Eventually we expect Sam to realize his mistakes as he will understand that the legacy the shield has is so much more than one person and he was chosen by Steve because although siding with Steve in Civil War has always been an honourable man to the public and the government.

This is where the debate of the new Captain America comes in. We are only one episode into the series so the role John Walker (Wyatt Russell) will play is still rather unknown. However, if he follows his comic routes we expect a new found brutality for the new Captain America. This isn’t what the shield stands for and since the blip it seems that the government has forgotten this due to the fear they now have. Sam tackling the problems of the Flag Smashers and Zemo (Daniel Bruhl) will be his main focus but in the process we expect Sam to learn that the shield should not be carried by hired gun, instead it should we wielded by someone who will follow the values the shield stands for to the best of their abilities.

Review:

The legacy of the shield is still relevant today as many famous landmarks donned a holographic look after the first episode of Falcon and The Winter Soldier dropped. This goes to show the impact the shield has and what is stands for. Throughout the comics and the movies the shield has been used to represent honour and bravery. One thing we have to remember is that Steve Rogers is different from the shield which is why the legacy behind the shield and what it stands for his much more global and has such a universal impact on everyone.

Images:

Marvel Studios

Marvel Comics

Disney+

Disney