4 Comic Book Storylines We Want To See In ‘Captain America 3’

Just in case Marvel needs any ideas for the sequel, here are four plots from the comics that would make great movies for the Cap’n.

Captain America Runs For President

“Winter Soldier” looks like it won’t shy away from taking on some of the bigger political issues we’re facing today, as Steve Rogers has to confront some of his government’s more unethical practice that are for “the greater good.” What better way to follow that up than by having him run for President?

That’s exactly what the character considered in the 1980s storyline “War & Remembrance,” and while some other aspects of the run are a bit surreal (one of the baddies is the Captain’s old foe Baron Blood who, as his name suggests, is a vampire), elements of this storyline could function as a great commentary on our world today while retaining the fun of the comics.

Civil War
This is a storyline that’s big enough for an “Avengers” movie, but, assuming that Marvel goes ahead with the “Infinity Gauntlet” storyline (as it’s suggested they might), we figured it might be good for the Russo brothers to look at Marvel’s “Civil War” comics for the followup. When the government decides that all superheroes have to register with them, Steve Rogers decides that they’ve gone too far, and leads a group called the “Secret Avengers,” which eventually escalates into one of the biggest battles ever in the comics.

The Civil War fits in well with Captain America’s seeming struggles in “Winter Soldier” to reconcile his government’s actions with his patriotism, as in the comics, he finds himself finally working directly against his own government.

Plus, we’d get to see Iron Man fight Captain America in what would probably be one of the coolest battles ever on the silver screen.

Captain America Retires, Sort Of
Retirement isn’t a very exciting thing on paper when it comes to superheroes. Luckily, the paper I’m talking about here is the “Captain America No More,” a storyline by Mark Gruenwald from the late 1980s, and a cinematic adaptation would work like gangbusters.

Gruenwald was one of the first to actually test Steve Rogers’ patriotism, as he steps down as the titular hero. The government, keeping the star and shield (which apparently were trademarks of the United States), hires a new Captain America. Meanwhile Rogers, no longer with his signature uniform, becomes a vigilante hero known as The Captain.

Having two Captains in one universe obviously can’t end well, and Gruenwald takes this to its logical extreme, as Rogers eventually has to fight an increasingly-evil replacement Captain America, something that would be awesome to see on screen.

Like “Civil War,” this storyline is interesting because it tests the limits of Rogers’ patriotism, and shows that sometimes working for the government is not the same as fighting for one’s country.

The Death of Captain America

As the curtain slowly pulls back on “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s clear that the company is willing to take some chances. Introducing the storyline from the comics where the title character dies would perhaps be the boldest move of them all.

In the comic, the Cap is killed, and Bucky, a.k.a. the Winter Soldier, takes his place. This would be a bold move for Marvel, who up to this point have yet to kill a major superpowered character. It would be even bolder cinematically than it was in the comics, as Marvel would be replacing a known commodity and star in Chris Evans with relative newcomer Sebastian Stan, who would have to take up the shield.

Since it’s a comic book world, Marvel could simply resurrect the real Captain America if his death proved to be a bust. Still, it would be one of the biggest wrenches Marvel could throw into its own system and, if done as well as in Ed Brubaker’s run on the comics, could have phenomenal dramatic payoff.