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Adaptations of Captain America in other media
Created byJoe Simon
Jack Kirby
Original sourceComics published by Marvel Comics
First appearanceCaptain America Comics #1 (March 1941)
Print publications
Novel(s)The Great Gold Steal (1968)
Captain America: Liberty's Torch (1998)
Films and television
Film(s)Captain America (1944)
Captain America (1979)
Captain America (1990)
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
Television
show(s)		The Marvel Super Heroes (1966)
Games
Video game(s)Captain America in: The Doom Tube of Dr. Megalomann (1987)
Captain America and the Avengers (1991)
Captain America: Super Soldier (2011)

Since the 1940s, the comic book character Captain America has been presented in a variety of other media, including serial films, feature films, animations, video games, and even as a stage play.[1]

Television

1960s

File:MSH-CaptainAmerica 1966TVtoon.jpg
A "Captain America" title card from a segment of the 1966 animated television series The Marvel Super Heroes.

The Marvel Super Heroes (1966): Captain America was one of the five featured superheroes, starring in one "Captain America" segment a week. They were largely straightforward adaptations of not just Cap's solo stories from Tales of Suspense, but also includes several stories from The Avengers series as well.

1970s

  • Captain America appeared in two 1979 live-action television movies that aired on CBS: Captain America (1979 film) which aired January 19, 1979, and Captain America II: Death Too Soon, which aired November 23, 1979, both starring Reb Brown in the title role. The character differs significantly from the comics in both his origin and his operations. For instance, Steve Rogers is a character in contemporary times whose father was a 1940s government agent. The very patriotic attitude of Steve's father earned him the nickname Captain America, and his father is spoken of as having been murdered. Rogers, a former Marine now making what little living he makes as an artist, was inspired by this story to sketch a super-hero. After receiving potentially fatal injuries in an accident, he was administered an experimental chemical called the FLAG—Full Latent Ability Gain—formula (at one point referred to as a "super-steroid") which not only saves his life but also enhances his body with heightened strength and reflexes. These new abilities lead Dr. Simon Mills (Len Birman), the research biochemist and intelligence official who had told Rogers about his father, to recruit him and give Steve a costume based on his drawing. As Captain America, he also makes significant use of a specialized reconstruction of the van he has been driving, out the rear of which can be launched a modified motorcycle. Its functions include a rocket thrust for a fast start out of the van, a jet boost for increased speed, a setting to allow the bike to be ridden with less noise for stealthier movement and a hang glider structure which can allow the bike to glide to the ground with some forward momentum, although it must be jettisoned upon landing. The bike has a round windshield, described as being made of "Jet-Age plastics," with concentric circles that alternate between red and transparent around a centered star, blue in color. He is able to detach this, and he uses it as his shield when he goes on foot. At the end of the first movie, Rogers briefly appears in a redesigned costume—more accurately a uniform—that bears a stronger resemblance to the uniform Captain America is seen wearing in the comics, and he wears this uniform in the sequel.
  • In Captain America II: Death Too Soon, Brown's Steve Rogers is first shown sketching a portrait of a Mrs. Shaw (Susan French), who complains to him about a gang of muggers who have been stealing the proceeds from cashed Social Security checks; she denies having cashed hers. He bids her do this in order to set a trap for the muggers, and springs the trap as Captain America. In the meantime, a free-lance revolutionary terrorist calling himself General Miguel (Christopher Lee), planning to fight an unspecified war, kidnaps a Professor Ian Ilson (Christopher Cary) and forces him to resume his research in manipulative gerontology. Ilson has managed to formulate both a chemical that accelerates aging and the antidote to the same chemical, and Miguel, posing as the warden of a prison in Oregon near Portland, plans to use the chemicals in question to hold Portland hostage for a multi-million-dollar ransom. Ultimately Brown's Captain America and Lee's General Miguel directly clash face-to-face, and when Miguel throws a glass bottle of the aging accelerant into the air, hoping it will shatter against Captain America's body, the Captain throws his shield into the air, where it shatters the bottle in such a manner that the aging accelerant splashes Miguel instead, aging him literally to death in less than a minute. The telefilm was directed by Ivan Nagy.

Both of these films were released on DVD for the first time together in 2011 from Shout! Factory

1980s

  • Spider-Man (1981): Guest-starred in one episode, "The Capture of Captain America". He was voiced by George DiCenzo.
  • Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981): He appeared in two episodes of this series, "7 Little Superheroes" and "Pawns of the Kingpin", where he was again voiced by DiCenzo.
  • Captain America also appeared in a 1980 public service announcement on energy conservation, in which he battled the Thermal Thief, the Wattage Waster and the Cold Air Crook.

1990s

  • X-Men (1992): Captain America appeared in one episode, "Old Soldiers". He is an American agent, sent along with Canadian agent Wolverine, to rescue a scientist kidnapped by the Red Skull and the Nazis. He is present in the episode only in flashbacks of Wolverine's. Captain America is voiced by Lawrence Bayne, who also provided voices for Cable and Erik the Red in the same series. The Red Skull was voiced by Cedric Smith, who also voiced Professor X throughout the series.[2] Additionally, Captain America appears in a brief cameo in the episode "Red Dawn", before the awakening of his Russian counterpart, Omega Red.
  • An alternate version of Captain America appeared in the episode One Man's Worth. In a timeline in which Charles Xavier was murdered before founding the X-Men, Captain America is the leader of a taskforce of superhuman mutant hunters fighting a war against the Mutant Resistance led by Magneto.
  • Spider-Man (1994): Captain America made a few appearances, where he was voiced by David Hayter:
    • He first appeared in "The Cat" (Season #4 Ep 43) with a mere cameo when Peter Parker is narrating a flashback scene with John Hardeski witnessing the experiment that made Steve Rogers into Captain America. Red Skull also makes a cameo.
    • He appeared in the last three episodes of the "Six Forgotten Warriors" saga. The third provides a flashback scene explaining Captain America's disappearance after World War II: he and the Red Skull were trapped in a dimensional machine for the last 50 years. In the last two episodes Captain America is released from the machine (with the Red Skull), and in the final installment he and the Red Skull fight and are, in the end, trapped in the machine once again.
    • In the "Secret Wars" three-parter, Captain America was one of the heroes Spider-Man selected to lead against the villains, choosing him due to his past experience with the Red Skull. At the end of the arc, the Beyonder sent back every hero (except for Spider-Man) back to Earth, and Captain America became trapped with the Red Skull again.
  • The Avengers: United They Stand (1999): Captain America appears in one episode, "Command Decision". The story involves the Masters of Evil and a flashback to Captain America defeating Baron Zemo. He was voiced by Dan Chameroy.
  • In the 1990s, a planned Captain America animated series from Saban Entertainment proposed that Captain America's true name was Tommy Tompkins, with "Steve Rogers" being a cover name assigned to him by the U.S. Army. Also appearing in the series was the Red Skull as the main antagonist.[3][4]

2000s

  • X-Men: Evolution (2000): Captain America (along with Nick Fury) appears in one episode, "Operation Rebirth". In this episode he is made into the super soldier during World War II through the use of a stasis tank chamber called Operation Rebirth, similar to the comics. He gains incredible physical prowess much like his comic book counterpart, but at a hefty price; a defect in the process causes eventual cellular breakdown, forcing Captain America to be put into stasis until a cure can be found. During World War II, he participates in a joint operation with Canadian soldier Logan to liberate a POW camp, where he saves a boy named Erik Lehnsherr, the future Magneto. When he begins to break down, he and Logan destroy Project Rebirth's stasis tank so that no one else will have to suffer through his condition. Logan later learns that another one was made and subsequently stolen by Magneto, as it has a fountain of youth-like effect on mutants. The episode ends with Wolverine visiting Captain America's stasis chamber, telling his old comrade that they will find a cure for his condition eventually, and also assuring him that they made a great team in their time.
  • Captain America appears in The Super Hero Squad Show voiced by Tom Kenny.[5] In this show he is seen as a leader who will often go rambling about the 30s and 40s, and still seems to have friends from those times as well ("If that's Roosevelt calling, tell him I'm not here"). He also has a militaristic attitude and frequently shouts "Hup, hup, hup!"

2010s

Captain America is featured in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, voiced by Brian Bloom.[6][7] His frozen body is initially found and thawed out by the Avengers in the episode "Living Legend", and he joins the team at the end of the episode. At the end of the first season finale, "A Day Unlike Any Other", Captain America is captured and replaced by a Skrull.

The Ultimate version of Captain America will appear in Ultimate Spider-Man.[8]

Films

Poster for the first chapter of the 1944 Captain America serial.
File:Chris Evans as Captain America.jpg
Chris Evans as Captain America as depicted in the film, Captain America: The First Avenger.
Captain America (1944 serial)

Captain America was the first Marvel Comics character adapted into another medium with the release of the 1944 movie serial Captain America, which starred Dick Purcell.[9] The serial portrays the hero as a district attorney named Grant Gardner and removes many important elements of the character, such as his trademark shield and his sidekick Bucky Barnes.

3 Dev Adam

3 Dev Adam (translated as Three Mighty Men but also known as Captain America and Santo vs. Spider-Man) is a 1973 Turkish film featuring the characters of Captain America (sans shield) and Mexican wrestling superhero and serial star Santo (persona only) as heroes from the Americas called to Turkey to take on a bizarre, bushy-eyebrowed, green version of Spider-Man as the serial-killing villain.

Captain America (1990 film)

The 1990 film Captain America, starring Matt Salinger, was shot in Yugoslavia. It depicted the creation of Captain America from weak soldier Steve Rogers, his fight in World War II and subsequent apparent death, his being found decades later frozen in ice, and his realization and comprehension that our enemies from the war are now our allies, as well as the hero's battle against the Red Skull, who in the film is an Italian fascist rather than a German Nazi.

This film was never officially released in the United States in theaters, but it was released on VHS by 1992.[10] It was also shown on the US based SyFy cable television network in mid July 2011, as a tie in with the new screen film.

Ultimate Avengers

Captain America appeared in the animated films Ultimate Avengers and Ultimate Avengers 2, both released direct to video in 2006 and featuring an Ultimate Marvel version of Captain America. In this version, his identity is known to everyone and Nick Fury and Betty Ross found him in the ice. He was voiced by Justin Gross.

Captain America: The First Avenger

A live action film titled Captain America: The First Avenger, produced by Marvel Studios and directed by Joe Johnston, was released on July 22, 2011.[11] The film stars Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America, Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull, and Sebastian Stan as Bucky. Predominantly set in the 1940s, the film shows the origin of the eponymous superhero, his service to the United States Armed Forces during World War II, and the events which left him frozen in the Arctic for 70 years, before being rescued by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in the present day.

The Avengers

Chris Evans plays the role of Captain America in the 2012 film The Avengers.[12] The film features Captain America sporting a new costume.[13] In the film, he joins heroes like Iron Man, Thor and Hulk to take on Loki and his armies bent on taking over the Earth.

Captain America 2
Further information: Captain America: The First Avenger § Sequel

Captain America 2 was announced with an official release date of April 4, 2014, to be distributed by Walt Disney Pictures.[14]

Video games

Motion comics

  • Captain America appears in the Spider-Woman motion comics. In this series, he is voiced by Jeffrey Hedquist.
  • In February 2011, Marvel Comics launched an eight issue digital comic titled Captain America: First Vengeance, the same day as the first trailer for Captain America: The First Avenger aired during the Super Bowl XLV telecast. Written by Fred Van Lente and featuring a rotation of artists, the story is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Each of the eight issues focuses on a specific character from the movie, heroes and villains alike, and what brought them to the point where the movie begins.[16]

Novels

Captain America was the subject of Marvel's second foray into prose book licensing: The Great Gold Steal by Ted White in 1968, following an Avengers novel in 1967. This novel presented a different version of Captain America.[17] The novel adds a further element to the Super-Soldier process wherein Rogers' bones are plated with stainless steel. Captain America also appears in several later novels, including 1998s Captain America: Liberty's Torch by Tony Isabella and Bob Ingersoll, in which the hero is put on trial for the imagined crimes of America by a hostile militia group.

Toys

  • Captain America was the ninth figurine in the Classic Marvel Figurine Collection.
  • Captain America was also featured as a Mego figure in the 1970s.
  • Captain America was featured in many lines over the years including the famous Marvel Legends line, and hasa 4 different Marvel Universe line figures (modern looking version, original appearance, black and white, and a 4 pack that was available at the 2010 SDCC, which featured Captain America, Namor the Sub-Mariner, Red Skull, and the Human Torch, the pack was based on the invaders and was featured in an exclusive box.
  • Captain America had his own line of toys in the Captain America: The First Avenger Movie that included many incarnations of Captain America, as well as US Agent, Bucky, Crossbones, Red Skull, vehicles, and role play items.
  • Captain America is featured as a lego minifigure in the marvel super hereos lego sets
  • Captain America has also been included in the Avengers movie toyline with over 10 figures and role play sets.

Captain America references in media

Film

  • In the 1969 film Easy Rider, one of the motorcycles is a Harley Davidson Captain America and the character Wyatt (Peter Fonda) is nicknamed "Captain America".
  • In the 1987 film The Princess Bride a Captain America action figure can be seen in the grandson's bedroom as his grandfather reads to him the story.
  • In the 1995 film The Net, when Angela confronts Jack Devlin at the convention catwalk he reminds her while she was surfing the net that she was looking for a "Captain America" type of guy and instead found him.
  • During the initiation process in the 1997 film, Men in Black, Will Smith's character laughs at one of the other potential recruits, referring to him as "Your boy Captain America over here."
  • In the 2006 film The Pursuit of Happyness Will Smith's son is seen carrying around a Captain America action figure throughout a majority of the movie.
  • In the 2006 film Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, young Ricky is seen wearing a Captain America shirt.
  • Captain America and Black Widow's son, James Rogers, is in the 2008 film Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow.[citation needed]

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Captain America is referenced in several films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which share continuity with Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avengers.

  • In the 2008 film Iron Man, Captain America's shield can be seen in Tony Stark's workshop when JARVIS is removing his armor and Pepper Potts spots him.[18] According to an exclusive comic book released with the Wal-Mart deluxe DVD version of Iron Man, Howard Stark created the technology for the shield, and Tony Stark used a discarded prototype to help design the alloy used for his armor.[19] (It has since been confirmed in Captain America: The First Avenger that Howard Stark did indeed design this shield.)
  • In the 2008 film The Incredible Hulk, General Ross mentions to Emil Blonsky that there was a World War II program that created a supersoldier serum. The supersoldier serum is shown as well as Dr. Reinstein referenced as its inventor (however in Captain America: The First Avenger, it is Dr. Erskine who created the serum). Bruce Banner was involved in an experiment combining the serum with gamma radiation, which resulted in his transformation into the Hulk. Blonsky is then injected with the serum in order to take on the Hulk, the subsequent combination of the serum and Banner's blood transforming Blonsky into the Abomination.[20][21] In the film's deleted opening, Bruce Banner goes to the Arctic to commit suicide but transforms into the Hulk, smashing the glacier. A buried human figure and shield are visible, who are meant to be Rogers and his shield.[22]
  • In the 2010 film Iron Man 2, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson discovers an incomplete replica of Captain America's shield inside a box. When he asks Tony Stark if he knows what it is, Tony tells him that it's "just what I need" and places the Shield underneath his particle collider to level it. There is also a Captain America comic book (which later made an appearance in Captain America: The First Avenger) in Howard Stark's crate delivered to Tony from Nick Fury.

Music

  • The singer Jimmy Buffett published a song titled "Captain America" on his 1970 album Down to Earth.[citation needed]
  • A 1979 song by The Kinks, "Catch Me Now I'm Falling", uses Captain America as the embodiment of the band's views on the government and the economic hardships in the 1970s.
  • In 1985, a musical about Captain America was announced for Broadway. The piece, written by Mel Mandel and Norman Sachs, never actually premiered, although recordings of the score have surfaced.[1]
  • During the 1987 song "Paradise City" by Guns N' Roses, Captain America is mentioned in the last verse, before the chorus that segues to the fast, final part: "Captain America's been torn apart now/he's a court jester with a broken heart, he said/turn me around and take me back to the start/I must be losin' my mind, are you blind?/I've seen it all a million times".
  • The opening line of the song "Arcadia" by the band Clutch is, "Captain America, where are you now?" It is featured on the 1991 EP, Pitchfork.
  • The MU330 song "Captain" (1994) is sung through the perspective of a now out-of-work and overweight Captain America. Feeling forgotten and unappreciated, the Captain is eventually coaxed out of retirement to save the planet from Red Skull, re-establishing his status as a national hero. The song opens with the chant "Captain America, America still needs YOU!".
  • The 1994 song "Happy Time" by singer/songwriter Daniel Johnston mentions Johnston's childhood love for "the comic books...my favorite was Captain America".[citation needed]
  • In 2000, the progressive band moe. released a live version of their song "Captain America" on the album L. They followed the release later that year with a studio cut of the song on the Dither album.
  • The band Styx has a song entitled "Captain America" on its 2003 album Cyclorama.
  • In 2005, the collaboration album known as Roadrunner United, the song on track 15, "I Don't Wanna Be (A Superhero)" contains the line "Captain America is going to die".
  • In 2007, independent artist Will Kouf released a story-based album or rock opera, based around the origin of Captain America.[23]

Television

  • In 1979 the Super Sentai series Battle Fever J was original to be an adaptation of Captain America.
  • In the 1995 Iron Man animated series episode "Distant Boundaries", when Tony seems troubled by his actions, Julia Carpenter reminds him he's not Captain America.
  • In the show Dexter's Laboratory Captain America is portrayed as Major Glory
  • In an episode of the Canadian TV series The Associates (2001–2002), two brothers fight legally for a Golden Age Captain America comic book, which they received as an inheritance from their late father. In the end, the comic book is destroyed during a discussion between the two men.
  • In the 2004 episode of the television series Angel called "Why We Fight", during a flashback to World War II, while two sailors are talking about Angel's abilities, one sailor says "Maybe he's a super-soldier, you know, like Steve Rogers or Captain America." To which the other sailor says "Steve Rogers IS Captain America, idiot."
  • In the 2005 episode of Criminal Minds entitled "The Tribe", when the FBI shows up after an attempted massacre at a school, Agent Hotchner says "There are five people tied up inside," after which Blackwolf says "There was a sixth, but Captain America here shot him."
  • What was described by Marvel Comics Editor in Chief Joe Quesada as "one of Captain America's shields" after Steve Rogers' death was presented to Stephen Colbert on his show The Colbert Report on March 12, 2007, and it continues to hang on the wall of the Colbert Report set.
  • In the show Castle (2009), Rick, feeling annoyed with the detective Tom Demming, compares him to Captain America.
  • During the 2009 episode of Criminal Minds, "100", Agent Hotchner's son wears a Captain America shirt throughout the episode. Also, while his wife and son are being watched by the serial killer The Reaper, he taunts Agent Hotchner by asking "Does your son like Captain America because of you?"
  • Captain America is mentioned in the 2011 episode, "Ghost in the Machine" of Iron Man: Armored Adventures on a history test Tony Stark takes.
  • At WrestleMania XXVII, in 2011 Rey Mysterio was dressed like Captain America
  • During the fourth episode of the third season of Warehouse 13, "Queen for a Day," Pete Lattimer states, "You think that guy looks like me with the hair, and the square jaw, and the Captain America attitude."

Web series

  • Captain America has been confirmed to appear on the upcoming Meet the Thompsons web series set to release in 2012. He will be competing in a superhero fight tournament called the Meta-Brawl.

Video games

  • In the online MMORPG World of Warcraft (2004), the paladin character class has an attack called the "Avenger's Shield" where the character appears to throw its shield at enemies in a Captain America-like fashion.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "The New York Times (April 5, 1985): "Broadway" (column) by Enid Nemy. Article requires payment or registration". 1985-04-05. Retrieved 2010-04-28.
  2. ^ "tv.com - Old Soldiers X-Men: TAS Season 5".
  3. ^ Will Meugniot. "It Almost Happened! Captain America: The Series!". Storyboardpro.com. Retrieved 2010-09-13.
  4. ^ Fletcher, Marc (2009-08-13). "Cartoon Graveyard #5 (Captain America)". Adamzero.net. Retrieved 2010-09-13.
  5. ^ "Comics Continuum". Comics Continuum. 2009-07-28. Retrieved 2010-09-13.
  6. ^ Busch, Jenna (2010-02-08). "AVENGERS Animated Assembling w/ Phil Lamarr". Newsarama. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
  7. ^ "Josh Fine Talks Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes!". comicbookmovie.com. 2010-09-08. Retrieved 2010-09-09.
  8. ^ http://marvel.toonzone.net/news.php?action=fullnews&id=770
  9. ^ Daniels, p. 53
  10. ^ Hartl, John (1992-07-08). "Captain America` Flies Straight To Video". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved 2010-12-21. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ "Marvel Movie Update: New Release Schedule!". marvel.com. 2009-03-12. Retrieved 2010-03-28.
  12. ^ Graser, Marc. "Chris Evans to play 'Captain America'", Variety, 2010-03-22. Access date 2010-03-23
  13. ^ Wales, George (2012-02-22). "New Avengers image released online". Total Film. Retrieved 2012-02-23.
  14. ^ Kilday, Gregg (2012-04-05). "'Captain America: First Avenger' Sequel Release Date Set". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2012-04-05.
  15. ^ Denick, Thom (2006). Marvel Ultimate Alliance: Signature Series Guide. Indianapolis, Indiana: Brady Games. pp. 6, 7, 65, 128, 203, 213. ISBN 0-7440-0844-1.
  16. ^ Truitt, Brian (2011-02-01). "Captain America commands attention in digital comic, film". USA Today. Retrieved 2011-02-01. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ "Earth-6871 (Captain America: The Great Gold Steal)". Marvunapp.com. 1917-07-19. Retrieved 2010-09-13.
  18. ^ Lee, Patrick (2008-05-22). "Captain America, Thor Details Leaked". Sci Fi Wire. Archived from the original on 2008-07-05. Retrieved 2008-07-13.
  19. ^ Christos Gage (w), Hugo Petrus (a). Iron Man: Security Measures (October 2008). Wal-Mart.
  20. ^ Moro, Eric (2008-06-09). "Hulk Director Speaks". IGN. Retrieved 2008-07-13.
  21. ^ Douglas, Edward (2008-04-20). "The Incredible Hulk Smashes New York Comic-Con". Superhero Hype!. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
  22. ^ Carroll, Larry (2008-10-23). "'Hulk' Producer Talks Sequels, Avengers And Frozen Captain America". MTV Splash Page. Retrieved 2008-10-24.
  23. ^ "Will Kouf Music (October 23, 2007)".


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