Captain America and The Falcon: Civic Superheroes Leading The Way
by Ryan Lintelman, curator, Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History
Editor’s note: The first-ever Civic Season is underway, from Juneteenth — July 4th. Explore hundreds of ways to get started to level up your civic knowledge and participation, from Captain America aka Chris Evans’ “A Starting Point” video series, to programs from the National Museum of American History, to a quiz you can take to identify YOUR civic superpowers.
Captain America and The Falcon are two of the most popular characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, not to mention the Marvel Comics that inspired the film series. While Cap and Falcon are both super-powered soldiers driven by duty to their country, the patriotism they embody is not as simple as you might think. In the films, television series, and comics they’ve headlined, these heroes have grappled with the great gap between American ideals and nation’s failure to live up to them just as often as they’ve battled supervillains.
As depicted in the 2011 film Captain America: The First Avenger, Steve Rogers was one of many young Americans compelled to enlist in the United States military during World War II to defend the values of liberal democracy against the authoritarian tyranny of the Axis powers. Upon enlisting, Rogers is selected to receive an experimental super soldier serum and treatment that imbues him with superhuman powers. He takes on the mantle and red, white, and blue shield of Captain America as he dedicates himself to defending freedom and justice. Over the course of his seven major film appearances, Cap learns that protecting those American values doesn’t always mean supporting the government. When he uncovers lies, conspiracies, greed, or even government surveillance and defense programs that seem to sacrifice liberty for security, he commits acts of civil disobedience that would make Henry David Thoreau blush, like destroying S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters and forming a fugitive superhero team to fight the Avengers.
In the 2021 streaming series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Sam Wilson struggles with not only the legacy of Captain America but also the nation’s history of racial injustice. While pursuing a super-powered team of anti-nationalist terrorists who support refugee rights, Wilson tries to do what’s right but the complicated modern world makes it hard to define heroism. Who’s the hero and who’s the villain when both sides say they’re fighting for freedom and justice? In a nod to the real life history of the Tuskegee Experiment, Wilson also learns that the US Government tested a new super soldier serum on a black soldier named Isaiah Bradley during the Korean War. Fearing his power, the government subjected him to torturous experiments and sent him on a suicide mission, but he survived long enough to warn Wilson “they will never let a Black man be Captain America.” By the end of the series (spoiler alert!), Wilson decides that it’s his duty to take up the shield and title that Steve Rogers passed on to him, with a renewed dedication to fighting for justice and equality.
These films and streaming series prove the power of popular entertainment to focus attention on American values and the constant struggle to live up to them. As we grapple with the tension between our nation’s promises and practices, superheroes like Captain America and The Falcon demonstrate the dedication and effort required to create a more perfect union.
Ryan Lintelman is entertainment curator at the National Museum of American History. He studies, writes, and develops exhibits about the importance of television, film, theater, and comedy to the nation’s history. Lintelman is one of the curators of the Entertainment Nation exhibition, opening at NMAH in 2022, and is writing a book on the history of American comedy.
