Recap / Captain America: The First Avenger

Far north in the Arctic, a group of scientists and government officials discover a ship of unknown make and origin buried beneath the ice. An excavation inside the ship uncovers something perfectly frozen within...or rather, someone, holding a certain star-spangled shield...

Norway, 1942: A regiment of the Nazi war machine comes marching in to quiet, German-occupied, village of Tønsberg, Norway. Johann Schmidt, the leader, coerces a crypt-keeper into revealing the location of the Tesseract, a blue glowing cube holding unfathomable power, power that could alter the course of not only the second World War, but of world history!

Enter Steve Rogers, a young man from Brooklyn with big dreams of helping the American war effort, and a big problem: he is physically unfit for duty, being short, scrawny, and sickly. His friend, James "Bucky" Barnes, tries to take his mind off of his latest failure in getting enlisted by taking him to a scientific exposition held by Stark Industries. Steve, however, sees yet another opportunity to enlist. While waiting for his physical exam, he is greeted by Abraham Erskine, a defector from Germany aiding America. Erskine sees potential in the young Steve, for his patriotism and desire to fight for America were tempered by his compassion and kindness. Thus, does Erskine give Steve what he always wanted: enlistment into the US Army.

Steve is quickly sent into basic training, where his physical shortcomings are made all the more apparent. His determination and cunning, however, confirm Erskine's hopes for Steve, as well as catch the eye of Peggy Carter, a British special agent aiding Erskine. Erskine eventually reveals what he intends for Steven: back in Germany, he created a serum for enhancing human physicality to its absolute peak. Schmidt, the leader of a Nazi division known as HYDRA, took the prototype serum, which made him stronger and faster, but horribly disfigured him and amplified his megalomania along with his physical prowess. Erskine describes the serum as enhancing everything about the person who takes it, for good and for ill, and his hopes that the serum will make Steve not only a better soldier, but a better man.

The following day, Agent Carter escorts Steve to a secret laboratory run by Stark Industries. Placed inside of a special chamber that would inject him with the serum and bathe him in an energy called "Vita-rays", Steve Rogers would enter the chamber as a mere man, and emerge as something greater. Just as he gained his new physical prowess, however, a HYDRA agent assassinates Erskine and escapes with the last remaining vial of the serum. Steve gives chase and manages to catch the agent, who swallows a cyanide pill to keep his secrets safe.

The bad news for Steve is that, because he was the only recipient of the now-lost serum, he was considered too valuable to send into action in Europe. In the meantime, he is recruited by a scouting agent to portray a new mascot for the US Army called "Captain America", putting on shows to boost morale among the population and sales of war bonds. While Steve takes his assignment in stride, he can't help but feel that his potential is being wasted doing show tunes...

An opportunity to prove himself emerges, however, when he learns that a unit that included his friend Bucky had been captures in German territory. With the POW camp they are being held in deep in enemy territory, the higher-ups wrote them off as a lost cause. Steve, however, refuses to give up on them, sneaking into the base under the cover of night and freeing the unit, including Bucky. This base, as it turns out, is a HYDRA base where experimental weapons using the Tesseract are being constructed, including energy rifles that can reduce men to dust. While making their escape from the self-destructing base, Steve and Bucky run into Schmidt, who reveals his strength in a brief scuffle and peels back his mask to reveal his disfigured red, skull-like face.

For his part in saving a US Army unit in what as deemed an impossible mission, Captain Steve Rogers is declared a hero to his fellow soldiers. With the higher-ups realizing the potential of the super soldier in their ranks, he is provided with a new suit of lightweight-yet-durable armor to make protect him in the battlefield, as well as what would be his signature weapon: a disc-shaped shield made of Vibranium, a rare metal that is capable of withstanding practically anything. As the tip of the American army's spear in Europe, Captain Rogers leads his unit further and further into Nazi territory, winning key engagements against HYDRA and forcing them into a corner.

With Schmidt increasingly cross with his army's failures to win against Rogers, Steve mounts a mission to capture Arnim Zola, HYDRA's head scientist. In a hard-fought battle, Steve manages to capture Zola. Unfortunately, Bucky falls into a deep chasm: he is now missing and presumed dead.

From information provided by the captured Zola, the final HYDRA stronghold is located. Steve launches an assault on the stronghold, where Tesseract-built weapons of mass destruction were being built, along with a massive airship, the Valkyrie. As Schmidt attempts to escape aboard the Valkyrie, Steve gives chase, the two engaging in a desperate brawl that sees the Tesseract damaged. When Schmidt tries to handle the cracked Tesseract, it creates a wormhole that flings the Red Skull far, far away, never to haunt the Earth ever again. The Tesseract burns a hole through the Valkyrie, falling into the ocean below. With the Valkyrie carrying weapons of mass destruction, and no other way to safely dispose of them, Captain Steve Rogers makes the ultimate sacrifice and crashes the airship into the Arctic. While Howard Stark recovers the Tesseract, the Valkyrie has gone missing, along with Steve...

Steve opens his eyes to see himself in a US Army infirmary. However, not everything is as it seems: a radio in the room is broadcasting a baseball game from 1941, a game Steve saw in person. He breaks out of the infirmary, only to find himself in Times Square, New York, in the year 2011. The world as he knows it has changed immensely. There is no rest for the weary, however, as Steve is approached by Nick Fury, the director of SHIELD, who informs him that he had been asleep for the past several decades, and he is needed for another mission, one concerning the fate of the world...

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