41 Greatest Moments In The Marvel Cinematic Universe

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 40. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Batroc challenges Cap to fight without his shield

Until very recently, Batroc the Leaper was tough to take seriously in the comics. He was every French stereotype rolled into one, what with his accent, facial hair and somewhat flamboyant costume. It’s a wonder Marvel didn’t have him carry around a day-old baguette to use as a weapon.

Not so in The Winter Soldier, where former MMA champion Georges St. Pierre makes him into a credible threat that just happened to use a lot of kicks in his fighting style. And because GSP really knows how to throw some mean kicks, it looks good.

Despite that, Batroc makes a mistake when he suggests that Captain America was only getting the upper hand in their scrap because of that star-spangled shield he carries. That’s what we like to call a “tactical error.”

Steve Rogers simply takes his shield out of the equation, unstraps his helmet — because the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies are always trying to get the masks and helmets off their heroes anyway — and hands Batroc the ‘L’ anyway. Remember bad guys, Cap isn’t just handy with the shield, he’s got the Super-Soldier Serum and is one of Marvel’s top hand-to-hand combatants. Underestimate him at your own risk.

(Write-up by Nick Tylwalk, Bam Smack Pow editor)

Next: 39. A challenge for Thor? Maybe not ...