If you’re like me, you’re a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Like me, it may also have been quite a while since you last saw the films that lead into Captain America: The Winter Soldier. If you lack five hours of free time to catch up by rewatching Captain America: The First Avenger and Marvel’s The Avengers, then this article is for you.
In 1942, Steve Rogers was a short, scrawny young man with strong moral fiber and determination. After being rejected from the military, scientest Dr. Erskine selected Rogers to be his test subject for the Super Soldier Syrum, transforming him into a tall muscular soldier with super strength. When Erskine was killed by a Hydra assassin immediately afterwards, Rogers was used as a moral booster instead of the super soldier he was intended to be.
While on tour, he discovered that his best friend Sgt. Bucky Barnes had gone missing in action. With the help of Howard Stark and Agent Carter, he was able to infiltrate enemy lines to save his friend, coming face-to-face with the Red Skull (a previous attempt at the Super Soldier Syrum). Stark gave Rogers his vibranium shield and Rogers lead a military mission to defeat Hydra and the Red Skull. On their mission, Bucky fell off a train and was assumed to be dead. The final battle took place on an aircraft where Hydra had acquired the tesseract. After defeating Hydra and ditching the tesseract, which fell to earth in an unknown location, Rogers’ aircraft was badly damaged and it crashed in Antarctica, lost from all civilization.
Rogers woke up in what appeared to be a hospital bed in New York City in the 1940’s, but it was actually present day and he was discovered by S.H.I.E.L.D. Without much time to cope with the time and loved ones he had lost during his missing years, earth suddenly found itself under the threat of an alien “god” named Loki.
S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury had assembled an emergency team of super heroes to defeat their new threat, pairing Rogers with Iron Man (Tony Stark, Howard’s son), Loki’s brother Thor, Bruce Banner (a failed attempt to recreate Erskine’s syrum turned him into the Hulk), and Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff). They were thrown for a loop when Loki used the tesseract to open a portal for an alien race called the chitauri to invade New York City. Rogers played a vital role in defeating the aliens and as the battle ended, the Avengers disbanded and went their seperate ways… after eating shawarma, of course.