This film is easy to like. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is the perfect man whose morals are unyielding and his enhanced abilities are impossibly precise and effective. Throwing his star-spangled shield, fighting hand-to-hand with Hydra soldiers, leading men on the battlefield, or selling war bonds, Captain America is perfect at everything. He is so perfect that if someone went to the fictional character and told him, “Gee Captain America, you’re perfect,” he would respond, “No, I’m not perfect.” And of course, everyone would still know that he is.
All of the heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have (thus far) been seriously flawed. Tony Stark has issues with narcissism, Bruce Banner has major paranoia, and Thor struggles with taming his hubris. But Steve Rogers doesn’t have anything to balance his heroism. Even Superman, who is depicted as the “perfect” hero struggles with his desire to act more human and balance his immeasurable strength with said desire. Steve Rogers, even before he gets the super soldier serum, is inherently just. Going back and watching this film again, Rogers’ only questionable act throughout the entire film is falsifying his enlistment application so he can be drafted into World War II. That action, while technically illegal, is categorically noble.
Captain America being the embodiment of nobility works in a team setting (as will be seen in the next movie). However, on his own, it is limiting in terms of character development. Growing up, I would watch the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) professional wrestling, and one of the characters was Curt Henning, a.k.a. Mr. Perfect. In wrestling parlance, he was called a “heel” which is essentially a bad guy. Before his matches, Mr. Perfect would mock his opponent by noting flaws in said opponent’s move-set. There would also be promos of Mr. Perfect making half-court basketball shots and nailing consistent bullseyes in darts. And on his way to the ring, he would give a cocky smirk to fans who would boo him mercilessly. Professional wrestling is being referenced here because the “perfect” character in that world was reviled. Captain America’s perfection does not elicit the same response; instead, Steve Rogers is revered and celebrated for said perfection. So, what is the difference, aside from the genre of storytelling, between Mr. Perfect and Captain America? The answer lies in the characters’ perceptions of themselves.
The wrestling villain viewed himself as perfect, and as such, disqualified himself from being “perfect.” Captain America’s greatest strength is recognizing his “perfection” and not emphasizing it. After viewing Captain America: The First Avenger, Steve Rogers needs a foil as a character in order to contextualize his inherent nobility. By himself, Captain America is boringly perfect. Yeah, I said it: Captain America, in the first film, is boring. Need to defeat fifty soldiers armed to the teeth with only a shield? Done. Need to skydive out of a plane without a parachute? No problem. Need to say just the right words to a strikingly beautiful Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) without coming off as goofy? Easy. Maybe Mr. Perfect was right about flaunting his “perfection"; at least he was fun to watch.
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