Does MCU Captain America have Super-powers ?

[Batmannerism]

Hi Marvel people.

This is only the second thread I've started in a Marvel context (the other was about Captain Britain). I'm a hard core DC fan, but Civil War was so awesome that I'm starting to really warm to Cap.

However, I contend that in the MCU the super-soldier serum actually gives Cap superhuman strength, endurance, speed and resistance to injury. He's clearly not as strong as Spider-Man, or anywhere near as tough as Thor or Hulk, but saying he's merely peak-human seems disingenuous to me.

Anyway, in his films Cap does a bunch of stuff that even a peak-level human simply couldn't:

- he survives falls (including one down an elevator shaft) and impacts (including punches from Iron Man) unharmed and makes jumps that no human could do without breaking bones.

- he kicks people so hard they literally get airborne (sorry, even Bruce Lee couldn't make someone fly like that).

- he holds a helicopter and stops it from taking off

- he is still able to function after gunshot wounds and repulsor blasts to the chest

- he runs at super-human speeds over distances that no human could sustain.

For a human to lift the weights (Like press-slamming Iron man) Cap does he would have to have muscles like the Mountain from Game of Thrones.
.
However, I'm sure there is more than one way of looking at this. Maybe in the MCU even ordinary humans are stronger, faster and more durable than humans in the real world - it's just cbm laws of physics.

I know that in action movies there's a real trend for the hero to be nearly indestructible. In Batman and Die Hard movies like Die Hard the hero takes incredible levels of punishment but keeps going (although Cap takes even more beatings than John McClane and looks less beat up)
One thing I loved about Nolan's films is that they cut down the impossible stuff Batman can do to a minimal level and highlighted the frailty of his body (particularly during the TDKR medical exam).
In the Rocky movies Stallone takes beatings that would kill even real boxers etc, and don't get me started on Kung fu films.

So, I suppose you could say that within the context of action flicks maybe Cap is human after all....although I still think that's a stretch given his ability to shrug off injury and general level of strength.

Whether you agree or disagree with me, I'm just interested to hear what you think.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

When it comes to many feats of strength especially, and to a lesser degree pure speed and agility... You bet you patooty that MCU Cap is operating at a level above Comic Cap's Peak Human/Olympic athlete level. Look, humans can indeed do some amazing things with training and conditioning, developing skill sets and reactions and physical and mental endurance that can seem "superhuman"... But MCU Cap operates beyond that by several magnitudes.

In the comics my interpretation has been that Cap is indeed like a combination of Olympic Gymnast, Decathlete, MMA fighter, expert swordsman, free runner and marksman combined with the skills one would assume an expert in modern battlefield operations both overt and covert would have, so like an SAS, Green Beret, SEAL and Ranger, and Marine Force Recon guy all rolled into one.

On paper, all that is ABSURD of course. In his way the comic version is indeed "super powered", not tiring as other men do and having this hyper perfect human body. But that's just it. Comic Cap has a perfect "HUMAN" body with the tolerances and limits that implies I think. MCU Cap is for sure SUPER human, for sure in pure strength, but also in the construction of things like his bones and ligaments. From TFA, through to A1, A2, TWS and now CW, Cap has shown insane, beyond any human being's strength level, not to mention the timing and precision needed to pull off some of those tricks, the durability he's displayed surviving blunt force that, shield or not, would have killed a normal human being, even one in the very top of physical condition.

Frankly, I wish he was closer to the comics. Put some more limits on him when it comes to fights. One big nitpick I have with these films is this, "Everyone is kinda equal" stance. No. There are some threats that should be totally beyond some heroes. BW, Hawkeye and Cap just one shotting drones in AoU was silly to me, especially after showing the strength level those drones had. But... It is what it is. Without a doubt though, Cap in the MCU is capable of feats of pure strength and durability that by any description is super human.

 

[mace1]

Here the some info about comic captain america.

Steven Rogers

Super-Soldier Serum

In the beginning the Super-Soldier Serum increased his body to the physical peak of human potential or rather the next step in human evolution (though still a non-mutant). He is as strong, fast, durable and agile as any human could one day be - and his strength is referred to as being preternatural. His reflexes have also been increased to peak human potential and are nearly instantaneous (he is also capable of 'seeing faster' - enabling him to dodge bullets). He has run a mile in roughly a minute (approx 57 mph) and has bench-pressed 1100 pounds for reps (just as a warm up). His one-rep maximum is likely much higher. He also has uncanny accuracy, being able to hit multiple targets with a single throw of his shield, and having enough marksmanship to turn a lighter on and off through a shield throw alone.

Another major enhancement provided is the serum prevents the build-up of fatigue poisons in his muscles. This means he effectively never tires, making it possible for him to perform at his maximum ability when doing anything physical for an extraordinary length of time. However Captain America has displayed feats that would appear to be far outside the limits of a human. One of Captain America's most recent durability feats is him surviving a 200ft fall on top of a car from an airplane and suffering no discomfort. Steve's enhancement has also allowed him to survive building collapses and major explosions.

To read more open here
http://comicvine.gamespot.com/captain-america/4005-1442/

and

Steven Rogers (Earth-616)

# Enhanced Strength: Rogers' physical strength is enhanced to the very peak of human potential. Captain America had been seen bench pressing 544 kg/1,200 lbs on each side of the bar, which is consistent with his strength level, as benching is easier than military press lifting.[citation needed] This strength also extends to his legs, enabling him to leap 6mt/20ft out in a single bound and 10ft/3 meters into the air without a running start. He can snap steel handcuffs and chains, and is capable of breaking through wooden walls and steel doors with a single kick.

# Enhanced Speed: He can run at speeds of up to a mile in a minute (60 mph).

# Enhanced Durability: His bones and muscles are denser and harder and so are amplified to the highest human potential, making him very durable. He is durable enough to the point that if a person beats him with a metal bat stick, the bat would break and Rogers would show little discomfort. This is how he survived other forms of extensive punishment throughout his career such as falls from several stories like when he landed on a car from 2000 feet with no injury.

Strength level

He has been known to overhead press 800 lbs,but had also bench-pressed 1,200 lbs and curled 500 lbs. He is cited as having the strength of 10 men and had himself once stated that he has the strength of half a platoon of fighting men (around 10). The average man is capable of lifting his own body weight, around 180 lbs, so Captain America potentially could be able to lift ten times that weight. He had been referenced at least twice as having preternatural strength, but it seems to say that 1,200 pounds is his limit; however, that is still beyond that of an ordinary human.

* Classification in handbook bios reference Steve as peak human. He is often referenced as being a "Super Human", "Super Man",and even being "beyond man".

Formerly
Rogers at one time was briefly endowed with Superhuman Strength, when the Super-Soldier Serum interacted with the poison of the Viper.

Peak Human

able to lift double one's own body weight up to the 800lb level (Note: The weight of 800 lbs is the greatest amount of weight a human can lift, within the Marvel Universe, without being considered superhuman.)

Superhuman
(Note: Any character capable of lifting more than 800 lbs, in the Marvel Universe, is considered to have superhuman strength.)



800+ lbs to 2 ton range

• Captain America (Steve Rogers) - 1,200 lbs[33]

To read more open here or click link above
Steven Rogers (Earth-616) - Marvel Database - Wikia

AND

Strength Scale - Marvel Database - Wikia

 

[mace1]

This is the mcu info for captain america.
Go to
Powers and Abilities

http://marvelcinematicuniverse.wikia.com/wiki/Steve_Rogers

 

[Mike Murdock]

There's no doubt he has super abilities, imo, and nothing in the movie dialogue has ever suggested otherwise.

 

[FeedOnATreeFrog]

Huh. I had no idea that we were supposed to think that the super-soldier serum was giving him anything less than superpowers. Maybe I remember that movie wrong.

 

[SirStrangefolk]

Does MCU Captain America have Super-powers ?

He has also thrown men over a tank. And he can kick them to send them flying through the air (also including Chitauri)

He beat Bucky, who we know has enhanced strength.
He defeated many Chitauri and Ultron drones.
Although he didn't win, he held his own against both Loki and Ultron Prime (who he tossed through a concrete pillar) in combat.
I believe that had part of it not broken, he would've been able to support that car with people in it and maybe even pull it back up the bridge in Sokovia.

He "ran like 13 miles in 30 minutes", and has been shown to run well over 30 mph/50km/h on short distances (that's a lot faster than Usain Bolt).
His metabolism is so efficient he can't get drunk
He survived being frozen for all those decades.

I don't see how this is a question.

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

we already had a thread for this topic and the establishment was that yes, he is superhuman in the MCU.

 

[The Endless]

Yea movie Cap is definitely super human. No two ways about it. He's more similar to Ultimate Cap, physically, than 616 Cap.

 

[mace1]

Yea movie Cap is definitely super human. No two ways about it. He's more similar to Ultimate Cap, physically, than 616 Cap.

You know what i forgot about ultimate captain america.
616 captain america of course does have superhuman strength now,but ultimate captain america is stronger.

The mcu takes influences from the 616 and ultimate universe but at the same time the mcu is it's own thing,it's own universe.

Ultimate captain america
Steven Rogers (Earth-1610)

* Superhuman Strength: Captain America's physical strength is enhanced to superhuman levels. He is strong enough to lift at least 2-5 tons and much more if he pushes. Nick Fury stated that Steve could "bench-press a Toyota", and he has been able to perform such feats as easily stopping a 5-ton pine tree, capable of crushing Jeeps, from falling on a group of soldiers,curling 500 kg/1000 lbs, and physically bending metal with his bare hands. He has demonstrated that he is strong enough to knock out people with normal durability with as little as a tap to the head. He has also consistently shown the ability to hurt beings with Hulk-levels of durability, as well as pushed Spider-Man, who has lifted a 15 tons truck, to his limits in a shoving match.



* Superhuman Speed: Captain America can run and swim at a speed between 60-80 miles per hour with ease, and potentially more while under stress. When challenged, he's able to expedite "eight or nine blocks" within seconds and long distances far out-performing even peak human capacity.

# Superhuman Durability: Captain America's bones and muscles are far denser and harder than normal. He can withstand great impacts such such as falling from several stories,sky-diving into the water from a height of 182 meters/600 feet,or being struck by an opponent with super strength, that would severely injure or kill a normal human with little to no discomfort. Captain America's body is durable to the point that when he was being punched by a corrupt soldier in the torso, it resulted in the assailant's wrists breaking thanks to his super-dense muscles.He can also withstand the impact of a car going 128 kph/80 mph and survive it with little harm other than a sore body.He can also withstand massive explosions; this level of durability is how he survived other forms of extensive punishment throughout his career. He is also durable enough to take hits from beings with strength in class 100+ without notable injury.

To read more go to Powers and Abilities
Here.
http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Steven_Rogers_%28Earth-1610%29

 

[Batmannerism]

The point of this thread was clarification. I mean if you look up Captain America on Wikipedia and look at "powers" the first thing it says is that Cap has no superhuman powers.

While I was never a regular Cap reader, I've read a few Avengers comics over the years and I distinctly remember Cap always being described as "peak human".

Yet, in the movies he routinely does stuff that even a "peak human" could simply not do - even a human who was as strong, fast and durable as a human possibly could be .....well MCU Cap is still a level or two up from that !

Now, I must confess I didn't think much of The First Avenger, so I didn't pay incredibly close attention - but I don't remember them suggesting that the serum and rays would make Cap super-human - if they did, that's cool it's just a difference from the comics.

Personally, I have no problem with Cap having super-powers, in many ways it makes more sense - because pretending he's still human, but can still pull off those stunts is a bit ridiculous.

I love Batman, but often he pulls off near super-human feats - but is still just a normal man - and that's a bit silly. They explored Batman's flirtation with strength enhancing drugs in the "Venom"" series, which was great and confirmed that he's just a guy.

So anyway, the consensus is that Cap is actually super-human - glad to know it wasn't just me who was watching the movies and thinking "hmmmmmmm...."

 

[metaphysician]

As has been mentioned several times already, the obvious and self-evident answer from every single movie has been "yes, very much so." The fact that the comics have him as peak human is 100% irrelevant.

The only way you can possibly look at the movies and go "he might not be superhuman" is if you start from his comic status, assume it must also be true in the movies, and then bend your brain into a twisted knot of contradicting arguments in order to exclude 95% of the evidence.

 

[Batmannerism]

As has been mentioned several times already, the obvious and self-evident answer from every single movie has been "yes, very much so." The fact that the comics have him as peak human is 100% irrelevant.

The only way you can possibly look at the movies and go "he might not be superhuman" is if you start from his comic status, assume it must also be true in the movies, and then bend your brain into a twisted knot of contradicting arguments in order to exclude 95% of the evidence.

Not sure if I'd say the comics are 100% irrelevant - I mean they are the source material and the line for 50+ years is that Cap has no superpowers. Not that I'm a stickler for source material, but that's how I remember Cap.

As far as looking at the movies and thinking he's not superhuman - yeah, you're right, and that was kind of my point. You can't.

It's just that all I know of Cap is that he's "peak human" (admittedly from the comics) so I thought I'd run the superhuman thing past true Marvel fans - if true Marvel fans are straight up about Cap being superhuman then clearly it was a good decision by Marvel to make him "more human than human."

 

[Lantern Venom]

The point of this thread was clarification. I mean if you look up Captain America on Wikipedia and look at "powers" the first thing it says is that Cap has no superhuman powers.

While I was never a regular Cap reader, I've read a few Avengers comics over the years and I distinctly remember Cap always being described as "peak human".
.."

Cap was originally designed to be "only" peak, but he's performed many feats in the comics that are out of the realm of human possibility. As for MCU Cap, there have been product tie-in references that state that he has superhuman strength. The movie version of Cap is definitely powered up far beyond the superb athlete that Simon and Kirby envisioned.

 

[metaphysician]

Not sure if I'd say the comics are 100% irrelevant - I mean they are the source material and the line for 50+ years is that Cap has no superpowers. Not that I'm a stickler for source material, but that's how I remember Cap.

As far as looking at the movies and thinking he's not superhuman - yeah, you're right, and that was kind of my point. You can't.

It's just that all I know of Cap is that he's "peak human" (admittedly from the comics) so I thought I'd run the superhuman thing past true Marvel fans - if true Marvel fans are straight up about Cap being superhuman then clearly it was a good decision by Marvel to make him "more human than human."

So. . . I'm failing to see what you are asking. Are you asking whether he's superhuman in the movies, or in the comics? Because those are different questions with different answers.

 

[Batmannerism]

So. . . I'm failing to see what you are asking. Are you asking whether he's superhuman in the movies, or in the comics? Because those are different questions with different answers.

Try reading the first post, that kind of explains what the thread's about, the thread title is a clue too.

Sorry, that was sarcasm - although it was a little bit called for.

Ordinarily I enjoy your posts and find what you have to say interesting, whether I agree with it or not, but here you're either being deliberately obtuse or massively overthinking what is an extremely simple question.

That is disappointing.

 

[NotSoLongAgo]

If he can dive off a building and land on just his shield without a scratch, I'd say he's pretty superhuman.

 

[Neno_Kos]

If he can dive off a building and land on just his shield without a scratch, I'd say he's pretty superhuman.

He is superhuman just not superhuman like Spider-Man is for example. There are insane people today in the world of parkour who jumps from great heights one taller building to another smaller without practically injuring themself. I mean I want if you take that and add superserum element it's not that unimaginable. Super-solider serum did make him super-human that's for sure. Does that mean he has super-powers. I guess that's question of more what you define as super-powers. For me he practially does everything human can do on just much higher lvl where you start asking yourself he has super-powers.

Spoiler

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[Batmannerism]

He is superhuman just not superhuman like Spider-Man is for example. There are insane people today in the world of parkour who jumps from great heights one taller building to another smaller without practically injuring themself. I mean I want if you take that and add superserum element it's not that unimaginable. Super-solider serum did make him super-human that's for sure. Does that mean he has super-powers. I guess that's question of more what you define as super-powers. For me he practially does everything human can do on just much higher lvl where you start asking yourself he has super-powers.

Spoiler

[YT]dLnc0Zsm3Rc[/YT]

Interesting thought and a very good point about parkour !

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

Here's an article that believes he's roughly 10 times stronger than the strongest person alive (when it comes to "curling").

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/How-Strong-Captain-America-Has-Curl-Helicopter-130497.html

This assumes Bucky was lifting off at full force, i happen to believe Bucky was perhaps trying to keep the chopper stable and lost quite a bit of lift capacity. OR he subconsciously was concerned about his friend? In which case it would still easily be 5 times more pounds of force than world curling records.

The thing about MCU Cap is that he's unrealistically perfect at everything he does. So even if he's just as good at the parkour feats/acrobatics, martial arts, disc throwing, sprinting and displays of power that all the world record holders are, he never ever misses/falls/trips.

I'd say all that combined gives him superhuman powers. And I'd say that fact extends to the comics.

 

[marshal99]

Cap doesn't need an axe to split wood. Wonder if he's strong enough to lift up a tree from its roots.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Yeah you also have to factor in his healing and general durability. I don't know how you explain it but stuff like diving off of a SHIELD transport without a parachute... Definitely something super human about that.

 

[FACTSINAFLASH]

yea he has powers.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

The answer to the question is yes.

 

[The Caped Knight]

Cap is superhuman for sure. He he'll down a helicopter with his bare hands. DAMN STRAIGHT Cap is a BOSS!