12 Reasons Captain America Makes The Best Standalone Marvel Movies
9. The Love Interests Dont Overstay Their Welcome
The heroes love interest is a trope that, like super-power villains, isn't actually necessary in crafting a good story (along with super-powered villains). Not resigned to one genre, but blockbusters in general, whenever a film with a twist on the cliché comes along (we thank you, Christopher Nolan) it's refreshing. But we'll settle with merely downplaying it. In The First Avenger Peggy was given actual character, which helped, but what made her palatable was that Steve (and the film) wasn't as bothered with her as he was with best bro Bucky. That's nothing compared to what The Winter Soldier pulls though. In the comics the sister of Peggy, the implication is that Agent 13, tasked with keeping an eye on an time-adjusting Cap, is a granddaughter/niece to the original's romance. But instead of bigging that up the film keeps her story permanently on the back-burner (probably because a sequel was highly likely), sowing seeds of romance instead of going for love at first sight. Compare this with Tony Stark's inconsistent relationship with Pepper Potts or the unbelievably contrived Jane Foster (played by contractual force by a reluctant Natalie Portman) and it's a nice change of pace.
