These Are the 5 Best Captain America Action Scenes (Winter Soldier Has Two)

What’s a Marvel Cinematic Universe installment without some properly cinematic action sequences? Every character has had their standout moments in the franchise, but perhaps nobody has enjoyed prominent parts in iconic fight scenes as much as Captain America. From brawls with members of his tight-knit team to alien invasions, Cap has been a major part of the vast majority of the MCU’s important set pieces. It’s hard to narrow them down to the best of the best, but it is possible.

Any MCU adventure featuring Captain America was up for consideration. This means that the four Avengers movies were as fair game as a Captain America film. The catch? Cap had to be at least somewhat at the center of the specified action sequence. In other words, one could expect to see him fighting himself in Endgame, they could even expect to see that film’s final battle (a line of dialogue from Cap is what kicks off the clash, after all), but the team’s assault on a HYDRA facility in Sokovia at the beginning of Avengers: Age of Ultron? Not so much.

The Battle for New York in The Avengers

Joss Whedon’s The Avengers was the first true sign that the MCU had become both a cultural touchstone and a pop culture juggernaut. And, given just how entertaining the third act is, it’s easy to see why it was such a summer movie season smash. From the iconic 360-degree money shot of the original Avenging lineup (which ends on the line-up’s star-spangled leader) to the fluid cuts between each of them fighting the Chitauri across New York City, it’s as bombastic as an extended action sequence can get.

The battle for New York (and, by extension, the rest of the world) stands in stark contrast to the beginning of the film. In other words, it’s fast-paced and engrossing, whereas the first 30 minutes or so are meandering and plodding. Each of the six Avengers gets their standout moments, but it’s Cap who holds it all together.

Freeway Ambush in Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Captain America: The Winter Soldier wasn’t just a sign the Russo brothers were more than capable of delivering a stellar MCU adventure, it was proof that they could craft a phenomenal modern-day political thriller. It’s hard to call the film a small-scale MCU outing, given it ends with S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarriers on the verge of picking off people on a mass scale, but at its core, it’s is a simple tale of a man who lost his best friend.

This scene is where Steve Rogers learns Bucky Barnes is still alive. In a way, at least, as the friend he once knew and loved has been replaced with a brainwashed killing machine. This scene works so well not just because of the emotional stakes involved, but also because of the truly lethal swings the Winter Soldier takes at Cap. Not to mention, the viewer doesn’t feel too bad for the HYDRA agent who gets ripped out of a car speeding down the highway, only to get flung in front of a perfectly timed eighteen-wheeler speeding even faster the opposite direction.

A Crowded Elevator in Captain America: The Winter Soldier

As mentioned, Captain America: The Winter Soldier can be a smaller-scoped MCU adventure. Iron Man 3 had Tony Stark taking down a terrorist organization, which made it a similarly one-hero-against-fearsome-group type of narrative. For that matter, Captain America: The First Avenger had Steve Rogers going up against the Nazis, and that’s exactly what The Winter Soldier is. What separates the two is that the first run-up against the Nazis is a war film, and the villains are out in the open. The second go-round has the Nazis operating discreetly, and very much wanting to keep it that way. Rogers is standing in the way of that, so they try to assassinate him in an elevator. They should have sent more men, because Rogers fights just as well in tight spaces as he does on the battlefield.

The scene kicks off with Captain America riding the S.H.I.E.L.D. elevator solo. The door opens with a chime, and a few big men enter and join him. That process repeats several times, with each subsequent chime serving as a Pavlovian bell that indicates things are going to escalate sooner and sooner. By the time there are no more chimes, the elevator is chock full, and Rogers has come to realize none of the men have really communicated with him outside of the briefest greeting from Frank Grillo’s Rumlow. Cap’s suspicion of an attack is confirmed when he sees a bead of sweat rolling down a S.H.I.E.L.D. (really HYDRA) agent’s scalp. It’s all terrific tension building, and it really leans into the inherent claustrophobia of riding in a crowded elevator. The shot of Cap kicking down on half his shield to send it up into his hand is just icing on one of the MCU’s most delectable cakes.

[RELATED: Thunderbolts* Trailer Includes a Sneaky Callback to Captain America: The Winter Soldier]

It’s Personal in Captain America: Civil War

In terms of the films’ focus, but not necessarily in terms of their staging of action sequences, the three Rogers-focused Cap films get progressively narrower. The first is a large-scale war film, but its biggest action sequence is a rapid-fire montage. The second film is a conspiracy thriller, but it ends with near mass extermination. Captain America: Civil War is really just the tale of a shattered partnership, but it features the trilogy’s biggest set piece.

Rogers taking on the furious Tony Stark in order to defend his (other) friend, Bucky Barnes, is not that set piece. That said, it’s bar none the film’s best. It takes place shortly after the bombastic airport fight, which is a battle where all involved are clearly going out of their way not to genuinely harm one another. That can’t be said about this one. Stark wants to end Barnes (who murdered Tony’s parents), and the viewer genuinely believes he’ll do the same to Rogers to accomplish that task.

“Assemble” in Avengers: Endgame

In what will undoubtedly go down as the definitive MCU moment should the franchise ever wrap things up, the “Assemble” scene in Avengers: Endgame, aka the “Portals” scene, is hair-raising. It’s great to see all of our favorite heroes brought back from the dead, but what really gets the blood pumping is Chris Evans’ almost whispered delivery of the unifying, single-word line.

It’s coming from an exhausted, nearly dead Cap, but there’s an undercurrent of hope and determination that’s more than enough to rouse his compatriots. The delivery of “Assemble” is the long sequence’s highlight, but there’s undoubtedly a ton of nearly as memorable bone-crunching moments just before, when Cap, Thor, and Iron Man take on Thanos. This includes, of course, Cap summoning Mjölnir.