Summary
- Captain America's debut in the Golden Age established him as a 'peak human' character with nebulous, nearly superhuman powers.
- Various versions of Captain America, such as MCU's and Ultimate Universe's Captain America, possess superhuman strength and other abilities.
- In the end, even the original Steve Rogers is more than human, even if Marvel's official rating system says otherwise.
Captain America is the character who gave Marvel a chance in the Golden Age. DC was on the top of the superhero world back then, but Captain America's debut got Marvel, then called Timely Publications, the break they needed to be competitive. Since then, Captain America has been Marvel's top hero, leading the heroes into battle against Marvel's most powerful and deadly foes. Captain America has been able to hold his own against everyone, despite the rather nebulous nature of his abilities.
Captain America's Super Soldier serum allowed Steve Rogers to become a soldier but exactly which enhancements it gave him have always been up in the air. Basically, in Marvel Comics, Captain America is in "peak human" condition. Whether Captain America has superpowers is a question that many have asked. With all the different versions of Captain America out there, it's difficult to answer the question with a simple yes or no.
Cinematic Superpowers
- Super Strength
- Super Toughness
- Super Agility
- Vibranium Shield
The MCU's Captain America is a tough customer. From the beginning, longtime comic fans realized he was much stronger than his comic book counterpart. The origin story of the comic version of Steve Rogers and his story in the MCU are basically identical. The only real difference pre-Captain America is his friendship with Bucky Barnes, which wasn't a thing in the comics until they met in WWII. However, everything else about the character is comics-correct. Doctor Erskine created the Super Soldier serum and the Vita-Ray treatment — the coffin-like structure they put Steve in is where the Vita-Rays come from. The combination of the two took the proverbial 98-pound weakling and made him into the perfect soldier. MCU Cap seemed to be built differently than the man Joe Simon and Jack Kirby introduced to the world in 1941 and that became more apparent as his tenure went by.
Examples of this came in his fight against Thor and Iron Man in Avengers, as well as the battle against the Chitauri. In Captain America: Winter Soldier, the way he was able to shrug off hits from the Winter Soldier's cybernetic arm was a pretty big indication that he was stronger and tougher than a person. There's also the scene where he holds back a helicopter, which isn't something someone without superhuman strength could do. Age Of Ultron had him whip a motorcycle over his head like it was nothing, and his ability to actually hurt Ultron's drones and Ultron himself is more proof of his super strength. The way he could take shots from Iron Man in Captain America: Civil War showed that he definitely had superhuman bones because there's no way Iron Man wouldn't turn a normal man's skeleton into Swiss cheese with one shot, even if he wasn't trying. In Infinity War, Cap's fight against the Black Order at the beginning of the movie without his vibranium shield showed just how formidable he is as well. MCU Captain America is definitely a superhuman; he can do things that even other versions of Steve Rogers can't.
Ultimate Captain America's Powers
- Super Strength
- Super Toughness
- Super Agility
- Vibranium Shield
- Armored Costume
Most non-comic reading MCU fans assume that MCU Captain America is based on the hero in the comics. While this is true, he's less inspired by Earth-616's Captain America, who has over eighty years of history, than Earth-1610's Captain America. Earth-1610 is Marvel's Ultimate Universe, which was created in 2000 to act as a way to attract new readers to Marvel Comics. Ultimate Captain America was introduced in the first issue of The Ultimates in 2001. This introductory story took place back in WWII and showed readers his final wartime mission, which would play into the second story arc of the book. At this point, it was hard to tell whether Ultimate Captain America was superhuman or not, but as the book went on, there was no doubt.
The Ultimates' first fight was against the Hulk, whose powers came from trying to copy the Super Soldier serum that made Captain America. Captain America led the fight against the Hulk and was actually able to hurt him. While Ultimate Hulk isn't nearly as strong as 616 Hulk, the fact that Ultimate Captain America's hits actually affected a Hulk who can shrug off high explosives proved that Ultimate Cap has superhuman strength. In issue 9, Captain America gets into a fight with Hank Pym, who in the Ultimate Universe was Giant-Man and not Ant-Man, meaning he had superhuman strength and durability. Cap told him to grow to immense size so the fight would be fair and trounced Pym. So, Ultimate Cap's Super Soldier serum definitely gives him superhuman strength, durability, and agility.
Bucky Barnes As Captain America
- Cybernetic Arm
- Slow Aging
- Peak Human Strength, Agility, And Endurance
In the comics, Bucky Barnes stayed dead for a very long time. In fact, it seemed like a rule that Bucky stayed dead. However, rules are made to be broken and writer Ed Brubaker brought Bucky back as the Winter Soldier in 2005, 60 years after his death in Timely Comics. Captain America's first sidekick was never imbued with special powers before he was found by the Russians, but once they found him that changed. They replaced his arm with a powerful cybernetic one, giving him superhuman strength with that arm and he was dosed with the Infinity Formula, which slowed his aging to a crawl and physically enhanced him to peak human strength and speed. After Cap was able to redeem the Winter Soldier, Bucky became Captain America and his Russian enhancements helped him rise to the challenge.
Bucky was a different Cap than Steve. Bucky Barnes was always rather acrobatic back in WWII, but as Captain America, he was much more of a ground-and-pound fighter. His physical abilities were amazing, though, and he was more than a match for anyone that he fought. Now, technically, Bucky has no superpowers. The Infinity Formula doesn't give superhuman abilities and although his cybernetic arm does give him super strength and speed on that side, it's not really a superpower, per se. However, using his left arm, he could beat Steve Rogers in an arm wrestling match. In the MCU, however, Bucky was given a version of the Super Soldier serum by the Russians, so he had superpowers. That said, MCU Bucky was never Captain America, so that doesn't count.
Sam Wilson's Powers As Captain America
- Wakandan Flight Harness
- Indestructible Shield
- Avian Telepathy
Sam Wilson is an amazing Captain America. Sam took over for Steve in both the comics and the movies, under very different circumstances. In the comics, the Falcon was Cap's modern-day partner for longer than anyone and when the Super Soldier serum gave way and Steve Rogers was suddenly elderly, Sam took over. Unlike his predecessor, the former Falcon didn't have enhanced physical abilities. He had his Wakandan flight harness and costume and the shield, though. In the MCU, Sam became Captain America to battle the Flagsmashers after they went to the UN and again wasn't exposed to the Super Soldier serum. MCU Sam Wilson isn't a superhuman, but the comic one was.
For some reason, possibly only because it synergized with his Falcon identity, in the comics Sam Wilson was established as a mutant with the power to communicate with birds. Falcon was also able to see the eyes of birds and used Redwing, his pet falcon, to spy on his foes. However, it was then established that Sam was given the power by Red Skull when he used the Cosmic Cube on him. So, while comic book Sam has superpowers, they aren't really Captain America-related. Sam doesn't really use his bird telepathy very much anymore, but he is superhuman, making him a superhuman Captain America.
USAgent's Superpowers
- Super Strength
- Super Toughness
- Unbreakable Shield
USAgent was never a fan favorite, but he was Captain America for a while. In 1986, comic book Cap became disillusioned with the American government and gave up his role as Captain America. When Steve became "The Captain" and changed his costume, the US government still wanted a Captain America, so they turned to, of all people, a pro wrestler. Johnny Walker in the comics was a wrestler in the superpowered Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation. Walker was known as Super-Patriot and went to the Power Broker to gain super strength and durability, a prerequisite for participation in the UCWF. Super-Patriot was chosen to be Captain America and his tag-team partner Battlestar was his superpowered Bucky.
In the MCU, John Walker wasn't a superpowered wrestler but a world-class soldier. The US government chose Walker to replace the first Captain America because of his skills in battle and his many victories, but his lack of superhuman strength and speed — another piece of proof that MCU Cap has superstrength — made his job much harder. Eventually, Walker got super strength by taking a dose of the Power Broker's Super Soldier serum that was meant for the Flagsmashers. So, both John Walker versions of Captain America had superpowers. They got them from the same person but for very different reasons.
The Original Captain America's Powers
- Peak Human Physiology
- Superhuman Agility
- Superhuman Endurance
- Vibranium-Adamantium Alloy Shield
- Chainmail Costume
- Tactical Genius
In many ways, the original Captain America is like Marvel's Superman, except he doesn't have the laundry list of powers that the Man of Steel is associated with. For a long time, fans have wondered whether Steve Rogers is superhuman. The best way to investigate this idea is to look at the phrase "peak human" and use the resources that Marvel has given readers to measure his power levels. In the Marvel Universe, peak human describes a person who is in perfect physical condition. They can't get any stronger or faster. While a peak human individual can't lift a ton, they can get close.
Marvel premiered their power charts with the second set of Marvel trading cards in 1991. Unlike the first set, these cards had a power graph, mapping out each character's strength, speed, intelligence, durability, stamina, and agility, rating them from one to seven. Captain America had a two in strength and speed, a five in agility, and a four in stamina. A two is considered peak human on this scale. This means Earth-616's Captain America can officially lift up to eight hundred pounds over his head. His stats in the Marvel Super Heroes RPG reinforced these ratings; while Captain America doesn't have super strength, his agility and stamina, though, are superhuman.
The Marvel Trading Cards Series 2 power graphs became the basis for every Marvel power graph that came after them, including the ones in the Marvel Universe guides published in the '00s and the Marvel Wiki, which isn't technically canon, but uses the measurements and categories that Marvel established, so it's close. However, that's not the end of the conversation.
In comics, superheroes tend to be just as strong as they need to be. So, despite Marvel establishing canonical levels for Captain America's physical abilities, Cap sometimes does things that only someone with superhuman strength could do. For example, during former Superman writer Dan Jurgens' Captain America run in 1999, Steve threw his shield at a jet that was thousands of feet away from him. In Marvel's Civil War, he was actually able to break through Iron Man's armor with his shield. Sometimes Cap seems superhuman and this has made it hard to tell whether or not 616 Steve Rogers has superpowers.
The Final Verdict
Does Captain America have superpowers? MCU Captain America and Ultimate Captain America, both versions of John Walker's Cap, 616 Sam Wilson Captain America, and technically Bucky Cap all have superpowers of some kind. The MCU's Sam Wilson has no superpowers at all, though he has access to Stark Tech, but that still makes his tenure as Captain America even more impressive.
Whether or not 616 Steve Rogers has superpowers is a bit more complicated. According to Marvel's power graph, Steve Rogers does not have superhuman strength, although being able to lift eight hundred pounds over his head certainly feels superhuman. Despite Marvel's regular claims to the contrary, his stamina and agility are canonically superhuman. None of this takes his various superhuman feats and the inconsistencies in his writing into account. So, 616 Steve Rogers does have superhuman powers, but they are extremely passive. He can fight for days on end without getting tired and has really good reflexes, making him almost impossible to hit with bullets. However, much like any other superhero out there, he has whatever powers his scripts grant him. While readers demand consistency, they don't always see the same versions of Captain America, even when he wears the same costume and title.