Captain America (Earth-1610)

Captain America, born Steve Rogers, is an American hero, former soldier, and member of the Ultimates.

Biography

Origin

Steve Rogers grew up in the United States with childhood friend Bucky Barnes, and as a young man fell in love with and became engaged to Gail Richards. During World War II, he was the subject of an experiment designed to create the perfect soldier, granting him supreme strength, agility, and resilience. Dubbed "Captain America"—"Cap" for short—Rogers became a symbol of United States military might and determination, often fighting alongside Barnes, a military journalist that helped propagandize his image to the public. In 1945, Cap, Barnes, and other soldiers were sent to an Axis base in Iceland where Nazis were reportedly building a catastrophic weapon. Indeed, a hydrogen bomb was virtually completed there, and the brave and bold Captain America managed to board the bomb just as it was launched en route to the White House. As the bomb soared into the sky, Cap detonated a grenade on its hull, sending himself flying into the sea nearby and eventually destroying the bomb in midflight. Rogers sank into the freezing ocean, and for decades was believed to be dead, until he was recovered from the ice of the Arctic Ocean in 2002.

Ultimates

Captain America's frozen frame was recovered by agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., not only alive, but completely preserved and unaged. When he awoke in a hospital bed in a S.H.I.E.L.D. base in Manhattan, he was introduced to Bruce Banner, the scientist now responsible for the super-soldier serum program; Nick Fury, head of S.H.I.E.L.D.; and Tony Stark, head of Stark International. They were accompanied by several armed men. Fury cautiously informed Rogers that he had been unconscious for 57 years, which sent Cap into a rage; he reasonably believed that this was all a Nazi ruse. Easily fleeing the security detail, the remarkably fresh Captain managed to escape the building before being grabbed by Giant-Man, A.K.A. Dr. Henry Pym.

Cap was soon brought under control, and was taken around town by Fury to see how things had changed. He visited Bucky Barnes, now old and suffering from cancer, as well as married to Rogers' ex-fiancé Gail. Both were naturally overwhelmed; Bucky was overjoyed, while Gail refused to meet Steve face-to-face, ashamed of letting him see her almost 60 years older. Fury informed Rogers that all of his relatives were by now deceased, save for a niece living in Idaho. Cap was understandably distraught by his rapid and radical displacement in the world, but Fury encouraged him back to fighting shape with what made him an unstoppable force to begin with: his love of country.

The Ultimates—Giant-Man, Iron Man, and the Wasp, Janet Pym— were officially inaugurated soon after. Rogers moved back into the same apartment in which he'd lived in the 1940s, unshaken by its takeover by gangsters and junkies. He bonded with Janet, who helped him adjust to life in the 21st century. The Ultimates' first full-fledged fight as a team came against a newly retransformed Hulk: Bruce Banner had become overwhelmed with the pressure and disapproval from the public and other members of the team regarding his failure to recreate the super-soldier serum. Emotionally crippled, Banner resorted to injecting himself with a mixture of Captain America's blood and a sample of a failed serum that had transformed him into a mindless monstrosity called the Hulk before the Ultimates' formation. This time, Banner was particularly distraught over the distaste shown him by his ex-fiancé—S.H.I.E.L.D. communications director Betty Ross—and was now filled with rampant sexual frustration, manifesting as unbridled rage.

The Ultimates took the fight to the Hulk in the streets of Manhattan as he chased down Ross and her date, Freddie Prinze Jr. The four Ultimates were surprisingly joined by Thor, who had refused to join the team due to his objections to the U.S. government, but was happy to assist in saving innocents nonetheless. As Ross was evacuated by plane, Hulk chased after her with an enormous leap, but it was Wasp who nonetheless was able to deal the final blow. She flew inside of Hulk's head, crawling through his skull and stinging him in the frontal lobe in an attempt to "turn off" the Hulk persona. This had the desired effect, causing Hulk to plummet from the sky and create a crater in the Manhattan ground, transforming back into Bruce Banner. Banner was seriously hurt, but alive and grievously apologetic.

After the battle, Cap had a celebratory dinner with Iron Man and Thor. Thor maintained that he had no interest in officially aligning with the Ultimates or S.H.I.E.L.D. at large, but that he would always be available if another crisis arose. Stark revealed that he had an inoperable brain tumor, leaving him with anywhere from six months to five years to live, which had contributed to his recent shift from weapons dealer to benevolent hero. The three toasted to their success and the rest of their team, unaware that that team was taking a severe hit as they spoke.