MCU: 10 Things You Learn Rewatching Captain America: The Winter Soldier

5. It Has Something To Say

Modern Marvel was founded on the principle of mirroring "the world outside your window", and The Winter Soldier does so in a uniquely uncompromising way.

Of course, social commentary is not an alien concept to the MCU; Iron Man kicked things off with a blistering critique of the arms trade, Spider-Man: Homecoming highlighted class dynamics and corporate neglect, and Black Panther spotlighted systems of imperialism and the effects of institutionalised racism on the African diaspora. The Winter Soldier instead opts to analyse America's post-9/11 self, in particular the War on Terror and the constant battle between security and individual liberty - the liberty Steve Rogers has always fought to preserve.

Needless to say, the clandestine nature of S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't necessarily agree with Rogers, and when Nick Fury introduces him to the Agency's latest fleet of Helicarriers - ones programmed to kill targets en masse before they've even committed an offence - his disgust is evident. "This isn't freedom. This is fear," he says, setting in motion the Captain's war with America's premier espionage outfit and with it his journey away from his old identity.

Hydra's influence on S.H.I.E.L.D. also makes for a fantastic metaphor on how security (in this modern context) has steadily eroded individual freedom, and in teeing up Cap for his eventual fight with Iron Man in Civil War, Winter Soldier should be considered essential viewing.