Captain America film informatics Part 10: Abraham Erskine

Dr. Abraham Erskine was the elderly German scientist who created the Super Soldier Serum and subsequently turned Steve Rogers into Captain America.

Dr. Erskine was Bavarian scientist during the rise of Nazi Germany. Nazi officer and head of HYDRA, Johann Schmidt, forced Erskine to give him his prototype of the Super Soldier Serum. Unfortunately Erskine's formula transformed Schmidt into a madman and gave rise to his nickname, the Red Skull. After that Erskine fled to America eventually settling in Queens, New York.


When World War II started, Erskine joined the U.S. government's Strategic Scientific Reserve (SSR) under Colonel Chester Phillips. Erskine was at the Modern Marvels of Tomorrow Exhibition when Steve Rogers was enlisting for the fifth time. Dr. Erskine later asked Rogers if he wanted to kill Nazis. When Rogers said that he didn't want to kill anyone but simply didn't like bullies, his answer satisfied Erskine enough to approve Rogers' draft card as 1-A. At Camp Lehigh, although Rogers struggled through basic training due to his small size and poor health, his perseverance and ingenuity impressed Erskine, who regarded Rogers as the clear choice. Erskine resisted Chester Phillips' efforts to persuade him to select Gilmore Hodge, who was physically superior, but whom Erskine regarded as a bully. Erskine's confidence in Rogers was cemented when he witnessed Rogers throw himself on what he thought was a live grenade in order to protect his fellow soldiers.


After Rogers was selected, Erskine came to the private quarters to offer him a drink from Ausburg, but didn't give it to him because the experiment was tomorrow so Steve couldn't have any liquids. Erskine told Rogers of his early experiments, Schmidt, and his reason why he chose Steve for the experiment. Erskine told him about Schmidt and explained while someone like Schmidt, who has known power all his life might lose respect for that power, a weak man like Rogers would know the value of strength. Erskine urged Rogers not to forget who he was, not a perfect soldier, but a good man.


When Rogers arrived at the secret lab in Brooklyn, Erskine with help from fellow scientist Howard Stark injected him with penicillin and then with the Super Soldier Serum, lastly bombarding him with Vita-Rays. Erskine nearly stopped the procedure when it appeared Rogers was having difficulty enduring the procedure, but Rogers urged him to continue. Moments later, Rogers emerged from the chamber significantly taller and noticeably more muscular.. Erskine's experiment was successful, but then one of the member of the State Department revealed himself to be HYDRA assassin Heinz Kruger, who set off a bomb to destroy the machinery and then fatally shot Erskine. Erskine's last actions before dying was to point at Rogers' heart, to stay who he is on the inside.

Captain America film informatics Part 09: Colonel Chester Phillips

Colonel Chester Phillips was the officer in command of the secret project in the Strategic Scientific Reserve aimed to create a series of super soldiers for the US Army. He was the chief of the training camp in which the candidates were trained. The scientist in charge of the project, Abraham Erskine, presented him with a potential candidate, Steve Rogers, but Rogers' frail physique and numerous health problems lead Phillips to believe that Rogers was unsuitable, at one point suggesting Gilmore Hodge, a physically superior soldier but also a disagreeable showboat. To prove his own theory correct, Phillips threw a fake grenade at the soldiers, but Rogers was the one who attempted to shield the blast with his own body while the other soldiers, including Hodge, take cover. Phillips reluctantly gave in, though he still felt that Rogers is too skinny.


Later on, after Rogers was transformed successfully by Erskine's serum, the doctor was killed by an HYDRA agent named Heinz Kruger, and Phillips decided to leave the untrained Rogers behind and to continue the war the old fashion way. When a huge platoon of 400 men goes missing, among them Rogers' best friend James "Bucky" Barnes, Phillips, though regretful for his soldiers' fate, refused to allow Rogers to attempt a rescue mission, planning to bomb the facility instead, although Rogers defied Phillips' order. When Rogers was successful in rescuing the men alone, however, Phillips allowed him to work in the field, and entrusts him with a special elite commando force, rather than punishing him as Rogers had believed.


After Arnim Zola was captured, Phillips successfully interrogated him and located Johann Schmidt's last secret HYDRA base. While Rogers distracted the enemy, Phillips himself led the assault on the base, defeating a large number of HYDRA agents. Eventually, he helped Rogers in reaching the Red Skull's experimental plane riding Schmidt's special car, ending on the edge of a ravine and seeing the plane flying away with Rogers and the Skull aboard. His last words to Rogers are "I'm not kissing you!" after Rogers kissed Peggy Carter goodbye.

Later on, when Rogers relayed the news to Peggy over the radio from Schmidt's plane that he was going to sacrifice himself to destroy Schmidt's weapons of mass destruction by crashing the plane into the arctic, Phillips listened in on Rogers' final conversation. When the radio went blank, Phillips, visibly saddened at his friend and comrade's apparent demise, walked away, and later handed Rogers' file to Peggy.


Colonel Phillips' current fate was unknown, though it is most probable that he died of old age in the seventy years before Cap's awakening.

Captain America film informatics Part 08: Howard Stark

Howard Stark was a brilliant inventor and businessman and the father of Tony Stark/Iron Man. He founded Stark Industries. During WWII he worked on various government projects, including the Manhattan Project and "Project: Rebirth". Howard also helped the Strategic Scientific Reserve fight against HYDRA.

World War II
Howard Stark was an eccentric industrial genius, inventor, and businessman. He founded Stark Industries, was the top engineer for the the Strategic Scientific Reserve. Stark proudly showed off multiple world-changing inventions at his World Exposition of Tomorrow in 1942, including a flying car and a prototype android. Secretly, however, Stark was working with the allies in order to help in World War II, performing multiple experiments for them and working as their weapons specialist.


During the second World War, Howard was instrumental for "Project Rebirth", the project of the SSR that Steve Rogers underwent in order to become U.S. Army's first Super Soldier. Howard built a machine that used up half of the power in Brooklyn to dowse Rogers with vita-rays after receiving the super-soldier serum developed by Dr. Abraham Erskine. The process successfully transformed weak and scrawny Steve Rogers into the muscular Captain America, though Dr Erskine was soon assassinated by a HYDRA agent. 


When Cap was going on a solo mission to save his friend Bucky and the POWs that were captured at a HYDRA base, Stark personally flew him where he needed to go, and afterwards constructed his shield from pure vibranium and also made for Steve an upgraded military uniform to use as Captain America. When Captain America crashed in the ocean with the Red Skull and the Cosmic Cube, Howard refused to abandon his friend, and charted multiple expeditions out the ocean to search the sea for him. Though they failed in their search, they did discover the Cosmic Cube, laying on floor of the ocean after falling out of the Red Skull's craft during the crash. He attempted to figure out how the Cosmic Cube worked, but had less than helpful results.

Post War
After WWII, he shared Stark Industries with close friend Obadiah Stane, and together they were responsible for the development of many weapons for the U.S. military. Along with government associates, Howard has become a founding member of S.H.I.E.L.D. In 1954, Howard created the Stark Expo, a world wide technology fair where the world's new technology would be presented to show a bright future for mankind. He also co-developed the arc reactor with defected Soviet scientist Anton Vanko. Though the power of the arc reactor was immense, Howard saw it as the stepping stone to create a new, stable element that would render nuclear power obsolete. However, Anton saw the arc reactor as a way to get rich and when Howard found out, he had Anton deported back to Siberia. 
At that time, he met a woman called Maria with whom they had a son, Tony. Howard never showed his son any love, which Tony despised him for. However, deep down, he cared about his son, and had high hopes that Tony would someday change the world. Howard was limited by the technology of his time and could not finish the new element, so he embedded the atomic structure of the new element in the 1974 Stark Expo model, and a message to Tony in one of his old home movies, stating that he had high hopes that Tony could figure it out with the current technology and change the world. Before the film ends, Howard said that Tony was and always would be his greatest creation.

Death and Legacy
Howard and Maria were killed in a car accident on Long Island in December 1991, and their son inherited Stark Industries, becoming the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company, at age 21. After watching the 1974 message video and examining the Expo model, Tony discovered the new element, noting that his father was still teaching him even after being dead for over two decades. The new element was the key to a safer and more powerful arc reactor, which Tony needed to power the electromagnet protecting his heart without poisoning his blood, like what the palladium had been doing to him. Creating a miniature accelerator in his basement lab, Tony was able to synthesize the new element, upgrade the design of the arc reactor to clean his blood, and create the powerful new Mark VI armor.

The Avengers
Howard Stark's file is among the ones Rogers studies after his awakening in the present days, and he's obviously reported as "Deceased". Howard's past association with Captain America is referenced when Tony notes that his father talked about Cap a great deal, although Tony initially expresses doubt towards Rogers' abilities until he sees the super soldier in action.

Captain America film informatics Part 07: Peggy Carter

Margaret "Peggy" Carter was a British officer with the Strategic Scientific Reserve and Steve Rogers's World War II girlfriend.
In November 1940, she infiltrated Castle Kaufmann, the headquarters of the SS general Johann Schmidt, leader of HYDRA, Adolf Hitler's top secret science division. Disguised as a maid Eva, she freed the captured scientist Abraham Erskine and was brought into the Strategic Scientific Reserve.

While training several candidates for Project Rebirth, she came across a frail-bodied young man named Steve Rogers, who Dr. Erskine was intent on becoming the project’s first human test subject, due to his goodhearted nature and great will to serve his country. Although initially skeptical of him because of his appearance and weak health, Peggy eventually saw that Rogers was smarter and more practical than the rest of the potentials, and was often amused to see the smaller man outwit the burly recruits. She was impressed and developed respect for him when, during a test, Rogers chose to muffle a grenade with his body, not knowing it was a fake. It was this choice that inevitably led the SSR to approve Erskine’s choice to make Rogers Project Rebirth’s first test subject, and Peggy was tasked to escort Rogers to the laboratory when that time came.

After Project Rebirth proved to be a success, Peggy developed a crush on the physically-enhanced Steve Rogers, though she referred to it as "having faith in him." However, following Dr. Erskine’s murder and the loss of the last copy of the serum, Peggy went on with the S.S.R. and was separated from Rogers, who was sent to tour America and became a famous icon amongst the masses as Captain America.

Peggy was reunited with Rogers when he flew to Italy to advertise war bonds and attempt to boost morale. She was unofficially on-site at the time and soon discovered that Rogers was feeling stifled once more, wanting to use the gifts Dr. Erskine had given him to serve his country as a soldier. Their conversation was interrupted when an ambulance arrived and Peggy let slip that the injured soldiers were from the 107th, at which Rogers instantly rushed to see Colonel Chester Phillips and demand the status of his friend, Sgt. James "Bucky" Barnes. Phillips confirmed that Barnes was missing, and when Rogers learned that no rescue mission was being planned, Peggy realized he was about to do it himself. Wanting to give him a fighting chance, she helped him enter enemy territory by cajoling Howard Stark into flying them there.

Later, she entered Phillips’s tent in time to hear him declare Rogers dead, after which Philips reprimanded her for her part in Rogers’s scheme. Before he could finish, a commotion drew them both out of the tent, where they found Rogers leading the formerly HYDRA-captured troops back to base.

After his incredibly successful rescue, Rogers was drafted into the S.S.R. and began to serve in a more active capacity, putting him in close contact to Peggy, who tried to remain professional around him. Her attempt largely failed when she caught him and a female lieutenant kissing, leading her to shoot him while he was trying out a new shield. She was, however, quite pleased when a film of Rogers' efforts in the field revealed that he kept a picture of her in his compass.

Following the apparent death of his friend Bucky, Peggy found Rogers attempting to get drunk in a bar she had once found him and Barnes in. She informed him that Dr. Erskine had presumed his body processed the alcohol too fast, preventing him from his goal, then told him to respect Barnes’s choice of following him until his death.

When the S.S.R. planned for a full-frontal attack on HYDRA, Peggy went along, saving Rogers from a soldier wielding flame-throwers before reminding him to go after the Red Skull. She and Colonel Philips later appeared in Schmidt's car to help Rogers get to Schmidt's plane, The Valkyrie, which was already leaving the hangar. Before Rogers headed into the plane, Peggy gave him a kiss.

Following their defeat of the remaining HYDRA soldiers, Rogers called in, reporting that Red Skull was dead but that the plane was heading for New York with no way of stopping it. Rogers decided to put the large plane in the waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. Peggy, believing that this would result in his death, doesn't give up hope and insists on the matter, implying that there would be time for them to sort the situation out. Rogers claims that there isn't enough time and proceeds with the landing, and Peggy attempted to distract him from his impending death by setting a date with him, promising to teach him how to dance.

Peggy was recruited into S.H.I.E.L.D. by Howard Stark a few months after WW2 came to an end. She retired a few years before the events of The Avengers, and resides in London. Her niece Sharon Carter works as an agent for S.H.I.E.L.D.

Captain America film informatics Part 06: Strategic Scientific Reserve

Strategic Scientific Reserve is a top secret government agency that was founded by Howard Stark.

Howard Stark is known to have worked for the American government during World War II as part as the Manhattan Project as well as creating Captain America’s uniform and S.H.I.E.L.D. The Howling Commandos are said to have been under Captain America’s command, while Colonel Chester Phillips recruited and mentored Steve Rogers and was possibly his direct commanding officer.

To combat the new HYDRA, Howard Stark, Nick Fury, and perhaps Chester Philips and others as well reform their old department under the new name of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, better known as S.H.I.E.L.D.

Now in real life, the Office of Strategic Services was set up during World War II to coordinate and conduct espionage operations behind enemy lines. Disbanded after the war, it was later reformed into the Central Intelligence Agency.

Captain America film informatics Part 05: Super Soldier Serum

The Super Soldier Serum was developed by Weapons Plus, led by Josef Reinstein (real name Abraham Erskine) during World War II. The serum provided the subject with increased stamina, speed and strength, however the serum was only successfully used by the program once before the program was "put on ice" by the United States government, with the test subject Steve Rogers.

The serum's effect on the body is to increase the molecular density of cellular fibers (skin and muscle) through synthetic proteins, as well as a healing factor. However, the serum not only enhances the the body and mind, but also brings out and enhances what the person is. These personality traits are brought to the surface and manifest physically on the subject.


Steve Rogers. Erskine's insistence to find a "good man" is an understatement, in Steve Rogers he found someone with unquestionable moral value who only wanted to be the best he could be, and his physical transformation is a reflection of that. The originally frail and sickly Rogers was given micro-injections of the serum and then doused with "vita-rays" via a chamber constructed by Howard Stark. The serum metabolized and enhanced Rogers' strength, speed, agility, durability, reflexes and mentality. The cold tempartures of the Arctic combined with the effects of the serum on Steve's body is what kept him alive but in hibernation for decades, until he was found by S.H.I.E.L.D. in the modern era and defrosted. It is theorized that the serum dramatically slowed Rogers' aging due to extensively healthy cells, enabling him to retain his youthful appearance.


Johann Schmidt. This power-hungry Navi officer took the prototype serum, and his external transformation is that of a living Red Skull. Schmidt has always wanted to be seen as removed from the mere ordinary men around him, his appearance is a reflection of that. As a result of the formula developed by Abraham Erskine, he obtained incredible attributes, such as enhanced strength, speed, stamina and reflexes, and even got his intelligence increased, becoming a war mastermind. But the serum was still incomplete and imperfect when Schmidt hastily used it on himself. According to Erskine, because the serum wasn't ready, "good becomes great, bad becomes worse". As a result, his entire head became horribly disfigured, resembling a red skull, and his insanity and megalomania became magnified. Schmidt considered his grotesquely inhuman face as proof that he has left humanity behind and has truly 'become a god'.


In the 2000s, General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross of the US Army revived the Bio Force Enhancement Project, a secret project set-up after the relative failure of Project Rebirth. A failed attempt to reproduce the serum with added bouts of Gamma Radiation led to the accident that turned Bruce Banner into the Hulk. Five years later, Emil Blonsky, a captain in the British Royal Marines, was given low dosages of the serum. Blonsky's extra physical manifestations (protruding skeletal structure) takes a while to materialize. Blonsky underwent the first of two treatments, consisting of deep muscle and painful bone marrow shots. In his second encounter with the Hulk at Culver University, Blonsky diplayed increased speed, endurance, and agility. However as the fight went on, he became more agressive and rashly stood before the Hulk challenging him. The Hulk kicked Blonsky into a tree, shattering almost every bone in his body.


It appeared that Blonsky was near death, however he underwent a miraculous full recovery less than 24 hours later. Not only was he healed, but his muscle mass had increased, and his overall body fat decreased. His encounter with the Hulk has made him power hungry, obsessed, and desperate to obtain the Hulk's "god-like" power. After helping General Ross capture Banner, Blonsky later forced Dr.Samuel Sterns to transform him into something similar to the Hulk; Dr. Sterns reluctantly agreed to administer the gamma charge, though he warned Blonsky that the resulting mixture could lead to an abomination.
  

Due to the replacement of the vita-rays with the gamma radiation in the Hulk's blood, the serum kicked into overdrive, transforming Blonsky into The Abomination, a giant sized version of himself with a green tinge, with the external bone structure being a reflection of the tough monstrous fighter that he shows himself to be. Consequently, his strength does not increase with his anger, his healing factor works at a slower rate than the Hulk's, and he is unable to revert back to his human form.

Captain America film informatics Part 04: The Captain's arsenal

Captain Amierca's uniform
Steve Rogers wore three different costumes in the first movie.


His first costume is the classic uniform for the USO.


The second was the USO uniform accompanied by a brown leather jacket and war pants as well as a prop helmet with the letter "A", it resembled the Ultimate uniform from the 1940's.


His third costume is a mix of his Classic and Ultimate uniforms from the comics, Rogers came up with the costume's designs, which were implemented by Howard Stark. The uniform was made from carbon polymer, it offered a medium level of resistance to bullets and knives and allowed his Shield to be hooked onto the back.


In The Avengers, Rogers wears a newly constructed super suit that has a strong resemblance to the traditional Earth 616 uniform of Captain America in the comics as well as the USO uniform featured in The First Avenger. The super suit is constructed of a nomex and kevlar fiber and offers a medium level of resistance to force impacts. The suit also allows Rogers to be much more agile and flexible in combat since it is less armored weight. The uniform was designed by Phil Coulson, a huge fan of Captain America.


The new suit in the upcoming movie is a new ‘stealth’ suit — a navy blue, utilitarian-looking suit that moves fluidly. The suit would have texture and look more real world with a Kevlar-based ballistic component that would protect Captain America but at the same time function like a military black-ops uniform. It is rumored, however, that Steve will break into the Smithsonian to steal a variation of his World War II uniform in order help the Winter Soldier get his memory back.

 
Captain America's Shield
A concave disk about 2.5 feet in diameter, weighing 12 pounds painted in its familiar red-white-and-blue pattern with a five-pointed star design in its center. It was constructed by Howard Stark and made from Vibranium. The Vibranium alloy can absorb kinetic energy from impacts therefore making it nigh-indestructible. The shield is also strong enough to combat magic and mystical weapons, such as Thor's hammer Mjolnir, it can also deflect Iron Man's Repulsors. The shield's shape makes it a superb throwing weapon. It can cut through the air with minimal wind resistance. It is also able to bounce off solid objects, such as walls and floors, when struck on its edge and can be ricocheted off of multiple surfaces. There are two handles on the shield and Steve Rogers can hold onto the handles in order to utilize it in an eastern style of fighting.

Captain America film Informatics Part 03: The First Avenger

Captain Steve Grant Rogers is the only living, successful test subject of the Super Soldier Serum developed by Abraham Erskine during the Second World War. He was born on July 4, 1918. He was transformed from a sickly and frail man into the embodiment of human physiological perfection via a special serum. The patriotic super soldier was given the title of Captain America and fought against the Nazis and their associated terror group HYDRA. Rogers was frozen for nearly seventy years and awoke in the twenty-first century, where he joined the Avengers as their team leader and is currently employed for S.H.I.E.L.D. as an agent.


Rogers is in a unique class by himself. While there are various elements to him that still make him human, the serum has enabled him to be more than human. Overall, Rogers possesses remarkable strength, speed, agility, stamina/endurance, reflexes, durability and extraordinary regenerative capabilities. In addition, he is a highly trained operative, trained in various forms of hand-to-hand combat, weaponry and other skills due to his experience during WWII that still in these times makes him effective in battle. Despite his vitals being slowed, his old age and his having been frozen for almost seventy years, he is still in excellent physical condition.

Character traits
Steve Rogers has always had a noble and honest spirit, intolerant towards injustice and abuse of power. Since he's always been weak and small, he has learned on his own what true strength is, and vowed to protect defenseless people at the risk of his own life. Rogers is a proud American patriot, maintaining his American flag themed military uniform even after leaving the USO. Despite being transformed into a perfect human by the Super Soldier Serum, he maintained his original spirit and character, often being awkward and shy, even in his new shape. 


In The Avengers, Rogers seems to change a bit since his reawakening, becoming somewhat weary of this new time but still seems to be the same man as he was in the 1940s. Due to his exploits of the past, Rogers seems to naturally have a certain amount of respect given to him, even if he doesn't look for it. It is evident in Coulson who is arguably his greatest fan. Even Romanoff seems to show a great deal of respect to him, as do Fury, Banner, Barton and even Hill.

As a Super Soldier, Steve Rogers possesses peak human abilities, such as formidable strength, speed, agility, stamina, dexterity and reflexes, as well as a healing factor that prevents him from being drunk. He's a highly trained soldier and is an expert in combat. As a weapon of choice, he uses a round Vibranium shield, which can be used as a throwing weapon and is able to absorb any kind of impact. In war, Rogers uses also firearms. 


Other Abilities
Indomitable Will: Steve Rogers is an extremely dedicated person. Despite being physically weak and small he still tried to enlist in the Army, before being rejected due to his poor health and physical condition. Even after he became a "Super Soldier" instead of fighting the enemy, Steve was used to inspire the American solders. That is until he heard that the 107th battalion including Bucky where captured in a nearby HYDRA facility he went behind enemy lines and rescue them. After he rescued the imprisoned soldiers Steve was finally put into active duty. But after Bucky supposed death he went into a depression feeling that it was his fault. But after talking with Peggy and when it came down to stopping HYDRA once and for all, he found the strength to finish it. However, upon being awakening from the Arctic and finding out that the world had changed and gone on without him, he once again went into slight depression. However, due to striking a friendship with both Coulson, who is his greatest fan and Romanoff, who was friendly with him when they met on the deck of the Helicarrier, he slowly but surely started to come back around. It is only when called back to action does Rogers fully find the strength once again do what needs to be done. 

Master Combatant: Captain America has mastered numerous martial arts boxing, and maybe some other forms of martial arts. (It is more than like he probably learned from some of the members of the Howling Commandos). Nonetheless, as stated above, a combination of his strength, his shield and his training has made Steve an formidable combatant. It is unknown if he had additional training since his return, but he still shows to be an effective combatant. 

Master Shield Fighter: Over time of training and experience with his unique shield, as well as its physical properties, allow him to accomplish amazing feats with the item. Aside from bashing foes and blocking incoming attacks, he is able to throw it with nearly perfect aim. Rogers can hit multiple targets with the same throw by means of ricochet, and could even achieve a boomerang-like return effect, allowing him to strike enemies from behind or retrieve the shield without objects to ricochet from. 


Advanced Tactician and Strategist: He is an accomplished strategist. He is able to formulate battle strategies and his brilliant tactical sense allows him to alter any strategy to fit the changing need of the situation. His tactical brilliance also came into play during the Chitauri assault on New York, first in organizing first responders to protect the civilian population, and then re-deploying other members of The Avengers to best defend the city with their limited resources (even the usually anti-authoritarian Tony Stark recognizes Rogers' tactical abilities and accepts his assignment). 

Advanced Military Operator: Rogers is well-versed in all Armed force disciplines including intelligence gathering, escape arts, demolition, survival tactics, swimming, mountaineering, march or drill skills, map making, map reading, communication systems and vehicles used in armed forces. 

Expert Marksman: Rogers can throw most projectile weaponry with great aim and is well-versed in the use of firearms like the military-issued Colt 1911 or the Tommy Gun during WWII and eventually modern firearms, picking up an assault rifle and using with ease. 

Expert Vehicular driver: He is proficient in driving motorcycles and piloting various aircrafts such as one of the bomber/jet planes and the Red Skull's plane. 

Expert Sketch Artist: Rogers enjoys drawing and does so with his free time. He even adds humor and irony to his drawings as he sketched himself as a monkey in the original Captain America uniform. 

Excellent Stealthiness: Cap was able to sneak around the HYDRA base where Bucky was held and was able to sneak around the Helicarrier, regardless of the surveilliance.

Captain America film Informatics Part 02: The Past and the Present

The Past

In March 1942, Nazi officer Johann Schmidt and his men enter the town of Tønsberg in German-occupied Norway, to steal a mysterious device called the Tesseract which possesses untold powers.

Meanwhile, in New York City, Steve Rogers is rejected for World War II military recruitment four times due to various health and physical problems. While attending an exhibition of future technologies with his friend Sgt. James "Bucky" Barnes, Rogers again attempts to enlist. Overhearing Rogers' conversation with Barnes about wanting to help in the war, Dr. Abraham Erskine allows Rogers to enlist. He is recruited in the Scientific Strategic Reserve as part of a "super-soldier" experiment under Erskine, Col. Chester Phillips, and British agent Peggy Carter. Phillips is unconvinced by Erskine's claims that Rogers is the right person for the procedure, but relents after seeing Rogers commit an act of self-sacrificing bravery. The night before the treatment, Erskine reveals to Rogers that Schmidt underwent an imperfect version of the procedure and suffered permanent side-effects, and told him to promise to remain a good man.


Back in Europe, Schmidt and Dr. Arnim Zola successfully harness the energies of the Tesseract, intending to use the power to fuel Zola's inventions, mounting an offensive that will change the world. Schmidt discovered Erskine's location and dispatches an assassin to kill him. In USA, Erskine subjects Rogers to the super-soldier treatment, injecting him with a special serum and dosing him with "vita-rays". After Rogers emerges from the experiment taller and more muscular, one of the attendees kills Erskine, revealing himself to be Schmidt's assassin, Heinz Kruger. Rogers pursues and captures Kruger, but the assassin commits suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule before he can be interrogated.


With Erskine dead and his super-soldier formula seeminlgy lost, U.S. Senator Brandt has Rogers tour the nation in a colorful costume as "Captain America" to promote war bonds, rather than allow scientists to study him and attempt to rediscover the formula. In 1943, while on tour in Italy performing for active servicemen, Rogers learns that Barnes' unit was MIA in a battle against Schmidt's forces. Refusing to believe that Barnes is dead, Rogers has Carter and engineer Howard Stark fly him behind enemy lines to mount a solo rescue attempt. Rogers infiltrates the fortress of Schmidt's HYDRA organization, freeing Barnes and the other prisoners. Rogers confronts Schmidt, who removes his mask, revealing a red, skull-like visage that earned him the sobriquet "the Red Skull". Schmidt escapes and Rogers returns to base with the freed soldiers.


Rogers then recruits Barnes, Dum Dum Dugan, Gabe Jones, Jim Morita, James Montgomery Falsworth and Jacques Dernier to attack other known HYDRA bases. Stark outfits Rogers with advanced equipment, most notably a circular shield made of vibranium, a rare, near-indestructible metal. Rogers and his team successfully sabotage various HYDRA operations. The team later assaults a train carrying Zola. Zola is captured, but Barnes falls off the damaged train to his assumed death, into the icy waters. Using information extracted from Zola, the final HYDRA stronghold is located and Rogers leads an attack to stop Schmidt from using weapons of mass destruction on American cities and soon other major cities across the globe. Rogers climbs aboard Schmidt's aircraft as it takes off.


During the subsequent fight, the Tesseract's container is damaged. Schmidt physically handles the Tesseract, which incinerates him in a bright light and transports his remains into Asgard. The Tesseract falls to the floor, burning through the plane and falling to Earth. Seeing no way to land the plane without the risk of detonating its weapons, Rogers crashes it in the Arctic. Stark later recovers the Tesseract from the ocean floor, but is unable to locate Rogers or the aircraft, presuming him dead.


The Present
After seventy years, Rogers was defrosted and kept in a simulated 1940s environment to try and ease him into what was happening. Rogers awakens in the hospital room, but soon deduces from an anachronistic radio broadcast that something is amiss. He then escapes from the simulation and flees into what is revealed to be present-day Times Square in New York City, where S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury tells him he has been "asleep" for nearly 70 years. Rogers' only response is that he missed out on a dance he had promised to Peggy all those years ago.


A week after being defrosted, Steve Rogers found himself lost in a world that has moved on without him, and found it very difficult to adjust to this modern world. Nick Fury approached him with a mission to save the world. Fury informed him that the Asgardian mischief-god known as Loki had stolen the Tesseract and intended to use it to conquer and rule the Earth. Rogers wasn't thrilled to learn that HYDRA's secret weapon and power source had found its way into this era. Nevertheless, he quickly suited up as Captain America to help The Avengers defend Earth against Loki’s treachery.

After the cataclysmic events in New York with The Avengers team, Steve is living a quiet life in Washington, D.C., struggling to adjust to his new life, when he is drawn into a web of intrigue and danger to unmask a powerful but shadowy enemy that threatens to put the world at risk.

Captain America film Informatics Part 01: Intro to the films that started it all

Captain America: The First Avenger is a 2011 superhero film based on the Marvel comics superhero Captain America and the fifth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It is directed by Joe Johnston and stars Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, Hugo Weaving as Red Skull, Hayley Atwell as Rogers' love interest Peggy Carter and Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes. The film is the final prelude to the crossover film The Avengers.

Set predominantly during World War II, the film tells the story of Steve Rogers, a sickly man from Brooklyn who is transformed into super-soldier Captain America to aid in the war effort. Rogers must stop the Red Skull, Adolf Hitler's ruthless head of weaponry and the leader of an organization that intends to use an artifact called the "Tesseract" as an energy-source for world domination.


Captain America: The First Avenger premiered in Hollywood on July 19, 2011, and was released in the United States on July 22, 2011. The film became a critical and commercial success, grossing a total of $370 million worldwide. The Blu-ray and DVD were released on October 25, 2011. A sequel titled Captain America: The Winter Soldier is set for release in 2014. The sequel takes place 2 years after the events of The Avengers; here in this film Captain America and the Black Widow join forces to stop a covert enemy that is hiding in Washington, D.C.

Cast from both films
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America
Hayley Atwell as Agent Peggy Carter
Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier
Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark (flashback in 2nd movie)
Toby Jones as Dr. Arnim Zola (flashback in 2nd movie)
Samuel L Jackson as Director Nick Fury

Cast members who appeared in first film
Tommy Lee Jones as Colonel Chester Phillips
Hugo Weaving as Johann Schmidt/Red Skull
Neal McDonough as Dum Dum Dugan
Derk Luke as Gabe Jones
Kenneth Choi as Jim Morita
Bruno Ricci as Jacques Dernier
John Joseph Feild as James Montgomery Falsworth
Stanley Tucci as Dr. Abraham Erskine
Richard Armitage as Heinz Kruger
Michael Brandon as Senator Brandt

Cast members who appeared in second film
Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow
Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/The Falcon
Cobie Smoulders as Agent Maria Hill
Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter
Frank Grillo as Brock Rumlow/Crossbones
Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce
Chin Han as World Security Council member Yen
Georges St. Pierre as Georges Batroc the Leaper