Russo Brothers Were Never Interested in Captain America as a Simplistic Symbol of Patriotism

For many, Captain America is the ultimate symbol of American patriotism and that reading of the character isn’t without merit. At various times in his long comic book history, Steve Rogers/Captain America has been just that. But there’s more to Cap than that and it’s an aspect that the Joe and Anthony Russo was never really interested in.

In a new video for Wired, the Avengers: Infinity War co-directors break down every single hero appearing in the film, talking about their role in the film as well as a bit of the core of the character as they see it. When it comes to Captain America, the character they began their work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with, they always saw him as something more than a symbol.

“We entered the MCU by direction Captain America: Winter Soldier,” Anthony Russo said. “What we love about the character is the humility of the character, the fact that he came from very basic roots and through sort of his will and his aspiration and the sort of fortune of being chosen for the Super Soldier program he was able to sort of make more of himself than he would have been able to otherwise. I think that’s what people really admire about the character.”

He went on to explain that while they were well-aware of how the character’s history also lent him to be a simplistic patriotic symbol, there was a better story and a larger journey he was interested in.

“Joe and I never really responded to the earlier comics where he is sort of a simplistic symbol of patriotism,” he said. “We were always interested in exploring something a little more complex with the character and really understanding him on more of a human level. That’s the journey I think we’ve been on with that character through several films now.”

It’s a journey that fans can see play out in the movies but is also apparent in the way the character looks as well. When Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) first suits up as Captain America, it’s in a brightly colored costume designed for him to take the stage and encourage the purchase of War Bonds. In Avengers: Infinity War, his costume has evolved functionally, but is also darker, more distressed, the obvious hallmarks of that early patriotism stripped away, something that head of visual development for Marvel Studios Ryan Mienerding told ComicBook.com last month was a “great narrative” for the character and one that he was proud to be a part of.”

“All of the Cap costumes, being a part of them, has been such an amazing thing because his journey through the MCU is really told through his costumes as well, there’s a great narrative that happens with stories that they’ve been able to tell in the movies and how they’ve been visually represented in the costumes, so just being part of those costumes,” Mienerding explained.

Of course, Captain America’s journey is not over quite yet so it will be interesting to see how the character continues to evolve and where the Russo’s take him next in the upcoming Avengers 4.

What do you think about the Russo brothers not seeing Captain America as a symbol of patriotism? Let us know in the comments below.

Avengers: Infinity War is now available on Digital, DVD, and Blu-Ray. Ant-Man and the Wasp is now playing in theaters. Other upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019, Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2020.