The Greatest American Hero

Young Steve Rogers was your less than average teenage boy who wanted nothing more than to serve his country, but was deemed unfit for service. Fortunately, the government had been experimenting with a process that could create the ultimate soldier. The process had been tested on African-American soldiers who were uniformed of the dangerous procedure being forced upon them. One of these test subjects proved successful, a man named Issaiah, and resulted in the first "unofficial" Captain America. After the procedure had been approved for use, Steve Rogers was placed in the supersoldier program and underwent the most extreme procedure of his life. The end result was a symbol for defeating the German forces of World War II. He soon became the last and only recorded success of the program as an undercover German spy killed the scientist in charge and destroyed the formula just as Rogers completed his transformation.

The story has been told and retold time and time again, but the basic concept always remains the same. After the "death" of Bucky Barnes, Cap's trusty sidekick, Cap is sent on one last mission. He sits aboard an experimental drone plane and falls off into the North Atlantic Ocean, lost for years. He is later found frozen in a block of ice and revived to once again serve as the symbol this county so desperately needed. He quickly take the lead of the newly formed team The Avengers, among the ranks of Iron Man, Thor, The Wasp, and Giant Man.

After years of fighting for this country, defending it time and time again. His good friend and old teammate Iron Man is declared director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and he makes the ultimate decision, to pass the Superhero Registration Act, a law declaring that any person with enhanced abilities must register with S.H.I.E.L.D., and if they wish to fight crime, they will do so under the direction of Tony Stark. Once the law passes, the superhero community is ripped in two as people fight over their right to a secret identity. Soon, civil war breaks out as all the heroes who refused to register are now outlaws and those who did register are being forced to bring them in. Though his identity was already public, Captain America still fought on the side of those who wished to retain their secret identity. The war was soon finished, however, once Cap surrendered. And a shroud of darkness swept over the nation as he was shot and killed by assassins and Sharon Stone, an old love interest of Rogers', on his way to trial.

Cap's creation was meant to create a symbol that the world could look to as the defender for justice and the American way. But even with the supersoldier serum flowing through his veins, Cap was still just one man, and no one can do it alone. Fortunately, there were other super-powered heroes of the time looking to unite against the evil forces sweeping the world. The powerful Namor and the original Human Torch, among others, joined forces with Captain America forming the Invaders, a team of heroes bent on defending those in need from evil villains like the Red Skull. They have been featured in their own comic series many moons ago, but were seen in the more recently published Avengers v.s. Invaders where the star-studded team from the 40's was transported to the present and attacked the Avengers assuming the whole thing to be an illusion brought on by the Red Skull.

A good friend to Steve Rogers was Bucky Barnes, who accidentally catches Steve changing into his Captain America outfit one day. He instantly demanded to join on as Steve's partner and he reluctantly agreed. They fought side by side for years, but one day proved very trying for Cap. As Bucky attempted to disarm a bomb, it blew up, leaving no trace of the young hero. Everyone believed him to have died in action. However, a crew of Russian soldiers came upon an interesting discovery one day, the frozen and preserved body of Bucky Barnes in the ice. They revived him and turned him into the ultimate assassin, the Winter Soldier. He would be kept on ice until needed and then thawed out, sent on the mission, and put back in suspended animation after completion of his task. This went on for years until Bucky was finally freed of their control. He spent years trying to redeem himself of the evil he caused but could never really atone for his sins until he took up the mantle as Captain America once Steve was assassinated. Today, he serves as the unofficial Captain America, aiding teams such as the New Avengers, who are outlaws after the Superhuman Registration Act.

The other noteworthy partner who has fought by Cap's side for many years is Sam Wilson, the Falcon. His father and mother were both killed while he was young and resulted in him fleeing to the west coast in search of a new life, and he found it as the newest crime boss in L.A. After a plane crash on his way to a big score, he is stranded on an island inhabited by an exiled group of soldiers who had been betrayed by the Red Skull. Once here, the Red Skull used the power of the Cosmic Cube to rewrite Sam's past, removing his troubled years in L.A. and replacing them with years of working as a social worker. He also made Wilson meet up with Cap upon reaching the island. After meeting, the two decided to create the persona of the Falcon for Sam to wield and use in fighting crime. The two have been great friends ever since the meeting, and Sam still fights to this day in the name of Captain America.

A new story has emerged from Marvel called Captain America Reborn. It reveals that the Red Skull has orchestrated a plan to get Captain America under his command all beginning with his assassination. The Skull has since been searching for Captain America who has been somehow lost in time. The premise seems a little sketchy and not very well thought out at this current point, but only time will tell where the story goes from here.

July of 2011 is the current release date for The First Avenger: Captain America. There is currently a script, but no set cast just yet. Rumor has it that Jensen Ackles, Dean of t.v.'s Supernatural, will be taking on the role of Steve Rogers. He would make an o.k. Cap by my standards. He isn't a terrible actor, but he just doesn't feel perfect for the role. Not to mention the fact that whoever plays this role will be Cap in every Marvel movie to follow, including 2012's Avengers movie. He will definitely do a better job than Mathew McConaughey who had previously been rumored to be taking on the role. To be frank, this movie has a lot of potential to either be great or disappoint a lot of audiences. We just have to wait and see what happens.