Steve Rogers’ Best 5 Confidants (Plus 1 Bonus!)
No man is an island, at least no successful man that is. Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, has dismantled Hydra, wielded a Norse God’s power, and commanded the most awe-inspiring army of Marvel superheroes the world of cinema has ever seen. But none of this would be possible without the help, influence, and even mentorship he’s received from his very closest allies.
Cap Counts These Marvel Characters Amongst His Strongest Teammates
Sometimes in the world of self-improvement, we can feel that we should be able do it all. Sometimes we feel we will do it all! And it’s great to set your sights high and commit to being the best you can be. However, it’s okay to need help sometimes, and we all need trusted friends, family, and colleagues in our corner.
The Sentinel of Liberty is no different and this is a great reminder that even the best of us, even fictional figures we may aspire to be like, such as Cap himself, need support. So though he be Star Spangled and with plans in hand, this First Avenger has staked his place in comics history with the trust and support of some truly powerful allies. To hear all about ’em, read on!
1. Bucky Barnes (The Winter Soldier) AKA Captain America’s Best Friend
Bucky is Steve’s oldest and closest friend, aka Captain America’s best friend. Steve and Bucky are like brothers and as such, knew each other’s personalities, motivations, strengths, and weaknesses long before the super soldier serum and the creepy Hydra brainwashing. Bucky knew Steve was a good man and a person with a strong moral fiber before he had the physical strength to match it. And Steve knows that no matter what Hydra has manipulated Bucky into doing, there is a good person underneath it all that was willing to back up his friend when it counted, long before Steve was the Captain.
“Believe it or not, it’s kind of hard to find someone with shared life experience”
Steve Rogers
James Buchanan Barnes is also Steve’s strongest link to his past, to his life before going into the ice. After Peggy Carter passes away in Civil War, he’s his only link. When Steve is willing to go to war to protect Bucky in Civil War, it’s not just his friend that is threatened, but this link to his former life. Other than Steve’s memories, Bucky is basically the only way to connect to this past, to honor it, and to continue working through the trauma of having it torn from him. Bucky understands in a way that no one else can, and although Steve was not used as a tool for assasination, he’s the one most fit to help Bucky as well, in reintegrating into society in a meaningful way.
The two brothers need each other, and this partnership is one of the best examples of an idea explored more thoroughly in one of Marvel’s other superhero team franchises, Guardians of the Galaxy. The idea of found family. In Bucky, Steve has a brother in arms that not only matches him on the battlefield and in physicality, but in fierce loyalty as well.
2. Sam Wilson (Falcon)
Whereas Bucky serves as a bridge to Cap’s past, Sam helps to anchor Cap’s present and future in so many ways. Sam may not have fought alongside Cap in the 1940s, but he understands that they have similar life experience too. This is evident in their very first conversation, as they reminisce about sinking down into their “marshmallow beds”.
As a team member, Sam brings some different capabilities as well. He’s a former Air Force Pararescue Specialist. That alone makes him a valuable member, as Pararescuemen are some of the most well-rounded and highly trained of the Air Force’s SOF (Special Operations Forces).
He’s an experienced combatant and together with his experimental flight suit, he gives the team an air power capability. This is especially important in Cap’s “Secret Avengers” squad, following the events of Civil War. Sam also operates the drone, Red Wing, which provides surveillance capabilities and additional offensive options.
Sam’s a capable combatant, but more than that, he’s a “good man”, as old Steve Rogers states at the end of Avengers Endgame. This echoes Dr. Erskine’s comments about Steve himself, that he must remain “not a perfect soldier, but a good man.” Sam is a true loyal friend, courageous, honorable, and puts the team before himself.
He demonstrates this during the famous airport battle in Civil War, when he tells Steve and Bucky, “Get to the jet, both of you. Some of us aren’t getting out of here.” He willingly sacrifices his own well being so that Steve and Bucky can make their escape and continue towards their main objective. Sam is selfless, so it’s no wonder that when Steve Rogers, now in his elder years, shows up in the present at the end of Endgame, he grants Sam his coveted shield. This is his most iconic item, with a storied history, and almost like Thor’s Mjolnir, Steve is saying that out of everyone he’s known, Sam is most worthy to wield the shield next.
3. Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow)
After saving the world with the original Avengers team, Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanov continue to work with S.H.I.E.L.D., foiling terrorist plots and battling evildoers. It’s during the events of The Winter Soldier, that we get to see Steve and Nat’s relationship really develop. I love these two together. Although some online fans would like to see them end up together romantically, they actually have a kind of awkward brother and sister relationship that always remains professional. Through their missions together, while battling Hydra and across the other movies with the various Avengers team members, we get to see Steve and Nat form a bond strengthened by mutual respect, trust, bravery, and conviction.
In a nutshell, Steve and Nat teach each other and help each other grow throughout the movies. When we first get to know Natasha in Ironman 2, and later on in The Avengers, she presents a kind of cold and detached personality. She’s all in on her mission(s) and she comes off as cocky at times as well. The only time we see a bit of her vulnerability is when she is speaking with Clint Barton after lifting Loki’s control over him.
Although we see Steve and Nat joking and messing with each other in the beginning scenes of The Winter Soldier, Steve maintains a pretty serious demeanor on missions. He gets pretty pissed when he finds out that Nat has a secondary mission aboard the Lumerian Star that she didn’t share with the team.
Nat’s learned to compartmentalize her hidden agendas and isolate them from her relationships, working or otherwise. Steve is adamant that there has to be trust amongst the team he’s leading. Later on in the movie, Nat admonishes him, “there’s a chance you may be in the wrong business Rogers”. She’s right. But so is he.
Through her training and many years of espionage experience, Nat has become pretty cynical, believing that the truth is relative and is “not all things to all people.” But Steve shows her that you have to have people in your life that you can trust. After he saves her life multiple times in the movie and she sees how far he’s willing to go to back up his values, Nat finally allows herself to trust in Steve and even show a little vulnerability.
Steve learns the ways of the modern world through Nat (and the larger events of The Winter Soldier). As they go on the run and begin to have real conversations rather than just small talk and skin deep banter, he sees that she’s adapted to her profession and the world as a means to survive.
There are many in the world who would take advantage of Steve’s good nature and old fashioned values. Through his experiences with Nat, Steve learns to hold true to his values while also becoming aware of the more shady, disguised threats of the modern world. She wakes him up to the fact that people and institutions may not be what they seem and ignoring this fact could cost him his life.
4. T’Challa (Black Panther)
Steve and T’Challa get off to a rocky start. After all, T’Challa makes his introduction in Civil War by trying to kill Steve’s other best bud, Bucky Barnes, believing that Bucky murdered his father. During the car chase through Berlin as well as the airport battle, Black Panther gives Bucky and Cap all they can handle and then some, demonstrating that he’s a crafty and skilled fighter with impressive tech to boot. What’s that, Cap? You’ve got a shield made of vibranium? I’ve got a pretty much everything down to my toothbrush made of vibranium! T’Challa finally gives up his quest for vengeance after discovering the true nature of the events that led to his father’s death, and at this point Steve, Bucky and T’Challa all become allies, although we don’t get to see them actually work this out.
What we do see later on is a scene where Cap wholeheartedly places his trust in T’Challa, having made his way to Wakanda after the fallout and complete dismantling of The Avengers. Not only does Cap trust T’Challa to give them shelter, but Bucky is going back on ice, while Wakanda’s scientists work a solution to rid him of his Hydra programming.
T’Challa, a man who just lost his father and has had the title and responsibility of King of Wakanda just thrust upon him, is dedicating his time and resources to help out these two men who until very recently he considered his enemies. This speaks volumes about the character and motivations of the new king and why Cap and Bucky would continue to return to him for assistance during the events of Infinity War and Endgame.
The trust that Cap and Bucky are placing in T’Challa here really can’t be understated. We’ve already seen five other winter soldiers get iced while they were…well, on ice..and Bucky is literally entrusting his life and well being to T’Challa and the Kingdom of Wakanda. Without this help, Bucky would forever be subject to being controlled by the programming that made him Hydra’s deadliest assassin ever.
Before this scene, there is a voice over where Steve Rogers explains his faith in people, in individuals, and that for the most part they haven’t let him down. T’Challa is one of Steve’s strongest, most dependable allies and this would get proven ten fold by the end of The Infinity Saga.
5. Peggy Carter (Agent Carter)
Peggy is the love of Steve’s life. While Bucky knew Steve was a good person, it was actually Peggy that first saw there was a greatness in Steve. That he was capable of more. Steve’s origin story of becoming the hero known as Captain America is filled with moments that show his moral strength and courage prior to receiving the serum. Peggy was there for many of them.
Probably my favorite of these is the scene where Colonel Phillips tosses a grenade onto the field during training. All the soldiers scatter, understandably not wanting to get blown up. Everyone but Steve that is, who without hesitation throws himself upon the grenade ready to absorb the blast in order to save his fellow men, not knowing it was a dummy grenade.
There’s also the scene where Steve, using his smarts, captures the flag and wins a ride in the jeep with Hayley Atwell’s character. She’s noticeably impressed with his cleverness and sees that although he doesn’t have the physical stature of the other men, he nonetheless possesses a quiet confidence and a can do attitude.
Peggy’s a strong woman, sharp and capable, and she’s unlike any woman Steve has ever met. Honestly, she’s kind of out of his league. Once Steve gets the serum and his physical stature matches his moral strength and courage, they’re a perfect match.
Even after coming out of the ice, Steve seeks Peggy’s wise council. He goes to visit an elderly Peggy regularly. One of the best things about their conversation in The Winter Soldier is when she chides him for always being so dramatic. Steve doesn’t even get mad, lol. He simply cracks a smile and realizes she’s right.
In Civil War, it’s Peggy’s words that sort of bring Steve back from compromising his values. Weighing the pros and cons of accepting the Sokovia Accords, he’s conflicted. She lets him know, reminds him, the most grounded, morally centered and sure Avenger, that he needs to stand for what he believes. Yes, even Captain America himself needs to be reminded of his ethical duty sometimes, and Peggy’s the one to do it.
Seeing the two of them dancing to their song (finally!) at the end of Avengers Endgame is such a fitting ending. Although we wonder what kind of life Steve must have led in this past, it’s satisfying to know that all the sacrifices he’s made, all the good work he’s done, has led to this moment where he can finally be with the one he truly loves.
BONUS! – Tony Stark (Ironman)
Tony and Steve have a complicated relationship. Tony grew up resenting Steve, as his dad, Howard, talked about him constantly. Funnily enough, back in the 1940s, Steve, enamored with Peggy Carter, was a little threatened by Howard, as the suave, confident inventor, who seemed like he might swoop in and woo Peggy himself.
Although Tony and Steve don’t initially like eachother or see eye to eye on how to operate as Avengers, they eventually see eachother’s impressive qualities and become teammates who share a mutual respect for eachother.
During the first Avengers movie, Tony has to admit that Steve actually does “live up to the legend”, while Steve realizes that for all of his cockiness and self-centeredness, Tony really is willing to “make the sacrifice play”.
They often butt heads, but they also compliment eachother’s talents extremely well. Steve appreciates Tony’s intellect and ability to problem solve. Cap fills in with excellent leadership, tactics, and the ability to make the most of a particular roster of players. They co-lead the Avengers and the team is undoubtedly strongest when they are both working together on the same page.
That’s why it’s such a tragedy when their falling out over the accords and Bucky’s past prevents them from working together to save the world from Thanos in Infinity War. After they do bury the hatchet in Endgame, they’re stronger teammates, with a better understanding of eachother’s motivations and an appreciation for the best qualities that each possesses.
End
There are several other characters that could have been mentioned here as Steve’s allies but what do you think? Who did I leave out? Who in your life has mentored you or supported you in your goals and ambitions? Sound off in the comments below!
