10 Insane Alternate Versions Of Captain America You Won't Believe Exist

9. Secret Empire

Secret Empire Free Comic Book Day
Marvel Comics

From one evil depiction of the Captain to another now, except this particular one was ten times as controversial as his predecessor.

Tone deaf, needless, and ham-fisted in a great many ways, Marvel's Secret Empire event sought to make Captain America - one of the biggest anti-fascist symbols going, and a creation of Jewish due Joe Simon and Jack Kirby - an actual Nazi. The book, well intentioned or not, never seemed to be able to convey its message of how Cap's been misappropriated over the years, and after arriving during a period where fans felt they needed Steve most, it didn't prove to be popular in the long run.

This was largely because, for much of the comic's story, Marvel maintained that this evil version of Captain America was actually the real one, and bluntly refuted claims to the contrary. So, when it turned out that Nazi Cap was an imposter, fans groaned a collective groan and moved on to pastures new, with the real Rogers having been locked away by Kobik, the real life manifestation of the Cosmic Cube.

Needless to say, the sooner this Cap was forgotten, the better, and now the real Steve is touring America as he should, in a brilliant series penned by Atlantic reporter and Black Panther scribe Ta-Nehisi Coates.

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WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.