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

5. It Has Something To Say

Captain America The Winter Soldier Nick Fury
Marvel Studios

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.

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Content Producer/Presenter

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.