The MVP of Marvel Characters
It’s been a little over a year since we said goodbye to Captain America, at least the version we’ve all come to know and love, as portrayed in the MCU by actor Chris Evans. Cap is one of the most interesting Marvel superheroes and although I am excited to see Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan tear it up in Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Steve Rogers is the OG version of Cap that’s had a huge impact on fans the world over (yours truly included). It’s been a while since we’ve had any Captain America movies and some of us are feeling just a tad bit empty without the Sentinel of Liberty in our lives, amirite??
The Evolution of Captain America’s Fighting Style
With that in mind, I thought it’d be fun to look back at some of this Marvel hero’s best fight moves throughout the MCU. Steve has had quite the journey over the course of The Infinity Saga, and Captain America’s fighting style has continued to evolve with each subsequent movie. From first harnessing his powers in Captain America: The First Avenger, to the final battles of Avengers Endgame, here are the best of the best of Captain America’s fighting skills! ⬇⬇⬇⬇
There are Marvel Superheroes, and Then There’s Cap
- Shield Throw, as seen in Captain America: The First Avenger. Well the Captain wouldn’t be the Captain without his iconic Captain America shield throw, now would he? Cap would continue to perfect this move throughout the movies, eventually becoming able to control the speed, trajectory, and precision of this move to ricochet his shield off of objects and into enemies without their even seeing it coming. (0:15)
- Teep (push kick), as seen in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. In a movie filled with great fight choreography, it’s tough to pick out just a few moves and not let this entire article turn into a love poem to the follow up to The First Avenger. This was the film that let audiences know that Cap had adapted to the modern world. The stealth attack on the boat scene illustrates this perfectly, and Rogers’ performance reads like a greatest hits list of awesome fight moves. Traditionally, the teep, as it’s known in Muay Thai, is used to judge distance and to set up other moves. Cap is so fast and powerful here, he uses this front push kick like a power move, sending enemies flying into barriers or completely over the side and into the sea. It comes in darn handy for him and he uses it three times in this sequence alone. (3:19)
- Flying Knee, as seen in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. During one of the best fight sequences in the history of the MCU, we get to see Cap face off with an opponent who matches him in every way. By adding moves to his arsenal such as this brutal flying knee, Cap rounded out his skills and became a full fledged mixed martial artist. You can almost feel the impact of this knee coming through the TV screen! Oof. Honorable mention goes to the jumping, spinning back kick that precedes it. (6:35)
- Jiu-jitsu Sequence, as seen in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. By adding some grappling skills to his arsenal, Cap became a force no matter where the fight went. I’ve always loved this sequence of moves towards the end of the movie. Here, Cap sets up wrist control on Bucky’s right arm before performing a straight superhero strength move by lifting him up off the ground one-handed and slamming him back down.
From here, he maintains control of the arm he had and puts Bucky in this weird, awkward standing armbar (because superheroes). He appears to break Bucky’s arm and then proceeds to take him to the ground with back control and puts a rear-naked choke on him. Finally, before putting him to sleep, Cap goes gumby on Bucky and holds down his opposing arm with his foot so that Bucky can’t reach up and try to pull Cap’s arm away from his neck.
I feel like with this series of moves, the movie perfectly toes the line of what’s real world believable but with just the right amount of fictional leeway. The result is a gritty, impactful fight sequence that hits hard and keeps you on the edge of your seat. (8:02)
- Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive, and Dodge, as seen in Captain America: Civil War. Lol, all kidding aside, the fight scene between Steve and Brock Rumlow, aka Crossbones, is about as close as we get to a straight up boxing match in the MCU. There are some nice shots in this scene showcasing not only that Cap can throw a punch, but that he can make the other guy miss. Steve stays in the pocket here, slipping punches and ducking under at least one. He’s added more exotic techniques to his fight repertoire, but he still relies on the basics when necessary, and Cap’s boxing background is one of his foundational fight skills. (11:17)
- Jumping Spinning Kicks galore, as seen in Captain America: Civil War. By the time we get to Civil War, not only is Steve a master hand-to-hand combatant, but he’s now reaching for moves that really leverage his superhuman abilities. He’s become very adaptable in combat and is seen creating innovative attacks that make use of his enhanced speed and agility. Moves that wouldn’t be very practical or effective for a normal human to attempt. Namely a crap ton of jumping, spinning kicks, lol.
He employs these in many different ways, and at different angles, sometimes finishing in a side kick, and sometimes in a downward attack with one or both legs. What’s neat is that he often uses these as counters, where he’ll avoid an attack by jumping and spinning out of the way and then finish on the offensive.
These kicks have become a regular part of Captain America’s fighting style and he makes great use of them during the famous airport battle, employing them at different times against War Machine, Black Panther, and Spiderman. (12:30)
- Using his environment, as seen in Captain America: Civil War. Now Cap is really expanding his tool set. Going against opponents who can fly, fire projectiles, or have other advantages, Steve’s got to start getting creative. This is more of a technique than a specific move, but it’s one that Steve returns to again and again.
During his scrap with Spiderman, Cap knocks down a walkway tunnel, pinning Spidey underneath and ending their fight. You also see it in the first fight sequence when Cap and company decide to ruin Crossbones’ day. There’s that patented Cap teep again, only instead of kicking a guy, Cap casually kicks a truck into a guy, lol. (13:07)
- His wits, as seen in Avengers Endgame. When in a fight, a smart person uses every available advantage to gain the upper hand. This is why for major operations, elite military units will amass as much intel as possible beforehand, and rehearse various scenarios endlessly, to become as absolutely prepared as they possibly can. Steve is one of the most well-rounded combatants in the MCU and it only makes sense that he would use information to gain the advantage as well. Perhaps he learned this important lesson from the events of The Winter Soldier?
In Avengers Endgame, Cap is faced with a very similar scenario as the well-known elevator scene from TWS. He’s boxed into an elevator completely surrounded by enemies and yet has an objective to meet; to secure Loki’s scepter. He knows these guys are dangerous, and at the same time he knows he can beat them. An ego-driven man might jump at the chance to strike first, but Steve is more clever than that. Using his knowledge of these men’s allegiances he plays it against them, making them think he’s on their side, and thus obtains the scepter without having to throw a single punch. That’s battle smarts.
Moments later he’s faced with a foe he knows can give him all he can handle- himself! While he’s forced to go toe to toe with his past self for a while, he eventually uses a similar tactic as in the elevator, giving past-Steve a shocking piece of information that distracts him long enough for future-Cap to subdue him. (16:25)
- Synergy of techniques, as seen in Avengers Endgame. You know which fight I’m about to talk about! In my opinion, the Cap versus Thanos fight is not only one of the most exciting scenes in a movie filled with exciting moments, but it perfectly illustrates how and why Cap has become such a formidable fighter. He really shouldn’t even be able to stand with Thanos, but by using just about every skill he’s got at his disposal (and a few new ones), Cap nearly puts an end to this thing once and for all.
Seeing Thor about to meet his end, Cap uses what he knows about the hammer, Mjolnir, and in a last ditch effort is able to summon it to himself. After initially knocking Thanos off of Thor with a hammer throw, and fully realizing he’s in control of the weapon, Cap knows this is no time for counter moves and begins attacking relentlessly.
After pretty much the biggest uppercut in history, Steve begins attacking with both hammer and shield in combination, using both as melee weapons and projectiles, flinging them at Thanos and ricocheting them off each other to disorient and keep Thanos on the defensive. Cap mixes in more straight forward attacks, and although there are no spinning back kicks to be found, he does throw in a flying knee! The sheer variety of attacks coming from multiple directions makes Cap a difficult opponent for Thanos to deal with in this moment, and that’s when Cap starts calling down the lightning! He hits Thanos with two giant blasts of lightning and has him on the ropes when he goes in for the finish.
It seems Steve had just a little too much hang time on his jump here, and Thanos has enough time to roll away and begin his counter attack. I know in this last section I’ve listed way more than a single fight move. My point here is that Steve Rogers’ most important fight capability is the ability to synergize all that previous experience and leverage it to hold his own with one of the strongest and deadliest foes the MCU has seen.
Although Cap eventually loses this fight, with Thanos breaking his trademark shield, this sequence shows Steve putting together all of his tools as a combatant to stave off the Avengers’ defeat, buying enough time for the cavalry to ride in. (16:33)
Conclusion
These are just a few of Captain America’s best fight moves throughout his 8 year MCU journey. From honing his boxing and shield throwing abilities, to expanding his skills to include aerial kicks and strings of jiu-jitsu moves, to maximizing his superhuman advantages, tactical knowledge and synergizing all of the above, Cap is a versatile and exciting combatant to watch! And he’s just a whole lot of fun to root for. Which of Cap’s many fight moves are your favorite? Which moves should have been included here? Sound off in the comments!
If you love being inspired by superheroes and want to learn more about how you can apply their lessons to your own life, check out these articles about self-discipline and environment design, as well as this one about motivation!
