MCU: Every Captain America Appearance Ranked Worst To Best

And so we get to the last entry on this list, 2014's The Winter Soldier, a film that saw Captain America shift from the pulpy world of The First Avenger and overtly comic book feel of The Avengers into something a bit more serious, his trust and faith in institutions like S.H.I.E.L.D. challenged with the revelation that HYDRA was still around and stronger than ever.

While The Avengers had a bit of fun with Cap's fish out of water status, The Winter Soldier truly dug its heels into that concept, showcasing a man searching for his place in a changed, colder, morally grey world he still can't quite come to terms with. And despite seeing how time had affected his own friends, whether it be the toll that Alzheimer's had taken on Peggy Carter to the discovery that Bucky was still alive and brainwashed, he found solace in new friends, like Natasha and Sam "Falcon" Wilson, that only reaffirmed that there was still good worth fighting for.

Not to mention, he himself demonstrated that his idealism, his undying light in the darkness, was still something people could get behind when he rallied S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to fight back against the HYDRA agents that had infiltrated them, something that underscored exactly why he works as a leader. No matter what he's lost, no matter what stands in front of him, he'll fight for the right thing, even if he has to go it alone, and The Winter Soldier demonstrated that in a way that cemented Cap as one of the MCU's best heroes.

Which version of Cap is your favourite? Let us know down in the comments.