MCU: 15 greatest Captain America moments of all-time

Marvel Studios’ Captain America: The First Avengers.. Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans).. ©Marvel Studios 2011 in association with Paramount Pictures

2. Steve’s Sacrifice

Film: Captain America: The First Avenger

There is perhaps no moment more emotional in the entire MCU than Steve Rogers’ brave sacrifice in the closing moments of Captain America: The First Avenger.

Following an intense battle with the Red Skull, Cap took control of the villain’s aircraft and attempted to steer it (and its explosive contents) away from innocent civilians. In doing so, he realized that landing it could potentially set off the weapons of mass destruction that it was carrying and, as a result, he had no other choice but to crash it into the Arctic – away from civilian life.

As selfless a sacrifice as this was, what made it even more emotional was the fact that the woman of his dreams, Agent Peggy Carter, kept him company of the other end of the comms system, tearfully reminding him that he owed her a dance. He smiled and, as she spoke to him, he drove the aircraft nose-first into the ice, and we couldn’t help but shed a tear at what was undoubtedly a bittersweet conclusion to this hero’s maiden outing.

On one hand, Steve had finally achieved that purpose that a young, skinny Steve Rogers longed to achieve but it came at the cost of love, robbing him of a dance and, by extension, a life full of happiness with Peggy.

It was a powerful, heartbreaking and yet triumphant moment – and one that highlighted that Captain America is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the MCU’s purest hero.