15 Years Ago, Captain America: The First Avenger Quietly Set Up Avengers: Doomsday

Published Jul 22, 2026, 9:15 PM EDT Shawn S. Lealos is an entertainment writer who is a voting member of the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle. He has written for Screen Rant, CBR, ComicBook, The Direct, The Sportster, Chud, 411mania, Renegade Cinema, Yahoo Movies, and many more. Shawn has a bachelor's degree in professional writing and a minor in film studies from the University of Oklahoma. He also has won numerous awards, including several Columbia Gold Circle Awards and an SPJ honor. He also wrote Dollar Deal: The Story of the Stephen King Dollar Baby Filmmakers, the first official book about the Dollar Baby film program. Shawn is also currently writing his first fiction novel under a pen name, based in the fantasy genre. To learn more, visit his website at shawnlealos.net. It has been 15 years since Captain America: The First Avenger arrived in theaters, and it was a risky release that helped build the Marvel Cinematic Universe into what it is today. This was the fifth MCU movie and the last before the team-up movie The Avengers put the most powerful heroes in Marvel together on one team to save the Earth from Loki and an invading alien force. At the time, Marvel was still discovering itself, and the first five movies were very different from each other. Iron Man and Iron Man 2 were pure superhero movies, The Incredible Hulk was mostly a monster movie, and Thor was a Shakespearean tragedy. That led to the release of Captain America: The First Avenger, which saw director Joe Johnston (The Rocketeer) create a World War II movie, with Cap fighting Nazis and Hydra villains to help the Allies win the war. Since that time, Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor have become the centerpieces of the MCU, and of those three heroes, Cap remains the greatest of the Avengers, the one man who fights for what his heart believes is right at all times, the least selfish member of the entire team. With the release of the Avengers: Doomsday trailer, Cap returns, despite a perfect ending in Avengers: Endgame. Captain America remains the MCU's most important hero. The MCU Took A Risk 15 Years Ago With Captain America: The First Avenger Marvel wanted to set itself apart from other superhero movies and do something different with its movies. Instead of generic comic book films where heroes fight villains in a normal setting, the MCU presented tales of gods in Asgard and then stories of soldiers fighting in World War II. With Captain America: The First Avenger, released on July 22, 2011, Marvel told a war movie story that was about Allied soldiers fighting Nazis in the 1940s. In most comic book movies, studios might have a prologue or a flashback and then move things to the present day. That isn't what happened here, as Joe Johnston brought his historical sensibilities, which he showed when directing The Rocketeer, to the Marvel universe and Captain America. It could have failed as anyone expecting a superhero movie watched a war movie, but it worked on every level. Captain America: The First Avenger has an 80% Rotten Tomatoes score, certified Fresh, and it has a 75% audience rating. Its $370.6 million box office seems low by today's standards, but it was a strong start for a franchise that hadn't become a box office juggernaut yet. However, the success all fell on the shoulders of Chris Evans, who went from a working genre actor to an A-list star and the perfect depiction of Steve Rogers for the MCU. Captain America: The First Avenger Started Marvel's Best Hero Arc MoviesStillsDb Before Captain America: The First Avenger, Chris Evans had some experience with comic book movies, appearing as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch in Fantastic Four and its sequel, Casey Jones in TMNT, Jensen in The Losers, and Lucas Lee in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. However, none of those characters prepared anyone for what Evans would bring to the MCU. Steve Rogers is a man who represents the best in everyone. Captain America doesn't just represent America. Instead, he represents what America is supposed to stand for, and he stands up for everyone, a hero who never backs down, never gives up, and who is always willing to put his own body on the line to save everyone who trusts in him. In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, he fights his own government to protect it from itself. He never gives up on Bucky, even as the Winter Soldier is trying to kill him. He fights his friend and ally Iron Man to stand up for what he believes is right in Captain America: Civil War. He fights Thanos on level ground to try to save the world. He is the one hero who is best known for never giving up when the world needs him the most. Captain America: The First Avenger Laid Seeds For Avengers: Doomsday Hype Steve Rogers' appearance in the first Avengers: Doomsday trailer was set up by his entire character journey, starting 15 years ago in Captain America: The First Avenger. In that movie, a skinny Steve Rogers is beaten up, but he stands back up and says he can do this all day and refuses to quit. In basic training, he throws himself on a grenade to save his comrades, proving his bravery. He fights the Red Skull and crashes his plane into the ocean to save the world. He fights aliens attacking Earth as a normal human and stops to save lives every chance he has. He stands against his own government, his own Avengers teammates, and even against a world-breaking alien named Thanos, and he never once backs down. When he grasps Mjölnir, proving himself worthy, and says "Avengers, assemble," he wills his allies to win. Thor says in the new trailer that the heroes of Earth need a miracle, and that is when he comes face to face with a returning Steve Rogers. When he says it can't be true, Steve calls Mjölnir to his hand and proves he is who he claims to be. The MCU heroes need a miracle, and starting with Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America has always been the miracle the world needed. Release Date July 22, 2011 Runtime 124 Minutes Director Joe Johnston Cast Captain America / Steve Rogers Writers Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely Producers Kevin Feige, Louis D'Esposito, Nigel Gostelow, Stan Lee, Alan Fine