Captain America: The Winter Soldieris easily the MCU’s most symbolic film. As Steve Rogers begins to settle into a new America, he is launched into governmental conspiracy, covert assassinations, and fantastical representations of scarily real-world history. However, the film left out a critical scene that subtly sets the tone for Steve’s character arc throughoutTheWinter Soldierand his relationship with the United States. Fortunately, Marvel Comics did not.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier Prelude–writtenby Peter David, with art by Daniel Govar and Rock-He Kim – is set betweenThe AvengersandWinter Soldier.In the story, a devastating bioweapon developed by SHIELD has been captured by a domestic terrorist cell.
Soon, the criminals are intercepted by Brock Rumlow, before his defection to Hydra, and Captain America, now donninghis SHIELD-issued stealth suitand shield. As Cap fights the terrorists,the edges of his new shield begin to chip, revealing his original shield has been painted over.While a small detail, it sets up Steve’s transformation throughoutThe Winter Soldier.
Captain America Painted Over His Shield’s Colors For ‘The Winter Soldier’
Steve Rogers' Entire Journey is Encapsulated By His ‘Stealth’ Shield Colors
InCaptain America: The Winter Soldier,Steve Rogers has just saved New York Cityfrom the Chitauri invasion, finally allowing himself some time to process being a man out of time;the United States, both culturally and functionally, is not the same country that Rogers grew up in.His discomfort with the modern world isn’t just about the new technology and strange pop culture, but mainly because of the modern state of governance. In the 1930s and ‘40s, America was a simpler country with a simpler, easily defined, foreign enemy. However, Steve never saw what America did after the war.
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In the real world, the United States drafted and pardoned thousands of Nazi scientists to use their horrific research for “good” and to deprive the Russians of “valuable assets.” In the MCU, SHIELD similarly acted with Hydra scientists, like Armon Zola, thus introducing a festering seed that would inevitably bloom into a full-scaleHydra takeover of SHIELDand the US government. In the modern age, SHIELD has woven its way throughout the official US government, changing the fundamental nature of Steve Rogers’s service. Captain America, while still being made America’s poster boy, no longer serves his country; he serves SHIELD.
Cap’s Shield Colors Represent His Relationship With America
SHIELD No Longer Embodied Historic American Ideals
Captain America’s appearance, like the US flag, carries a great deal of symbolic significance. The red, white, and blue represent valor, purity, and perseverance of justice against the world’s darkest forces. These are the ideals on which Cap’s patriotism is built and a show of his unwavering commitment to America’s core tenets, but this is not the case for SHIELD. In theWinter Soldiercomic, Steve’s red, white, and blue shield hasn’t been temporarily replaced with a stealth model, the colors have been intentionally covered up;Captain America quite literally covers the ultimate symbol of peace and patriotism.
As a living symbol, Cap too is now blanketed with darker colors and cold steel; he’s become a symbol of utilitarianism.
Cap’s shield is a proclamation of who he is as a person. If you’re a “good guy,” it’s a symbol of hope. If you’re a “bad guy,” it’s a promise of consequences. But by painting his shield with SHIELD’s muted colors, Steve is visually distancing himself from his historically overt patriotism to embrace the covert and secretive nature of the modern form of government. As a living symbol, Cap too is now blanketed with darker colors and cold steel; he’s become a symbol of utilitarianism. The world is no longer black and white to Steve, just frigid and unfriendly grays.
SHIELD Transformed America Into A Utilitarian State In “Winter Soldier”
Steve Rogers Quickly Distrusted Modern America
All that said, there’s something far greater, and far more disheartening, about this comic’s representation ofCaptain America’s shield. It’s not just that Cap’s color scheme has changed, but instead that it’s been done so with a cheap veneer of cheap paint. In the 80+ years since Steve went underwater, the indestructible foundations of American idealism have been literally painted over with the face of a new power.SHIELD, like the paint, is a disingenuous and artificial symbol of “peace”that leveraged the successes of the previous generation to build something weak on top of it.
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Throughout this comic andThe Winter Soldierfilm, Captain America is already coming to terms with the state of modern America. As the paint chips, he’s growing more aware that what he serves now doesn’t align with what he fought for before. This feeling is what underscores the entirety of the MCU film. As Cap begins to see the corruption that consumes the government, he is eventually labeled a domestic terrorist himself for acting against the new “American ideals.”Under SHIELD’s watch, the US has justified the sacrifice of personal freedom, liberty, and ethical responsibility to establish forced preemptive order.
How Did The MCU Leave Out A Scene of Steve Re-Painting His Shield?
From a storytelling perspective, this comic’s plot exceptionally foreshadows Captain America’s eventual separation from the US government and SHIELD. As the flimsy coating peels away, the more the veil that SHIELD has put up begins to fade. With every fight, Steve sees the true colors of the powers he now serves. In the film, we learn that the government agency was overthrown bya Hydra-led coup, proving that SHIELD had only ever been a facade. Yet, just as the paint fades to reveal the original red, white, and blue, Cap reaffirms his devotion to his original ideals.
Even if it means facing his own government, Steve Rogers was chosen to becomeCaptain Americafor his selflessness and his passionate stand against bullies. Over forty years after his battle against Hydra and authoritarianism had ended, the United States and SHIELD have become the world’s new bullies. By the time Steve finally faces Bucky in the film, his shield has returned to its original state. While it continues to be engulfed in soot and scratches, the red, white, and blue persevere.
Truly, the MCU dismissed a perfect but subtle detail that enforces the use of visual expression to show the reader/viewer the film’s core theme.
By employing such a simple visual element, this comic’s artists set up the foundation forCaptain America’s current psycheand exploration throughout the film, without saying a word. What’s odd is thatthis was the film’s original choice too– as seen in set photos and promotional posters forThe Winter Soldier, the SHIELD coloring on Cap’s shield is peeling off too. Truly, the MCU dismissed a perfect but subtle detail that enforces the use of visual expression to show the reader/viewer the film’s core theme. The SHIELD paint isn’t an aesthetic choice, it’sCaptain America’sideological war within himself.
