Captain America is one of Marvel’s most important superheroes. He’s long stood as the inspiration to every hero around him, showing them how to be a good person in spite of insurmountable odds. Steve Rogers has always been a kind man trying his best to leave the world a better place than he found it, and he’s always done that by fighting evil at every turn. Back when he first debuted, that evil was mostly manifested as Nazis and other WWII-era villains. He was, in essence, American propaganda made to inspire Americans to stand up to evil. However, that doesn’t mean that’s what Captain America has stayed. In fact, Steve is opposed to his country more often than not.
Steve Rogers embodies what he sees as the ideals of a better nation, the nation he believes America could be. To achieve that, he will always stand up to the bullies who use power and pride to corrupt that dream. Now, that fight has come to a head in the most startling way possible. In Captain America (2025) #11, Steve was killed when he fought against Red Hulk’s insane, Hulkified army. Steve died by the actions of supposed American soldiers, and it’s the perfect betrayal mixed with a fantastic narrative.
Everything came to a head in Latveria. After Doom’s disappearance, the country fell into chaos, and Doom’s weapons of mass destruction were up for grabs. Cap’s team wanted to make sure nobody got those weapons, but General Ross wanted to take those weapons for himself, claiming it was best for the United States. It’s been an all-out brawl between Cap, Ross, and the destructive Salvation regime, but the climax of issue #10 threw a wrench into it all. A child clone of Doom was uncovered, and he had a supposed superweapon in a backpack. Fury wanted to kill the clone, Steve wanted to get him out of harm’s way, and Ross wanted to destroy Latveria once and for all.
The Doom clone fled, but Red Hulk and his Hulked-out special forces declared their intent to decimate Doomstradt to “enforce peace,” all without any governmental approval. Steve tried to fight Red Hulk, and while he stood no chance, he held out long enough for the other Captain America, Sam Wilson, to save the kid. Unfortunately, nothing could stop the Hulks from destroying everything. Steve tried to save as many people as he could, but when a building collapsed on a child, he threw himself overtop. Already exhausted and broken, Captain America died. Meanwhile, Ross found the backpack and declared it a good day for America.
Steve and Ross are very similar characters, but their ideologies are fundamentally different. Both men believe that their home country can be much better than it is, and both want it to reach its greatest potential. Both want to guide it to their ideals. However, they fundamentally disagree on how to get there. Steve looks at the world through a selfless lens. He sees America’s problems as a failure on the system’s part and wants to correct it, but he is always cautious of his own beliefs. He knows that he isn’t perfect and doesn’t understand everything, and so he’s willing to accept help and adhere to other people’s ideas over his own. Steve is here to help people, first and foremost.
General Ross, meanwhile, tackles improving America through a country-focused, selfish approach. He sees putting America first as decimating his enemies and having total control by destroying anything that could be a threat. At least, on the surface. In reality, he’s an angry man who wants revenge against Doom for torturing him, so he’s taking his anger out on Latveria. Ross is a broken man who can’t conceive of selflessness, so he hides behind his rank and supposed patriotism as excuses for him to smash anyone who gets in his way. That’s what separates him from Steve, and why he always believes that his views are correct, while Steve is willing to believe he’s wrong.
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