History YMMV / CaptainAmerica

** ''Truth: Red, White & Black'' is very heavy-handed with its depiction of racism in the 1940's. The actual plot, wherein we learn that the US government tested ComicBook/CaptainAmerica's [[SuperSerum Super Soldier Serum]] on a group of black soldiers, is very clearly inspired by the horrific [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_syphilis_experiment Tuskegee syphilis experiment]].
* AssPull: Cap saying "Hail Hydra." in the first issue of Nick Spencer's 2016 series and revealing that he was a HYDRA spy came right out out of nowhere.

** [[ShipToShipCombat Who's the better love interest]]: [[DatingCatwoman Diamondback]], Bernie Rosenthal, or [[ComicBook/{{Agent 13}} Sharon Carter]]?

** Not so much the character, but Bucky's actions at the end of Brubaker's run on Winter Soldier, where [[spoiler: Bucky decides that no further effort should be make to restore Natasha's lost memories of him, without asking her what she wants.]] Fans are split between hating this and ignoring it, and not minding because he did it out of love.

* EscapistCharacter: Captain America. Scrawny 4F artist from Brooklyn becomes a A1 SuperSoldier and [[TheCape the embodiment of all that is good and right about]] [[{{Eagleland}} America]].

* FanonDiscontinuity: Most fans would rather not have the Falcon being {{Retcon}}ed from a social worker into a former pimp as official canon. Same with the writers, it hardly gets mentioned at all these days. Creator/AnthonyMackie was also glad to have it ignored in his film counterpart's backstory. It ultimately became actual CanonDiscontinuity in ''All-New Captain America'' #3; see AuthorsSavingThrow. Notably, Christopher Priest in his late 1990s run in Black Panther, pointed out that there is no version of reality where Sam could even have gotten a social worker's license if any of that were true. This comment came LONG before this discontinuity was made "official".
* FandomEnragingMisconception: Calling Bucky a villain in the movie fandom. Notable because every single interview with Creator/SebastianStan includes a question like "What was it like to play a villain?" and Stan has gotten to the point where the question is visibly frustrating to him.
* FashionVictimVillain: The [[http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20051216211403/marveldatabase/images/4/4d/Heinrich_Zemo_%28Earth-616%29.jpg original Baron Zemo's costume]] was pretty god awful looking. Strangely averted with [[http://www.classicmarvelforever.com/images/baron_zemo2.gif the current Zemo's outfit]], which, despite having the same color scheme and basic style of Heinrich's, actually manages to look pretty badass.

** In Annual #8 (1986), his team-up with ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} ends with Logan refusing to SaveTheVillain of the issue and letting him fall to near death. [[WhatTheHellHero Disgusted]], Cap tells him that he will never let Wolverine into ComicBook/TheAvengers. [[ComicBook/NewAvengers Fast forward into 2005]] - and guess who is his new teammate? To be fair, Wolverine was brought on board by Iron Man, while Captain America openly opined, after Operation Galactic Storm, about how he could be so judgmental about Wolverine not being Avengers material, when half the Avengers team basically [[UnexplainedRecovery executed the living computer of the Kree Empire]].

** When John Walker was asked by Valerie Cooper to take on the mantle of Captain America after Steve Rogers abandonned it, Walker replied, "Ma'am, if Uncle Sam wanted me to be WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse, I'd do it." Creator/MarvelComics is now a subsidiary of Creator/{{Disney}}.

** Steve [[ItMakesSenseInContext once sat on]] [[http://community.livejournal.com/cabledeadpool/144700.html Deadpool's lap]]. ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} earns points for actually making Steve blush.

** They're technically both goodguys, but US Agent and Hawkeye ''really'' don't like each other[[note]]Walker is the most notably conservative-leaning superhero in comics, while Barton, though not as prominently as his AlternateCompanyEquivalent, ComicBook/GreenArrow, is very left-of-centre, not to mention Walker was forced onto the West Coast Avengers against Clint's wishes[[/note]], which makes the chemistry between them come off as this. Clint is constantly taunting Walker, while John would often watch with envy as Clint and Mockingbird made out (ostensibly because he had a crush on Bobbi, but it wasn't always specified which one he was jealous of), and nowadays begrudgingly admits he missed working with Clint.

** Captain America in general tends to have a weird case of this with how, because of the book being used as war-time propaganda and the patriotic imagery, there's a strong conservative following, leading to controversy whenever the writers pen something that is left-of-centre, or when a far-right villain shows up. One time, the Sons of the Serpent got a very sympathetic AlternateCharacterInterpretation from ''Fox News'' when reporting on the debut issue of ''Sam Wilson: Captain America'', which depicts them attacking and kidnapping illegal immigrants. One commenter even described them as "patriots". These are the same Sons of the Serpent who are literally a hate-group used as a stand-in for The Klan. Similarly, the first issue of ''United States of Captain America'' had Steve narrate how the American Dream isn't "real" for some people due to poverty or misfortune, while others use it as a justification for bigotry and abuse. Fox News equated this as "Captain America hates America". [[OlderThanTheyThink This is something that's been going on since the very first issue]], where Cap punching Hitler (at-the-time, Hitler was just the far-right fascist leader of another country, one which had a lot of sympathy from many Americans; this was before America had joined the war, and thus before the Nazis' atrocities had came to light), resulting in harassment from readers who took issue with the bold politics.

** Creator/EdBrubaker for Bucky Barnes all the way. Before he was just a fairly two-dimensional KidSidekick who died to become a CynicismCatalyst for Steve, but Brubaker's reinvention of him into the Winter Soldier gave him brand new life.

** Brubaker, on the other hand, gets props for resurrecting ComicBook/BuckyBarnes[[note]]one of three characters that have been said to never be resurrected. The other two? Uncle Ben and Jason Todd (who has since been resurrected, though...).[[/note]], and [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap turning him into a likable character]], as well as a worthy successor to the Mighty Shield after Steve's [[spoiler:temporary]] death.

** In one period, roughly coinciding with the[[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks "Dark Age"]] of comics, an insane clone of the Red Skull renounced Nazism in favor of [[StrawNihilist faux nihilism]] and generic egotistic and sadistic villainy. Out of universe, this was apparently because Marvel's editors felt [[NoSwastikas Nazism was too risqué for comics]] -- Which is sort of ironic given the [[DarkerAndEdgier decidedly family-unfriendly]] plots of this time, and how they compare to the dastardly schemes of the devotedly Nazi but otherwise rather [[PokeThePoodle PG-rated]] Silver Age Red Skull. The Skull has since recovered, and carried on with the fanatical Nazism he has demonstrated over most of his career, but to this day many (both fans and in-universe) still think that he is just a narcissistic nihilist because of this.

** Helmut Zemo renounced Nazism and even punched his father in the face via time-travel. Even before that, when he was still trying to take over the world "to save it", his politics were neutral and he ''genuinely'' just wanted to help the world, and even took a blast aimed for Steve. He genuinely seemed to love Songbird (a Jewish woman) and during his time-travel trip down his family's history, he saved the Jewish lover of one of his ancestors (and their unborn child) during a pogrom, and by the time he got to his father/WW2 he couldn't ''bare'' to listen to the Nazi spiel. But alas, despite his character development, being a (former) Nazi is all most people know about him, which lead to writers returning him to villainy in the 2010s and for many fans to decry him as an irredeemable Nazi. In-part this is somewhat made worse by the fact Neo-Nazism made a resurgence in the late-2010s, thus making the idea of a former Neo-Nazi being sympathetic detestable to people.
* OneSceneWonder: Americop. A one-off character introduced during the DorkAge arc "Fighting Chance", the character has retained a fan following due to his connection to the Marvel 2099 line (grandfather of Punisher 2099) and his cool visual look.

* SavedByTheFans: Captain America was created during UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks, and it was a huge success back then. However, his comic book was cancelled when the whole superhero genre lost popularity after the end of WWII (a crisis that only Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman survived, out of dozens and dozens of characters and titles). Superheroes eventually returned during UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks, and Marvel started a good number of new heroes. Cap "returned" in ''Strange Tales'' #114 (by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers) as a villain, and fought against the Human Torch; it turned out to be just the Acrobat wearing his costume. At the end of the issue Johnny wonders about the fate of the actual Cap, and the text made things explicit: "You guessed it! This story was really a test! To see if you too would want Captain America to return! As usual, your letters will give us the answer!". Let's just say that ''Avengers'' #4 was released some months later, and the rest, as they say, is history.

** A major problem for Bucky Barnes after he left behind the role of Captain America and returned to being the Winter Soldier. [[OnlyTheCreatorDoesItRight Only Ed Brubaker]] seemed able to write Bucky-as-the-Winter-Soldier with any depth, as after he left Bucky has mostly been written as a 90sAntiHero, when Bucky was ''actually'' a ClassicalAntiHero (as in, ''not'' a gritty asshole, just someone trying his best to be a good hero while struggling with being unsure of himself), and all the complexity and depth in his character has been left aside. While he's had a few attempts at solo books and projects, these haven't been readily supported or particularly well-advertised by Marvel, making it almost feel like they don't ''care'' for his character much. To really demonstrate matters, ''United States of Captain America'' saw both Sam and, by the end, Bucky each reclaim the Captain America mantle and sharing it (similar to the Hawkeyes and Spider-Men), but in the wake of that, while Steve and Sam now both have books launching in 2022 staring them each as Captain America, Bucky himself isn't, and is instead continuing to be written as the Winter Soldier as if USOCA didn't happen. What makes this even stranger is that Bucky's tenure as Captain America was a critical and commercial ''hit'', and in fact, the book has actually failed to meet the sales it did during his run since, making it odd that Marvel ''wouldn't'' embrace the character in this role.
** A 90s annual spent quite a lot of its time introducing readers to Bantam, a Latin-American boxer who gains superstrength and decides to go into heroing. He then proceeded to never reappear again until ''Civil War'', where he's killed off. In a flashback. For reasons that don't even make any sense. The fact he's named after and dressed like a chicken might, ''might'', have had something to do with this (Bantamweight is a classification in boxing, but still... dressed like a chicken).

** Rick Remender's run [[http://www.therainbowhub.com/why-rick-remender-needs-to-stop/ ran into a number of criticisms]], mostly relating to the portrayal of women. In particular, the relationship between Falcon and new character Jet Black was exceedingly controversial due to Jet debuting as a young teenager; she had experienced a PlotRelevantAgeUp before the relationship began, but was still drawn more or less the same way. Leading to accusations of Remender promoting statutory rape.
** The first issue of Nick Spencer's run generated an enormous backlash, to say the least. While absolutely no-one expects this to actually stick, [[spoiler: Steve going "Hail Hydra" is regarded as lazy, shock-value storytelling at best]]. [[http://panels.net/2016/05/26/on-steve-rogers-1-antisemitism-and-publicity-stunts/ At worst, it has been called an insult to Cap's creators, given the origins of MCU [=HYDRA=]]] (which is what most people will be familiar with).
** Brought up in [[http://www.cracked.com/article_18502_the-5-most-unintentionally-offensive-comic-book-characters_p2.html The 5 Most Unintentionally Offensive Comic Book Characters]], in regards to Steve Englehart's {{Retcon}} of The Falcon's origin. Basically, when Creator/StanLee and Gene Colan introduced the Falcon, he was a kindhearted young social worker who became a superhero because it was the right thing to do. After years as a dignified and mostly non-stereotyped black hero (rare [[FairForItsDay for its time]]), Falcon got hit with a massive retcon in 1975: Englehart introduced a "never-before-seen" backstory mentioned above, which suggested that Falcon had secretly been a drug-dealing pimp who had been {{brainwashed}} into becoming a superhero so that he could serve as TheMole for the Red Skull... Yikes! Fans and writers alike have ''not'' been amused by this, Falcon's supposed "mole" status was never used in any meaningful capacity. As stated above it has become CanonDiscontinuity, and was not implemented as part of Sam Wilson's backstory when he entered the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier''.
** Notably, Rick Remender, the writer of All-New Captain America, completely ignored it when he gave a [[http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=54167 brief rundown]] of Sam's origin.

** A recent miniseries by Greg Pak heavily rewrites the Skull's original origin story, which was substantially based on the real Hitler's early life, and attempts to establish him more firmly as TheSociopath, among other things showing him as a mass murderer and KnifeNut long before he became the Red Skull. Fan opinion is [[BrokenBase divided]] on whether this is a good thing.

* FanonDiscontinuity:
** Most fans would rather not have the Falcon being {{Retcon}}ed from a social worker into a former pimp as official canon.
** Same with the writers, it hardly gets mentioned at all these days. Creator/AnthonyMackie was also glad to have it ignored in his film counterpart's backstory. It ultimately became actual CanonDiscontinuity in ''All-New Captain America'' #3; see AuthorsSavingThrow. Notably, Christopher Priest in his late 1990s run in Black Panther, pointed out that there is no version of reality where Sam could even have gotten a social worker's license if any of that were true. This comment came LONG before this discontinuity was made "official".

* FoeYay:

** Because some things are OlderThanTheyThink, a storyline in the early 90s had US Agent supposedly shot and killed after replacing Steve as Cap. Soon after, the letters page was filled with various fans expressing disbelief John was actually dead. He wasn't.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: A major problem for Bucky Barnes after he left behind the role of Captain America and returned to being the Winter Soldier. [[OnlyTheCreatorDoesItRight Only Ed Brubaker]] seemed able to write Bucky-as-the-Winter-Soldier with any depth, as after he left Bucky has mostly been written as a 90sAntiHero, when Bucky was ''actually'' a ClassicalAntiHero (as in, ''not'' a gritty asshole, just someone trying his best to be a good hero while struggling with being unsure of himself), and all the complexity and depth in his character has been left aside. While he's had a few attempts at solo books and projects, these haven't been readily supported or particularly well-advertised by Marvel, making it almost feel like they don't ''care'' for his character much. To really demonstrate matters, ''United States of Captain America'' saw both Sam and, by the end, Bucky each reclaim the Captain America mantle and sharing it (similar to the Hawkeyes and Spider-Men), but in the wake of that, while Steve and Sam now both have books launching in 2022 staring them each as Captain America, Bucky himself isn't, and is instead continuing to be written as the Winter Soldier as if USOCA didn't happen. What makes this even stranger is that Bucky's tenure as Captain America was a critical and commercial ''hit'', and in fact, the book has actually failed to meet the sales it did during his run since, making it odd that Marvel ''wouldn't'' embrace the character in this role.

** Is Steve Rogers really still the hero the world needs, or just an old man whose morality and inability to morally compromise himself for "the greater good" make him a liability? ''Civil War'''s denouncement and later, the war between Cap and Iron Man in Hickman's ''Avengers'' hinged on Steve being portrayed as out of date and too pure-hearted to do whatever needs to be done, damn the consequences. Then again, as Linkara pointed out, ''Civil War'' should not really be trusted on this matter because Captain America and Iron Man are both portrayed [[OutOfCharacterMoment out of character in the event]] for the sake of plot convenience. In fact, a lot of crossover events where Cap fights other superheroes tend to portray him out of character too, so [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation make of it what you will.]] Also, to make things even more inconsistent, despite all the talk about Steve being "outdated" or "hopelessly" idealistic, his methods serve him very well. After all, he did become the leader of the Avengers and is still one of the world's greatest and most competent superheroes. Hell, the writers who try to call him out on those so-called "flaws" tend to portray him as an awesome guy who kicks ass wherever he goes.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:

** Same with the writers, it hardly gets mentioned at all these days. Creator/AnthonyMackie was also glad to have it ignored in his film counterpart's backstory. It ultimately became actual CanonDiscontinuity in ''All-New Captain America'' #3; see AuthorsSavingThrow. Notably, Christopher Priest in his late 1990s run in Black Panther, pointed out that there is no version of reality where Sam could even have gotten a social worker's license if any of that were true. This comment camee LONG before this discontinuity was made "official".

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: The original inspiration for the Red Skull? Joe Simon saw a hot fudge sundae shaped vaguely like a human torso. He had originally planned a villain called Hot Fudge until he realized the cherry looked a lot like an exposed skull. [[FromNobodyToNightmare So...]]

** Red Skull's obsession with Steve can veer into this territory. Examples include comparing their conflict to a dance, hiring atheletic young men to dress up as Captain America and fight him every morning while he is half-naked, often trying to steal Steve's costume or body, the typical OnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou archenemy supervillains often have, and catfishing Steve by pretending to be his internet girlfriend.
** Since ''Thunderbolts'', Helmut Zemo has increasingly been written as just wanting Steve to like him. His plan for World Domination? To create a means of peacefully disarming any dangerous power -be it nuclear, gamma, magic, mutant, etc- then give it to Steve as a gift. His scarred visage? Now the result of jumping in the way to save him. The moonstones give him time-travel powers so what does he do? Undo the KickTheDog moment from ''Under Siege'' and return to Steve the momentos he destroyed in front of him. These were just the ones where the writers ''weren't'' making a joke out of it.

* SavedByTheFans: Captain America was created during UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks, and it was a huge success back then. However, his comic book was cancelled when the whole superhero genre lost popularity after the end of WWII (a crisis that only Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman survived, out of dozens and dozens of characters and titles). Superheroes eventually returned during UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks, and Marvel started a good number of new heroes. Cap "returned" in ''Strange Tales'' #114 (by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers) as a villain, and fought against the Human Torch; it turned out to be just the Acrobat wearing his costume. At the end of the issue Johnny wonders about the fate of the actual Cap, and the text made things explicit: "You guessed it! This story was really a test! To see if you too would want Captain America to return! As usual, your letters will give us the answer!". Let's just say that ''Avengers'' #4 was released some months later, and the rest, as the say, is history.

* CompleteMonster: See [[Monster/MarvelComics here]].

* IncestIsRelative: Red Skull says he had his daughter Sin with a random washerwoman because the woman looked like his mother.

* LauncherOfAThousandShips: Steve has been paired off with a lot of people in canon and in fan works. The list includes [[DatingCatwoman Diamondback]], Peggy Carter, [[BirdsOfAFeather Sharon Carter]], Black Widow, Blind Al, ComicBook/ScarletWitch, Carol Danvers, The Wasp (in ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'' at least), Rogue, Bucky, Iron Man, [[CrackPairing Deadpool]], Thor, and many, ''many'' others.

* SmurfetteBreakout: Peggy Carter started as the love interest and only non-bit female character in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger''. After her popularity with fans became clear (due in no small part to her actress, Creator/HayleyAtwell), Marvel Studios has tried to include her wherever possible. Creator/JossWhedon wrote a deleted scene for her in ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'', [[Film/AgentCarter she's the subject of one of the]] ''Film/MarvelOneShots'', and she has cameos in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'', ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'', ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', and ''Film/AntMan1''. To top it off, she was given her very own television miniseries, ''Series/AgentCarter'', making her the first leading lady of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse. Even after her death in the present, no look at the past in the MCU is complete without her, and the first episode of ''WesternAnimation/WhatIf'' will focus on [[ADayInTheLimelight her getting the Super-Soldier Serum]]. She’s gonna have more appearances across the franchise than ComicBook/CaptainAmerica himself!

*** However, this story was told by an old, viciously senile Skull, casting doubts on its accuracy. It has since been [[RetCon retconned]] out of existence. He did rob the girl's father's shop, however.

* {{Anvilicious}}: A story [[ValuesResonance from 1982]], involved Cap accepting his friend Arnie Roth's non-named-but-still-transparent homosexuality, saving his partner Michael from Red Skull, and [[YouAreNotAlone telling the angsting Arnie that he is not a freak, but a kind person who deserves respect instead of being called names]]. Also crosses into [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome awesome]] ''and'' [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments heartwarming]].
* AssPull: Cap saying "[[spoiler:Hail Hydra.]]" in the first issue of Nick Spencer's 2016 series and revealing that [[spoiler: he was a HYDRA spy]] came right out out of nowhere.

* ItWasHisSled: Due to the backlash from the sudden twist that [[spoiler: Capt. America worked for Hydra the whole time]] it has become pretty well-known.

* OneSceneWonder: Americop. A one -off character introduced during the DorkAge arc "Fighting Chance", the character has retained a fan following due to his connection to the Marvel 2099 line (grandfather of Punisher 2099) and his cool visual look.

*** Americops: just normal folks doing a dangerous job and trying to bring peace to the neighborhoods of NYC, or are they fascist rent-a-thugs used by the city of New York to circumvent restrictions placed on the cops to clean the city up?

* BadassDecay: Under Brubaker, Sharon Carter has slid a fair bit closer to her Silver Age persona. She got better near the end of Brubaker's run and Warren Ellis's run in Secret Avengers.

* JerkassWoobie: Baron Helmut Zemo is an egotistical supervillain who wants to rule the world. But he is only like this because of his horrible father, who basically twisted him into continuing the Zemo legacy. His father was an abuser on top of being a ''literal'' Nazi, and he still worshiped him through all the hard times, leading to him going supervillain and his own horrible scarring. He had to learn the hard way that his father, and his lineage, consist of horrible, horrible men. All of this made his view of humankind rather low, but he still continues onward. He also genuinely believes that the world would be a better place under his rule, while constantly struggling with his morality.

%% Ultimate Captain America gets a ''lot'' of this, causing a bad case of BrokenBase.
** Fans of Helmut Zemo's later character development are... not terribly happy with the backslides he has taken since Ed Brubaker's ''Captain America'' runs, to say nothing of what Nick Spencer and Matthew Rosenberg did, discarding Helmut's MagnificentBastard tendencies in favor of more "bwa-ha-ha" style evil.

* ValuesResonance: The above-mentioned story about Steve's accepting an old friend who turns out to be gay came out in '''TheEighties'''.

* TheWoobie:
** Diamondback and [=USAgent=].

* LoveToHate: The Red Skull. Despite being a thoroughly despicable individual (variously depicted as TheSociopath, a HateSink, or a CompleteMonster, he is such a charismatic and three-dimensional villain you can't help but like him at the same time.

** Baron Zemo: Racist asshole who never changed or someone who did have an honest conversion to the side of good during the tale end of his time with the Thunderbolts and retired to live a normal life, only to be driven back to villainy out of rage-induced spite towards how Cap immediately forgave Bucky for being a murderous assassin (albeit a brainwashed one who was not in complete control over his own actions), yet never truly believed Helmut reformed?

** Fans tend to read Cap in the voice of Creator/BrianBloom (or Creator/ChrisEvans if you are a fan of the MCU). For some older fans and FightingGame enthusiasts of the 90s and early 2000s, [[VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom Cathal J. Dodd]] is another alternative.

** In universe the Red Skull is quite possibly the most hated character in the Marvel Universe; outside of it, he's widely considered to be among Marvel's greatest villains, if only for just how evil he is. Famously, in ''ComicBook/BatmanAndCaptainAmerica'', ''[[ComicBook/TheJoker the JOKER]]'' of all people [[EvenEvilHasStandards refused to have anything to do with him]] after finding out he was a genuine Nazi.
** In ''ComicBook/OriginalSin'', it becomes apparent that Bucky wasn't very well-liked by anybody other than Steve and Natasha while he was a superhero. May be a case of DependingOnTheWriter, since this isn't shown anywhere else.

** Fans of Helmut Zemo's later character development are... not terribly happy with the backslides he's taken since Ed Brubaker's ''Captain America'' runs, to say nothing of what Nick Spencer and Matthew Rosenberg did, discarding Helmut's MagnificentBastard tendencies in favor of more "bwa-ha-ha" style evil.

** Rick Remender's run [[http://www.therainbowhub.com/why-rick-remender-needs-to-stop/ ran into a number of criticisms]], mostly relating to the portrayal of women. In particular, the relationship between Falcon and new character Jet Black was exceedingly controversial due to Jet debuting as a young teenager; she had experienced a PlotRelevantAgeUp before the relationship began but was still drawn more or less the same way, leading to accusations of Remender promoting statutory rape.
** The first issue of Nick Spencer's run generated an enormous backlash, to say the least. While absolutely no-one expects this to actually stick, [[spoiler: Steve going "Hail Hydra" is regarded as lazy, shock-value storytelling at best]]. [[http://panels.net/2016/05/26/on-steve-rogers-1-antisemitism-and-publicity-stunts/ At worst, it's been called an insult to Cap's creators given the origins of MCU [=HYDRA=]]] (which is what most people will be familiar with).
** Brought up in [[http://www.cracked.com/article_18502_the-5-most-unintentionally-offensive-comic-book-characters_p2.html The 5 Most Unintentionally Offensive Comic Book Characters]], in regards to Steve Englehart's {{Retcon}} of The Falcon's origin. Basically, when Creator/StanLee and Gene Colan introduced the Falcon, he was a kindhearted young social worker who became a superhero because it was the right thing to do. After years as a dignified and mostly non-stereotyped black hero (rare [[FairForItsDay for its time]]), Falcon got hit with a massive retcon in 1975: Englehart introduced a "never-before-seen" backstory mentioned above, which suggested that Falcon had secretly been a drug-dealing pimp who had been {{brainwashed}} into becoming a superhero so that he could serve as TheMole for the Red Skull... Yikes! Fans and writers alike have ''not'' been amused by this, Falcon's supposed "mole" status was never used in any meaningful capacity, and as stated above it's become CanonDiscontinuity, and was not implemented as part of Sam Wilson's backstory when he entered the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier''.

* ReplacementScrappy: Despite the VocalMinority, which largely were not made up by Captain America fans, this was thankfully averted when Sam took up the mantle of Captain American when Steve Rogers wasn't able to continue under it. While some still would have preferred Sam keep his Falcon persona, it was largely well received by readers as Sam had been a well liked and established character who'd proven himself a competent partner to and just as moral a hero as Steve Rogers for decades. It also helped that, if Steve Rogers ''were'' taken out of action, Sam ''was'' the most logical choice to take over; Bucky was off-planet at the time and was FakingTheDead to escape a life sentence in Russia and a bunch of other charges, making him completely untouchable for the mantle. The only other choices were Hawkeye and Sharon Carter.

** Bucky wasn't outright ''despised'', but you'd be hard pressed to find Bucky fans before Brubaker came along.

* SequelDisplacement: If you use the name "Baron Zemo", you're most likely referring to Helmut, who didn't appear until nearly a decade after his father and didn't actually become Baron Zemo nearly two decades after. If you refer to Heinrich, you're going to have to specify his name to avoid confusion.

** In one period, roughly coinciding with the[[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks "Dark Age"]] of comics, an insane clone of the Red Skull renounced Nazism in favor of [[StrawNihilist faux nihilism]] and generic egotistic and sadistic villainy. Out of universe, this was apparently because Marvel's editors felt [[NoSwastikas Nazism was too risqué for comics]] -- Which is sort of ironic given the [[DarkerAndEdgier decidedly family-unfriendly]] plots of this time, and how they compare to the dastardly schemes of the devotedly Nazi but otherwise rather [[PokeThePoodle PG-rated]] Silver Age Red Skull. The Skull has since recovered, and carried on with the fanatical Nazism he has demonstrated over most of his career, but to this day many (both fans and in-universe) still think he's just a narcissistic nihilist because of this.
** Nowadays, Sharon Carter tends to be almost exclusively known as [[ComicBook/TheDeathOfCaptainAmerica the woman who killed Captain America]], even if [[spoiler:she did it while under mind control.]] She's also become infamous to some of Captain America's fans for shooting D-Man and Ian Zola.
* OneSceneWonder: Americop. A one off character introduced during the DorkAge arc "Fighting Chance", the character has retained a fan following due to his connection to the Marvel 2099 line (grandfather of Punisher 2099) and his cool visual look.

* LoveToHate: The Red Skull. Despite being a thoroughly despicable individual (variously depicted as [[TheSociopath]], the [[HateSink]], or a [[CompleteMonster]], he is such a charismatic and three-dimensional villain you can't help but like him at the same time.

* MorePopularReplacement: Helmut is far more popular and well-liked by the fanbase than Heinrich, due to having actual depth and values while just being a cooler villain. It helps that he's completely abandoned the idea of Nazism, making him much easier to like as well. Heinrich, though important to the lore of Marvel, is often considered to be a second-rate ComicBook/RedSkull (in fact, that was why he was made -- to fill the role of Red Skull until Lee/Kirby decided to just bring Red Skull back), has no redeeming traits, and is every bit as evil as a mad Nazi scientist is expected to be.

** Brubaker, on the other hand, gets props for resurrecting ComicBook/BuckyBarnes[[note]]one of three characters that have been said to never be resurrected. The other two? Uncle Ben and Jason Todd (who's since been resurrected, though...).[[/note]], and [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap turning him into a likable character]], as well as a worthy successor to the Mighty Shield after Steve's [[spoiler:temporary]] death.
** Viper was created by Creator/JimSteranko in 1969, and first used in a Captain America storyline written by Stan Lee. The storyline involved "Captain America" vol. 1 #110-113 (February-May, 1969), and Viper gets killed in the finale. Neither Steranko, nor Lee ever used the character again, and the story is not considered particularly memorable. Viper returned and got improved characterization and more of a spotlight in the 1970s. Most of the key Viper-related stories of the 1970s to 1990s, considered to be her best moments, have been written by either Steve Englehart, J.M. [=DeMatteis=], or Mark Gruenwald. They each have had more to do with her characterization and enduring popularity as a character than Steranko.

* LoveToHate: The Red Skull. Despite being a [[TheSociopath throughly]] [[HateSink despicable]] [[CompleteMonster individual]], he is such a charismatic and three-dimensional villain you can't help but like him at the same time.
* MagnificentBastard: Baron Helmut Zemo, heir to the deplorable [[NaziNobleman Heinrich Zemo]], eventually rejects his father's fascist ideology. One of captain America's greatest enemies, Zemo led a near perfect defeat of ComicBook/TheAvengers in the ''ComicBook/UnderSiege'' arc, ending by engaging Captain America himself and coming close to victory. Constantly returning with daring new schemes, Zemo even kidnapped abused and neglected children to give them a loving home with himself and his wife, and later formed the ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}} as heroes specifically to give them cover for more villainous activities. Eventually deciding to save the world by conquering it, Zemo returns time and time again, sometimes as a deadly enemy and other times ready to defeat more evil villains than he himself, proclaiming he could never harm a world he works so hard to save.

** Red Skull's obsession with Steve can veer into this territory. Examples include comparing their conflict to a dance, hiring atheletic young men to dress up as Captain America and fight him every morning while he's half-naked, often trying to steal Steve's costume or body, the typical OnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou archenemy supervillains often have, and catfishing Steve by pretending to be his internet girlfriend.
* ItWasHisSled: Due to the backlash from the sudden twist that [[spoiler: Capt. America worked for Hydra the whole time]] it's become pretty well-known.

* JerkassWoobie: Baron Helmut Zemo an egotistical supervillain who wants to rule the world, but he's only like this because of his horrible father, who basically twisted him into continuing the Zemo legacy. His father was an abuser on top of being a ''literal'' Nazi, and he still worshiped him through all the hard times, leading to him going supervillain and his own horrible scarring. He had to learn the hard way that his father, and his lineage, consist of horrible, horrible men. All of this made his view of humankind as being rather low, but he still continues onward. He also genuinely believes that the world would be a better place under his rule and is constantly struggling with his morality.
** Porcupine, a total ButtMonkey who's treated like a joke by both superheroes and his fellow villains.
** Sin has hints of this. Yeah, she's a complete psychopath and murderer, but how else was she going to turn out with a bastard like Red Skull as her dad? He's so abusive to her that even ''[[AxCrazy Crossbones]]'' [[EvenEvilHasStandards is made uncomfortable by it]].
* LauncherOfAThousandShips: Steve's been paired off with a lot of people in canon and in fan works. The list includes [[DatingCatwoman Diamondback]], Peggy Carter, [[BirdsOfAFeather Sharon Carter]], Black Widow, Blind Al, ComicBook/ScarletWitch, Carol Danvers, The Wasp (in ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'' at least), Rogue, Bucky, Iron Man, [[CrackPairing Deadpool]], Thor, and many, ''many'' others.

** Same with the writers, it hardly gets mentioned at all these days. Creator/AnthonyMackie was also glad to have it ignored in his film counterpart's backstory. It ultimately became actual CanonDiscontinuity in ''All-New Captain America'' #3; see AuthorsSavingThrow. Notably, Christopher Priest pointed out that there's no version of reality where Sam could even have gotten a social worker's license if any of that were true in his Black Panther run in the late 90s, LONG before this was made "official".

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: The original inspiration for the Red Skull? Joe Simon saw a hot fudge sundae shaped vaguely like a human torso. He'd originally planned a villain called Hot Fudge until he realized the cherry looked a lot like an exposed skull. [[FromNobodyToNightmare So...]]

** Baron Helmut Zemo isn't the most prominent or dangerous villain in the entirety of Marvel (what with him being a BadassNormal in a world of superpowers), but his charm, cool appearance, sympathetic backstory and ability to play XanatosSpeedChess often have fans happy to see him. Case in point: the crowd at San Diego Comic-Con 2019 reportedly went ''wild'' when it was confirmed that his Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse counterpart would become Baron Zemo, complete with his actor Creator/DanielBruhl putting on the iconic purple mask.

** Sometime around the 1990s, the Red Skull openly denounced Nazism, supposedly because it was getting old-fashioned: In the future, he'd be a [[WereStillRelevantDammit much more dynamic]] villain. In other words, the guy who had previously spent most of his adult life fighting fanatically for Hitler's dream suddenly and for little reason threw it all away, in order to indulge in pure, sadistic ForTheEvulz villainy. Later characterizations have since reverted to the Nazi Skull, though there's still considerable [[DependingOnTheWriter flip-flopping]] on whether he's ''primarily'' a Nazi TautologicalTemplar or merely a [[TheCaligula crazy sadist scumbag]] who likes PuttingOnTheReich.