When Steve Rogers was born, he was just a human, but even though he didn't initially have any kind of mutant powers or superhuman skills, he became one of Marvel's greatest superheroes, Captain America. While the super-soldier serum that gave the Avenger his superhuman abilities didn't make him sprout wings or turn into a giant green monster, it turned Captain America into something more than human. While his costume and his shield-throwing abilities might seem flashier than his actual powers, Rogers has a number of physical abilities that make the man behind the shield just as important as what he stands for.

Captain America Can Keep Up With Black Panther

Captain America isn't a speedster, but he's still faster than the average Avenger. Captain America’s legs can hurl him fast enough to pass cars on a highway in a high-speed chase, as he did in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Captain America: Civil War. His heart also has to pump blood to his legs fast enough to keep up with what he’s asking of his body, so his cardiovascular system functions at a superhuman level.

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While Steve McNiven's AvX: Vs. #2 established that Captain America could run a 40-yard dash in just under four seconds, the MCU's Cap showed how fast he was by keeping up with the hyper-agile Black Panther in the final battle of Avengers: Infinity War. He also possesses a keen set of reflexes that allow him to react faster than any normal human, a trait which, coupled with his speed, makes him a surprisingly spry physical combatant.

Captain America Is As Good a Tactician as Batman

cap elevator fight

While Captain America has been tested by decades of battles in comics and MCU, his brain also operates at a superhuman level. In the famous elevator fight sequence from Captain America: The Winter Soldier, he shows off his tactical prowess when surrounded in close-quarters combat. Even though he's disarmed and fighting multiple armed opponents with one hand, Rogers outmaneuvers all of his opponents. Naturally, he's also done the same on countless battlefields of his superhero career, and he's widely regarded as the best tactician in the Marvel Universe.

When he faced off against Batman in Marvel vs. DC, he was able to realize that he and Batman were evenly matched just by watching him prepare to strike. Thanks to his superhuman head and his unparalleled battlefield experience, Captain America is rarely caught off guard or without a backup plan or two in hand.

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How Can Captain America Do This All Day?

Captain America Hulk fight

In Winter Soldier, Captain America's elevator fight ends with him diving out a window and crashing several stories to the ground, with nothing more than a steel girder to break his fall. He lands with a thud and seemingly walks it off. While Captain America is famous for carrying a shield, he doesn't always use it defensively, and his body has withstood some serious punishment over the years.

Captain America has held his own against the likes of Thanos, Thor, Iron Man and the Hulk, all of whom possess abilities far beyond what Steve is capable of. While he hasn’t always fared well on his own against superhuman opponents, he can almost always hang in there with whoever he's fighting for a little while, at least.

Can Captain America Age?

Dr. Abraham Erskine's super-soldier serum keeps Steve in incredibly good shape, which is an increasingly important trait as Rogers closes in on his centennial birthday. Alongside a healthy diet and plenty of exercise, Captain America is held together by certain benefits afforded to him by the chemicals running through his veins -- namely his peak human form and slowed aging.

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Along with slowing his aging, the formula optimizes his cellular systems, providing him with the pinnacle of human performance in all aspects. As noted in Captain America: The First Avenger, he also burns a metabolism four times higher than any human being. The lack of these benefits became the front and center of his character after Rick Remender, Nic Klein and Pascal Alixe's "Iron Nail" story arc, where Steve was stripped of the serum and rapidly aged to over 90. As an older, normal man, he was forced him to hand the mantle of Captain America to Sam Wilson while he commanded the Avengers from home base.

How Strong Is Captain America?

While being unable to physically match someone like the Hulk, Captain America's bulky 6'2 and 240 lb frame has performed many feats of strength worth noting. In the MCU alone, he was shown as being capable of punching a heavy bag off its hinges, breaking a submarine window while submerged from the outside and throwing a motorcycle through a jeep.

In the comics, however, Captain America can lift around 800 lbs at his best. Coupled with his increased endurance, he's been shown to fight for hours at high intensity without needing a break. Whether he's holding a helicopter to a roof, throwing vibranium robots or dueling a Mad Titan, Steve Rogers will flex on villains for as long as he's wearing the stars and stripes.

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