#long rambly feelspost ahead
I mean, I get why it happens.
Logistically because each of the Avengers will go off and have their own solo movies again they all need to be separated before they can be brought back together, so it makes sense to split the band up.
But Thor and Loki fly off to Asgard together.
Clint and Natasha wander off to undoubtedly fuck somebody’s shit up on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s behalf, together.
Tony, and his new science bro Bruce get in a convertible and drive off, together.
And like I said, I get it. It makes sense.
Uh, beer-fueled ramblings ahoy.
I’ve had this conversation at least a dozen times now with various people and apparently it’s not enough because I am STILL HAVING STEVEFEELS.
I mean, I knew going into this movie that Steve was going to be in a bad place for all the above reasons. I just thought there’d be more of a turnaround by the end of the film because he’d have his shiny new team, or at least his new friend and future bestest friend ever Tony. But noooo. Instead we get a nice little “sorry I acted like a bag of dicks the first time we met but we can totally be bros now” handshake and then Tony drives off with his new science BFF Bruce. I gather from Steve’s expression as he’s cruising off at the end that he’s a little more at peace with his situation, but there’s still a ton of pain for him to deal with, and the fact remains that he is alone.
Because none of them care about Steve Rogers, they all just care about Captain America and what he can do (or can’t do) to save the world.
ffffff can I just, THIS. Because it’s this awful cycle in the movie, of everyone seeing the legend instead of the man. The only one who doesn’t bother to be starstruck is Tony, who openly mocks him (which I honestly think is beneficial to their friendship later on because Steve just wants to be treated like anyone else, but obviously creates a number of problems in the film). The one time we see Steve’s personality poke out (“I understood that reference”) he’s met with silence and eyerolls, and frankly it’s no wonder this is the only time we see him not act like a soldier around the team; Captain America is a leader of men, but Steve Rogers? is a dork.
Being Captain America is frankly just the easier option, not just because he’s being chucked back into battle, but because SHIELD is the most familiar thing in the future. There’s structure and order and rank. He’s literally just come from a war, and now he’s being given orders and an enemy to fight. He’s given something to focus on, which he desperately needs.
There’s that scene where he’s talking to Tony and he asks “Is this the first time you’ve lost a soldier?” and Tony gets pissy about how they’re not soldiers, and doesn’t even seem to register the fact that Steve has lost men.
I have a lot - a lot - of feelings about this exchange. Because yeah, Tony’s got his own truckload of shit going on here (“we are NOT soldiers” is probably my favourite line in the entire movie) and he’s trying (badly) to deal with a kind of loss he’s never had to face and not at all registering the implications of what Steve’s saying. Steve’s choice of language is really telling - he’s talking about soldiers and laying down on wires to a guy he knows isn’t a soldier, but it’s the only thing he has. And he’s kind of screwing himself over with this, because he’s not doing anything to dispel the notion that he’s just a stuffy out of touch soldier, that he’s living legend Captain America. Not just to Tony, but to everyone.
It’s no wonder he’s on his own at the end of the film. And I know it’s necessary, I know he needs to be in order to move on to Cap 2, but it gets under my skin, the way he’s the only one who isn’t afforded the opportunity to really heal, to end the film in a better place. Steve is a guy who needs people, and he has no one.
