Captain America has changed a lot over the years. This is appropriate, as he is meant to embody the best of what the United States is capable of becoming, and the country is always changing. From his Hitler-punching days in World War II all the way up to the present, the star-spangled Avenger has continued to fight the good fight.
Of course, he has had a long journey, so it is only natural that there were some bumps in the road. Sometimes, Captain America found himself completely caught off guard, while other times he shocked others with his actions. These are the ten most shocking Captain America stories, ranked.
10 All-New Captain America
After Steve Rogers was depowered by the villain known as the Iron Nail, his body aged dramatically and he was no longer capable of fighting as he once had. His best friend and partner, Sam Wilson, stepped up to replace him as the all-new Captain America.
This was not the first time that a friend of Steve's replaced him as Cap, as Bucky had spent some time carrying the shield. However, Steve had been dead at the time. This was the first time Steve Rogers had willingly passed his mantle onto someone her knew since returning to duty. Sam was a natural fit as Captain America, but the internet still erupted over this change to the status quo.
9 Fear Itself
The crossover event Fear Itself focused on the Red Skull's daughter Sin as she conjured a number of ancient magic hammers while also unleashing an army of Nazi mechs upon the world. At one point in the story, it looks like Steve Rogers is killed, but it turns out to be a life model decoy.
The part that was even more shocking--and more rewarding--was when Steve Rogers lifted Mjolnir, a scene famously recaptured in the film Avengers: Endgame.
8 Civil War
Marvel fans are divided on whether they love or hate this crossover story from the 2000s, fighting over their respective opinions with the same furor that the heroes brought to the fray when they battled it out in the pages of Civil War. The events of this story follow the reactions of different heroes after the US government decides to register all vigilantes' secret identities in a national database.
Captain America goes to war with the United States over their decision, fighting a war against a group of pro-registration heroes led by Iron Man. The story ends with Cap being murdered by his long-time love interest, Sharon Carter, who is being mind-controlled at the time.
7 Ultimates
Mark Millar reinvented comic book fight scenes in the pages of Ultimates--the comic which starred the Ultimate Universe's equivalent of the Avengers team. Unfortunately, Millar's post-9/11 political messages and his treatment of Captain America have made this comic suffer from many of the same problems as Civil War (which he also wrote).
The big issue here is that Captain America is a mean-spirited, spiteful jerk who goes out of his way to be petty. Also, this comic has one of the most famous Captain America scenes, in which he insults the French while pointing to the A on his uniform.
6 Secret Empire
When Captain America is granted control over the Earth's global defenses, he uses the opportunity to seize control of the planet in the name of the evil organization Hydra. He builds concentration camps for Inhumans, imprisons New York within the Darkforce Dimension, and uses a Cosmic Cube to exert his will upon reality.
There is something truly shocking about seeing Steve Rogers embody every evil he has spent his life opposing.
5 Nomad
When Captain America decides he no longer trusts his country in the wake of the Watergate scandal, he turns his back on the government he served and sets out on his own, embracing the new identity of Nomad.
Of course, Steve Rogers eventually resumes being the Captain, but he stopped serving his government blindly after that, instead vowing to serve the ideals of what the country should be rather than merely accepting the orders given to him by those in power.
4 Winter Soldier
Considered by many to be one of the greatest Captain America stories ever written, "The Winter Soldier" has plenty of shocking moments, but the biggest shock is Bucky coming back to life as a villain.
The whole story--and the nature of Steve and Bucky's friendship--is given more weight as the new villain Aleksander Lukin uses a Cosmic Cube to make Steve relive his experiences fighting alongside Bucky in World War II, showing all they had been through together and just how far Bucky had fallen in the years since.
3 Fighting Nixon
Becoming Nomad was one of two major reactions the comics had to the real-life Watergate scandal. The other was a story in which Captain America faced off against the Secret Empire, an organization operating from the shadows. The group captures the X-Men and even attacks the White House.
Steve chases the leader of the group through the White House, cornering him in one of the rooms, where the leader is finally unmasked. Audiences never see who is under the mask, but from Steve's reaction, it is heavily implied that Richard Nixon is the evil leader in question.
2 "Hail Hydra"
In 2016, writer Nick Spencer enraged fans with the release of Captain America: Steve Rogers issue 1, ending the issue with Captain America shoving his ally out of a plane and saying the words "Hail Hydra."
This story was intended to shock readers, but also to draw parallels to the crisis of white nationalism and fascism growing in American political discourse. Unfortunately, such nuance is not something the internet quite picked up on, and Spencer was criticized by people who thought he was just being shocking for no reason.
1 Unfreezing
The Avengers unfreezing Steve Rogers and bringing him into their fold is the definitive story of Captain America in the modern era. In many ways, it is his origin story. But it was a huge shock at the time.
Captain America had been dead for years. His emergence from the ice was a shock to comics fans old and new alike. It changed the status quo, and the Marvel Universe was never the same again.