Dr. Abraham Erskine: So, you want to go overseas? Kill some Nazis.
Steve Rogers: Excuse me?
Dr. Abraham Erskine: Where are you from Mr. Rogers? Mmm? Is it New Haven? Or Paramus? Five exams in five different cities.
Steve Rogers: That might not be the right file.
Dr. Abraham Erskine: No, it's not the exams I'm interested in. It's the five tries. But you didn't answer my question. Do you want to kill Nazis?
Steve Rogers: Is this a test?
Dr. Abraham Erskine: Yes.
Steve Rogers: I don't wanna kill anyone. I don't like bullies. I don't care where they're from. Well, there are already so many big men fighting this war. Maybe what we need now is the little guy, huh?
Col. Chester Phillips: General Patton has said that wars are fought with weapons but they are won by men. We are going to win this war because we have the best men. And because they're gonna get better. Much better. The Strategic Scientific Reserve is an allied effort made up of the best minds in the free world. Our goal is to create the best army in history. But every army starts with one man. At the end of this week we will choose that man. He will be the first in a new breed of super-soldiers. And they, will personally escort Adolf Hitler to the gates of Hell.
Steve Rogers: You know for the longest time I dreamed about coming overseas and be on the front lines. Serving my country. I finally get everything I wanted, and I'm wearing tights.
Col. Chester Phillips: Son, who approve those colors on your uniform? The enemies gonna spot you from miles away as you're brighter than Rudolph's nose in the foggiest night. And that "A". Damn it, you're gonna be a walking target for the snipers!
Steve Rogers: Senator Brandt, sir. He said it would be a good representation of our American fighting spirit.
Col. Chester Phillips: Well, don't mind me saying but I wonder what that pencil pusher in a plush office would say if you were to come back covered in American flag!*
Dr. Abraham Erskine: So many people forget that the first country that the Nazi's invaded was their own. You know, after the last war the...my people struggled. They...they felt weak. They felt small. And then Hitler comes along with the marching and the big show and the flags and the...and the...
Dr. Abraham Erskine: And he...he hears of me, my work and he finds me. And he says, you...he says you will us strong. Well, I am not interested. So he sends the head of Hydra, his research division. A brilliant scientist by the name of Johann Schmidt. Now, Schmidt is a member of the inner circle and he's ambitious. He and Hitler share a passion for a cult power and Teutonic myth. Hitler uses his fantasies to inspire his followers. But for Schmidt it is not fantasy. For him, it is real. He has become convinced that there is a great power in the earth, left there by the Gods, waiting to be seized by a superior man. So when he hears about my formula and what it can do, he cannot resist.
Dr. Abraham Erskine: Schmidt must become that superior man.
Steve Rogers: Did it make him stronger?
Dr. Abraham Erskine: Yeah. But, there were other effects. The serum was not ready. But more important, the man. The serum amplifies everything that is inside. So, good becomes great. Bad becomes worse. This is why you were chosen. Because a strong man, who has known power all his life, will lose respect for that power. But a weak man knows the value of strength. And knows compassion.
Dr. Abraham Erskine: Whatever happens tomorrow, you must promise me one thing. That you will stay who you are. Not a perfect soldier, but a good man.
Johann Schimdt : Du zirkus affen! Bow before me!
Steve Rogers : Circus ape? Have you look into the mirror lately?
Johann Schimdt : All ze time, ihr blue suited affe!
Steve Rogers : No wonder you're nuts!*
"Dum Dum" Dugan: You mean to tell me that you can leap over a tall building in a single bound, or stop a speeding train like that comic character caped superhero I read?
Steve Rogers: Only in fiction.*
*own addition.
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A (mis)-interpretation :
Name : Steven "Steve" Rogers.
Age : 18 years old (as of 1944).
Alias : Captain America.
Abilities : Physical, senses, intellectual attributes enhanced to the peak of human potential; expert martial art artist and hand-to-hand combatant; all-terrain acrobatics; master tactician and field commander; prolonged life and slow aging.
Std. armaments : Vibranium-steel alloy shield, Thompson M1928A1 "Tommy Gun", Colt. 45automatic pistol.
Current status : Active.
Chronology :
June 1918 - December 1920 ~ Outbreak of the Spanish flu pandemic. German epidemiologist Dr. Abraham Erskine begins research on the influenza virus. His study results in the creation of the super serum which amplifies a human physical and intellect to peak possibility.
July 4, 1924 ~ Steven Rogers is born in Brooklyn, New York, the only son of Joseph Rogers, a watchmaker and Marilyn Johnson, a full time housewife.
October 29, 1929 ~ Collapse of US stock market. The Great Depression begins. Steve is diagnosed with gastrointestinal disorder. Health related problems would continue to plague Steve into his teenage years.
August 2, 1934 ~ Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of Germany.
October 1, 1934 ~ Creation of German air force and expansion of army and navy. Establishment of Deep Science Weapons Research, a division of the Schutzstaffel (SS) under the command of Standartenführer Johann Schimdt. Schimdt later establishes HYDRA, a clandestine, self preservation group within the SS itself.
March 3, 1935 ~ HYDRA agents discover Dr. Erskine super serum formula. Schimdt forces Dr. Erskine to apply the serum to him.
September 15, 1935 ~ Nuremberg Laws announced by Hitler which deprived Jews of German citizenship, political and civil rights.
November 12, 1938 ~ Dr. Erskine and his family escape to Britain after the Kristallnacht pogrom against Jews. He takes his super serum formula with him. Schimdt and HYDRA agents begin manhunt for Dr. Erskine.
January 29, 1939 ~ Discovery of nuclear fission. Hitler orders the creation of Germany nuclear energy project, Uranverein. Schimdt is appointed to supervise the entire project.
September 1, 1939 - June 9, 1940 ~ Germany invades Poland, signalling the beginning of World War 2, follows by invasion of Scandinavia. HYDRA establishes a nuclear weapon development research center in Norway to utilize the heavy water produce by the Vermork Hydroelectric Plant located outside of Rjukan in Tinn, Telemark to breed plutonium.
May 10 - June 25, 1940 ~ Germany invades the Low Countries and France.
October 16. 1940 ~ US announces military draft, followed by first ever peacetime draft lottery by end of the month.
March 1940 - July 1941 ~ Germany initiates the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. Dr. Erskine and scientists of other occupied nations are evacuated to US. The Battle of Atlantic is also being dominated by German U-boats. Italy begins attack on the Mediterranean, Northern Africa and Middle East, follows by Germany attacks on the Balkans and Crete. In July 1940, the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) is established.
June 22 - December 6, 1941 ~ Germany launches the invasion of Soviet Union under Operation Barbarossa.
December 7, 1941 ~ Japan attacks Pearl Harbour, resulting in US and Britain declaring war against Japan the following day. As part of the Tripartite Pact, Germany and Italy declare war on US on December 11, 1941. Japan synchronises the Pearl Harbour attack with the start of the invasion of US, British, Dutch colonies across Southeast Asia.
March 1942 ~ British army begins a series of campaign against Germany and Italy in North Africa with success.
May 7 - June 6, 1942 ~ US victory over Japan in Battle of Coral Sea and Midway marks the first in a series of naval and air battles which would results in change of initiative to US from Japan in the Pacific War.
June 13, 1942 ~ US intelligence agency, Office of Strategic Services (OSS) is established. Information obtained from SOE and Norwegian resistance agents that Germany is nearing completion of producing weapon grade plutonium. The Scientific Reserve Division is established by Allies to undertake scientific projects which include, amongst others, Dr. Erskine super serum to produce "super soldiers".
November 19, 1942 - March 18, 1943 ~ Soviet counter-offensive successfully drives back the German army from Stalingrad to Kharkov. In February, Germany launches a counter-attack which recaptures Kharkov and Belgorod.
April 5, 1943 ~ Steve Rogers, after being rejected for military duty on numerous occasions due to his health and physical issues, is personally enlisted by Dr. Erskine for his super serum experiment and potential test subject. Steve and other candidates are sent to Fort Benning for military training. Steve is chosen after Col. Phillips, the commander supervising the selection of individual for the experiment, is convinced by Dr. Erskine and British SOE agent Peggy Carter that Steve Rogers possesses the right aptitude for the test.
May 12, 1943 ~ Steve Rogers, designates as "Weapon I", undergoes the super soldier experiment successfully at an undisclosed laboratory in New York. Dr. Erskine is assassinated by a HYDRA agent under the guise as one of Senator Brandt's bodyguard at the end of the experiment. The agent is captured by Steve Rogers, who chases him on foot through at least five city blocks whilst the former escapes driving a car. The HYDRA agent commits suicide by biting a cyanide capsule hidden in his tooth cavity. A Daily Bugle photographer takes a picture of Steve Rogers and publishes an article the next day, propelling Steve into public popularity. The super serum formula is lost together with the death of Dr. Erskine. Samples of Steve Rogers blood is extracted to replicate the serum, which would take minimum 5 years to complete. Under Senator Brandt recommendation, Steve Rogers joins the United Services Organizations (USO), touring US under the alias "Captain America" to help raise war bonds. As Captain America, Steve Rogers proves to be popular, increasing the purchase of war bonds by at least 20%. He would later join celebrities like Bob Hope and Marlene Dietrich to entertain front line troops overseas.
July 5, 1943 - May 12, 1944 ~ Germany begins retreat on the Eastern Front from Soviet Army after the failure of Operation Citadel. In July 1943, the Allies land in Sicily and begins the Sicilian and Italian campaign, resulting in resignation of Italian dictator Mussolini and signing of armistice by Italy to the Allies.
October 12 - November 16, 1943 ~ Two operations, Operation Grouse and Operation Freshman, with objective to sabotage and destroy the Vermosk hydroelectric plant in Norway is undertaken by Combined Operations. The mission is carried out by the SOE trained Norwegian commandos with assistance from the US special team, the Howling Commandos, which is led by Steve Rogers close friend, Sgt. James "Bucky" Barnes. The first operation is successful in its objective of provision of the area blueprint. Operation Freshman, however, ends in failure and several members of both commando teams are captured and killed by HYDRA. Surviving members from both operations, including Bucky, hide out in the mountains, where they subsist on moss, lichen and reindeer.
November 17, 1943 ~ Steve Rogers learns of the incident through Peggy Carter while entertaining front line troops in Italy. In an unsanctioned mission, he embarks on a solo rescue operation by flying a plane to Norway. The successful mission re-instates Steve Rogers for active duty in the military. He is promoted as captain, and new commander of the Howling Commandos. Schimdt not only learnt about the interest the Allies have in their nuclear weapon development project but also of the presence of the second recipient of the late Dr. Erskine's super serum. Steve Rogers and the Howling Commandos carry out a series of clandestine, sabotage missions against the Axis as well as providing armed assistance to the occupied nations local resistance movements.
February 16, 1944 ~ As part of Operation Gunnerside, Drs. Adelind Zola, the head of the scientific weapon research of HYDRA, and confidante of Johann Schimdt, is captured by Steve Rogers and the Howling Commandos during a raid on board an armored train carrying parts and critical components related to the production of nuclear bomb. Zola, under intense interrogation, reveals that Schimdt intends to simultaneously bomb not only Washington, New York, London and major Soviet cities with nuclear devices but also Berlin and the Far Eastern nations. She also shares that ultimately HYDRA intends to annihilate their enemies and the Untermensch (sub-humans) by bringing about a global nuclear holocaust codename Götterdämmerung. Survivors would be selected as part of the Lebensborn program, which would be implemented through application of the super serum, to create a true Aryan race to occupy new, racially hygiene Lebensraum (living space). It is also learnt that Schimdt is actually "Weapon 0", the first human test subject of Dr. Erskine's super serum. Whether Schimdt or Zola is aware of how a post nuclear holocaust would affect the human population remains unknown.
June 6, 1944 ~ Operation Overlord commences with the "D-Day" landings in Normandy by the Allies, opening up the Western Front in WW2.
June 10, 1944 ~ Soviet Army launches Operation Bagration, a massive offensives along the entire Eastern Front against Germany. German army now takes a defensive position.
June 20, 1944 ~ US achieves victory at the Battle of Philippine Sea, cutting off Japan's line of communication with their Southern Resources Area. Japan is beginning to be deprived of their crucial raw materials to fuel their war productions.
July 9 - 11, 1944 ~ Operation Doomsday commences, consist of two airborne divisions, two infantry divisions, one armored division, the SOE, the Howling Commandos and with support from Milorg, the Norwegian resistance movement, against German occupied Norway. The Allies successfully breakthrough on day two against strong German coastal and infantry defenses, and secured defensive perimeters. Proceed towards the primary HYDRA base near the Norwegian-Finnish border on the third day, three completed atomic bombs are discovered being loaded on board Horten Ho 666 flying wing fortress bombers. Both forces sufferred heavy casualties. Two bombers are prevented from taking off. The third bomber slips through, with Schimdt personally onboard, accompanies by a company of HYDRA commandos. Steve Rogers gets on the bomber, and personally neutralised the entire HYDRA commandos. Engaged in a hand to hand combat with Schimdt himself. Severely injured, Rogers overwhelmes Schimdt and kills him. The bomber plane is automatically lock on course towards London, with countdown timer on the atomic bomb. Rogers overrides the auto pilot to manual but could not un-arm nor dissable the timer. He steers the bomber beyond the Artic Circle whereby the entire plane explodes with a blinding light and sheer destructive force.
Epilogue:
Hitler commits suicide on April 30th, 1945 during the Battle of Berlin in his underground bunker. Mussolini is killed on April 28th, 1945 by Italian partisan. Germany surrenders unconditionally to the Allies on May 8th, 1945 (VE Day) and is divided into four zones, with all former territories return to its former owners. Japan formally surrenders to the Allies on September 2nd, 1945 (VJ Day) after the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, marking the end of World War 2 and the beginning of the Cold War between the Western Powers and Soviet Union. A series of military tribunals are held to prosecute prominent members of political, military and economic leadership of the defeated Third Reich Germany, known as the Nuremberg Trials, held between November 20th, 1945 to October 1st, 1945. Drs. Amelind Zola escapes prior to the "Doctors Trial" in November, 1946. Famed Nazi hunter, Simon Wiesenthal believes she could have been rescued by a combined elements of HYDRA and Soviet Union's NKVD. However, it later evidences later emerged that the CIA exchanged Drs. Zola for Jewish refugees as part of agreement with NKVD. The late Dr. Erskine's super serum is successfully replicated by 1956, under supervision of the newly established counter-intelligence agency, S.H.I.E.L.D., a division of CIA. The first human test subject is Major Bucky Barnes with alias "The Patriot", designation "Weapon II". He would play a major role in a series of proxy wars and cladestine operations against the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War in the 50s and early 60s. The Soviet Union also successfully replicate their own super serum. Unknown to the Allies, Steve Rogers survives the explosion by bailing out during the very last second and suffers from comatose upon landing. A team of Soviet Union researchers found him frozen alive. Through his blood sample (and Drs. Amelind Zola expertise), the super serum formula is applied to Natalia Romanova, alias "The Black Widow", designation "Weapon III". Steve Rogers comes out of his coma but suffers from amnesia. With false history feeds to him, he undertakes the alias "The Winter Soldier" and fight for the side of Soviet Union. After a series of encounter and battles with former friend Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers eventually regain his memories and returns to US. He also successfully convinces Natalia to switch allegience. S.H.I.E.L.D. continues to secretly apply the super serum to various individuals throughout the 60s and into 21st Century. One of the most controversial subject is Isaiah Bradley, alias "The Liberty", designation "Weapon IV", who is deployed for the Vietnam War, as he is selected during the infamous Tuskegee syphilis experiment in Tuskegee, Alabama under the pretext receiving free health care from the government when in fact it is a secret study natural progression of syphilis in poor, rural black US citizen. Bradley, seeing the reality of the war and the atrocities inflict by both forces upon each other and innocent local populations, goes AWOL until his capture by Steve Rogers and the Screaming Eagles Special Squad at the Cambodian border after the war. He is eventually re-convince by Rogers to return to US. He is successfully rehabiliated and is now a member of the Screaming Eagles Special Squad. Another is James Logan, designated "Weapon X", deployed for the Middle Eastern conflict. He went AWOL during a mission in Iran and current whereabout is unknown.
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Admittedly, I'm not a fan of Captain America, but the 2011 movie directed by Joe Johnson and starring Chris Evans as the legendary Marvel comic superhero partially changes all that. And loves that costume. This is the eventual version from the movie (Hot Toys has also announced the other version, as well Red Skull in the coming lineup), which I think looks better than the upcoming Avengers movie version.
