In December of 1940, America still hadn’t entered the war.
There were a lot of Americans – such as the 800,000 paying members of the America First Committee – who looked at fascists massacring their way through Europe and declared “that’s not our problem.”
Captain America was created by two poor Jewish Americans, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, with the specific intent of trying to convince Americans that entering the war was the right thing to do. It wasn’t easy – Kirby went far beyond what was expected of artists at the time, penciling the entire issue with a deadline that would have been difficult for a two-man crew to pull off.
Captain America punched Hitler right on the cover, at a time when a majority of Americans just didn’t feel like doing anything decisive against the Nazis.
Kirby and Simon faced considerable resistance for their creation, including steady hate mail and outright death threats.
Once, while Jack was in the Timely office, a call came from someone in the lobby. When Kirby answered, the caller threatened Jack with bodily harm if he showed his face. Kirby told the caller he would be right down, but by the time Jack reached street level, there was no one to be found.
Both creators enlisted after America entered the war. Kirby, as an artist, was called upon to do the extremely dangerous work of scouting ahead to draw maps. He also went on to co-create Black Panther in 1966.
They didn’t create Captain America to be an accurate depiction of America-As-It-Is. The character was meant to inspire and embolden, to show America-As-It-Should-Be.
The subject of where the Vibranium for the shield came from actually never came up for decades of comics, until it was finally addressed by Black Panther’s writer, Christopher Priest, in 2001. Priest never shied away from acknowledging America’s racism, but he also understood that Captain America represented an ideal, intended to inspire Americans to be better.
The story mixed together a “present day” discussion between Cap and T’Challa with flashbacks to when Cap met the Black Panther ruling Wakanda during World War II.
FLASHBACK:
PRESENT:
PRESENT -> FLASHBACK
PRESENT:
The Vibranium was given, freely, by one good man to another good man.
It is right to rage against the injustices done by our governments. We must call them out, and we must fight for what’s right.
But if you can’t even stand to see the symbols created to inspire people to be better, and rail against those,then you’re just confusing cynicism for realism.
Tony Stark meeting Shuri for the first time goes a little like this in my mind??
Shuri not terrified, Shuri is brave and stubborn and knows she’s smarter than Tony. But she also knows that up until now Tony’s been under the impression that he’s the smartest and he’s the best. So she’s worried, not of him turning out to be smarter, but of him being insulted by her genius.
And they meet and Shuri show’s him her work and he stay’s ridiculously quiet through most of the ordeal, only asking questions here and there. Watching her work with the sand tables as she explains each item in her lab and Tony watches closely.
And then, she stops, cause she’s shown him everything and told him what everything is and she just looks at him and waits for the ‘this is child’s play’ comment and to have to defend herself against a man who doesn’t know shit.
And slowly Tony lifts up his sunglasses and his eyes are fucking shining and his grin is huge and he looks at her like she’s the best thing to touch planet earth and he just mutters, “I’ve never had to say this, but explain that again, and slower.”
Thor steps out onto the main deck to see an assembly of both Asgardian and Sakaarian refugees awaiting their King.
Thor looks over his people and begins to walk through the crowd. His subjects part, allowing him through.
It is the antithesis of the opening coronation from the first THOR movie. The people aren’t cheering and lauding him, but rather they are smiling. Humbly bowing. Grateful.
And Thor isn’t acting arrogant. Not trying to show off any swagger. He is stately. A contemplative and dignified king.
lookashiny 