A lot of changes came along withMarvel’sCivil War. Friendships were broken, teams were shattered, and the once-strong trust in superheroes had diminished among the public. The tense confrontation messed up a lot of things, but one character ended up worse than most. So much so that it took years for them to recover.
As the leader of the anti-Superhuman Registration Act,Captain America was oneof the big players inCivil War. In a moment that caused confusion and even irritation from fans, Steve was interviewed by the media, only to be chewed out for not truly understanding America. Years later, Marvel is still trying to answer a question from the infamous scene.
Captain America is Called Out by the Media Post-Civil War
InCivil War: Front Line #11by Paul Jenkins, Ramon Bachs, John Lucas, Larry Molinar, and Randy Gentile, the confrontation between the superheroes has come to a close. Times Square is a wreck, and people on the ground, including journalist Sally Floyd, are reacting to the chaos. Meanwhile,Captain America has surrenderedand is being taken in by the authorities.
Later, Floyd and her cohort Ben Urich arrive at the Raft. They discuss their journalistic future, but the more pressing matter is who they’ve come to interview. They’ve been given special clearance by the authorities to interview Steve Rogers so that he can express his side. Urich is a gracious interviewer, but Sally is preparing to play hardball.
Captain America expresses the regrets he has,both to Iron Manand to the American public. Steve defends his actions, saying he values the freedoms guaranteed by his country and how he is ready to protect the American way of life from any threat, external or domestic. However, Captain America admits he could have talked things out and apologizes.
Sally isn’t buying Steve’s words and pivots, asking him if he’s aware of what Myspace is. The question confuses Steve, but Sally goes on asking about other touchstones, likeThe Simpsonsor YouTube.She calls out Captain America over his out-of-touch nature and asks how he can represent Americaif he’s barely in touch with what the country has become.
Captain America’s Interview Was Controversial, But There Was a Point in There
This scene was hated by fans and admittedly, it’s understandable why. Sally isn’t talking about America so much as she is shallow, pop culture things, many of which have fallen out of relevance (she even says America is about Paris Hilton). But for all the flaws of this scene, the core of her interview raises a good question.
One of the core elements of Captain America is that he’s a man literally from a different era. He’s got an antiquated image of America, one that doesn’t exactly hold up nearly a hundred years removed from his past. For all the time he’s spent in the modern era, much of how he views America is through an older lens.
That’s not to say Captain America must or should watch mindless television or keep up with the latest celebutantes to understand what his country is like today. But this interview really made one question if Captain America can actually represent America if he has a fundamentally different idea of what the country is supposed to be.
Marvel is Getting Better at Making Captain America a Modern Kind of Hero
To be fair, this issue ofCivil War: Front Linecame out in 2007 and there have been a lot of volumes ofCaptain Americasince then. And while Captain America might have seemed out of touch in his interview with Sally Floyd, he quickly got back in touch with America in the 2022 series,Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty.
Sure, Steve wasn’t trying to record a TikTok or browsing Reddit (or whatever the modern equivalent of Floyd’s arguments would be). But he was involved in a more personal way with the country he loves so much. He attended art classes at community college and made friends with his fellow New Yorkers and became part of a modern, diverse community.
But if he truly wants to be Captain America, it’s up to him to really connect with his country.
Sally Floyd’s argument was flawed (wildly so), but she wasn’t necessarily wrong. America, like most societies, is constantly evolving. While Steve has never been so rigid that he rejects modern sensibilities, he can look to the past a bit too much. But if he truly wants to be Captain America, it’s up to him to really connect with his country.
As wild as it was, Steve’s interview shined a light on an issue with Captain America and Marvel has been doing its best to repair it. And by putting a greater focus on Steve living in America and not just fighting for it, theMarvelhero is going a long way to fixing the issueCivil Warbrought up.
