History YMMV / CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger

** [[Creator/JennaLouiseColeman Connie]], Bucky's date at the convention, is very popular due to being played by the same actress as Clara in ''Series/DoctorWho''.

* AwardSnub: None of the cast or crew members received Academy Award nominations. While most of these snubs seem to have resulted from the absence of a "For Your Consideration..." campaign, the absence of "Star-Spangled Man" from the Best Song category might sound baffling to those who know that the Academy only nominated two songs that year[[note]]"[[WesternAnimation/{{Rio}} Real in Rio]]" and "[[Film/TheMuppets Man or Muppet]]", the latter of which won[[/note]], making the roster appear to have at least one empty slot.

** And, of course, Creator/JennaColeman, before she was more known as Melia Antiqua in ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles'' (which released in Europe a month later) or Clara on ''Series/DoctorWho''.

** "Hail Lobster."/Jordan Peterson as Red Skull [[labelnote:Explanation]]After the comics depicted a scene comparing the Red Skull to [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment controversial academic]] Jordan Peterson, fans started editing images of the Red Skull from this movie with quotes by Peterson, due to fans believing that the quotes sound like something the Red Skull would say.[[/labelnote]]

* AmericansHateTingle: Reception in Germany was mixed. Many people thought the movie was playing the CaptainPatriotic trope straight, lacking knowledge of the original comic books from the 1940s to compare it to [[note]]or even the later comics for that matter; the medium is still subject to the AnimationAgeGhetto even as of UsefulNotes/TheNewTens, and publishers were reluctant to import a CaptainGeographic in particular, not to mention that patriotism [[ValuesDissonance comes across as]] BlindObedience to modern Germans)[[/note]]. Professional critics also criticized the film's decision to portray HYDRA as a RenegadeSplinterFaction from the Nazis while ignoring real-life atrocities such as the Holocaust. That said, the film was still a box office success, and the sequels are as popular as they are elsewhere.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: The downplaying of real [[NoSwastikas swastika-bearing]] Nazis (and the real German Army) in favor of the fictional breakaway group HYDRA [[{{Bowdlerization}} to keep the film family-friendly]] is controversial, due to the way it trivializes the World War II setting, removing historical gravitas. The movie also gives the impression that MCU Cap was stuck containing HYDRA in one remote area all throughout his active [=WW2=] career, which raises a bit of FridgeLogic about how he could become an actual legendary war hero in-universe, and ''[[Film/TheAvengers2012 The Avengers]]'' just appears to {{retcon}} this by claiming Cap was in Berlin at least once before the present day. Not helped by Cap being firmly established as fighting real Nazis in the comics, where the Red Skull was also loyal to Hitler. Further not helped by being released in the same year as ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', where the Nazi element is much more prominent.

* AmericansHateTingle: Reception in Germany was mixed. Many people thought the movie was playing the CaptainPatriotic trope straight, lacking knowledge of the original comic books from the 1940s to compare it to [[note]]or even the later comics for that matter; the medium is still subject to the AnimationAgeGhetto even as of UsefulNotes/TheNewTens, and publishers were reluctant to import a CaptainGeographic in particular, not to mention that patriotism [[ValuesDissonance comes across as]] BlindObedience to modern Germans)[[/note]]. Professional critics also criticized that the antagonists aren't straight Nazis. That said, the film was still a box office success, and the sequels are as popular as they are elsewhere.

** The praise Steve gets heroic act of rescuing several P.O.W's from HYDRA's clutches feels a bit more undercut after [[Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier Isaiah Bradley]] reveals that [[spoiler:he did a similar action while he was active in the 50s, only for the government to throw him in jail and torture him for disobedience.]]
** While not exactly ''harsh'', seeing Peggy Carter decide to go to the observation deck in this film becomes much more important after [[spoiler:[[WesternAnimation/WhatIf2021 What If...?]] shows that had she not done this, Peggy herself would've been forced to take the serum and become Captain Carter instead of Steve.]]

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Power makes good men into great men. It makes bad men worse. ''[[ComesGreatResponsibility So never give bullies power!]]''

** Bucky's shout of "Let's hear it for Captain America!" can cause oscillation between laughing and cheering.

'''Instead:''' They have a Brooklyn Dodgers home game from ''1941'' playing. Even if they did not know Steve had attended it, it is a matter of public record that he was still ''living in Brooklyn'' at the time. There are some fans, though, who actually believe that the mistakes in the mock recovery room were intentional. Fury implies that it was, calling it a "party trick".\\
Colonel Philips wants to test recruits to determine who is a good candidate for his supersoldier program. \\
'''You Would Think:''' That he would look for a competent soldier.\\
'''Instead:''' He throws a fake grenade into a crowd and watches who jumps on top of it instead of throwing it away. And recruits this suicidal lunatic. \\
Colonel Philips' program has produced a single superior soldier. \\
'''You Would Think:''' he would put that soldier to good use by having him actually fight. \\
'''Instead:''' he uses that soldier to make propaganda appearances on stage, something that could be done by anyone, and completely wasts this super soldier's potential.

'''Instead:''' They have a Brooklyn Dodgers home game from ''1941'' playing. Even if they did not know Steve had attended it, it is a matter of public record that he was still ''living in Brooklyn'' at the time. There are some fans, though, who actually believe that the mistakes in the mock recovery room were intentional. Fury implies that it was, calling it a "party trick".

** A number of critics have pointed out the movie feels pretty close to a ''[[Film/TheRocketeer Rocketeer]]'' sequel compete with the same director.

** And, of course, Creator/JennaColeman, before she was more known as Melia Antiqua in ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles'' (which released in Europe a month later) or Clara on ''Series/DoctorWho''. Creator/DavidBradley, who would go on to be TheOtherDarrin for the First Doctor appears early in the movie as well.

* NightmareFuel: When Johann Schmidt rips his mask off, revealing [[BodyHorror his rather gruesome-looking true face]]. There's a good reason he is nicknamed "Red Skull".

** [[{{Ubermensch}} Johann Schmidt]], aka the [[Characters/MCURedSkull Red Skull]], is a profound {{narcissist}} who [[AGodAmI believes himself a god]] no longer [[TheUnfettered bound by humanity's rules]]. The head of [[Characters/{{MCUHYDRA}} HYDRA]], a Nazi military organization, Schmidt has turned the group into his own personal cult. He's first introduced killing the guardian of the Tesseract and ordering the entire village where it was hidden wiped out for seemingly no reason. He goes on to betray Hitler and the Nazi party to pursue his own goals and murders the three men sent to check on the status of his research. Schmidt uses the Tesseract to make fantastic new weapons for [=HYDRA=], and has [=POWs=] torturously experimented on in order to replicate Dr. Abraham Erskine's SuperSerum. Despite their fanatical devotion to [[BadBoss Schmidt]], he continually shows no concern for the welfare of his men, having them chomp cyanide pills when captured to avoid giving out information on him, executing one merely for surviving an attack on a HYDRA base, and activating the self-destruct sequence at another [=HYDRA=] base when the Allied forces overrun it, not caring that hundreds of his troops will be killed in the blast. Schmidt's ultimate plan is to use his new weapons to wipe out half the planet, bombing nearly every major city including his own capital, just so he can rule over what's left.

** [[MadScientist Dr. Arnim Zola]] debuts as a cowardly scientist who joins the Nazis so they'll fund his work. Gleefully making war machines as [[Characters/MCUHYDRALeadership part of HYDRA]], Zola deliberately lets a SuperSoldier experiment go wrong and mutate his boss Johann Schmidt into the [[Characters/MCURedSkull Red Skull]] so his rival Abraham Erskine will be blamed and his family killed. When Schmidt lets Zola in on his plot to TakeOverTheWorld, the scientist enslaves and experiments on prisoners of war to build the super weapons necessary for the scheme before betraying his boss to the Allies when it's made clear failure is inevitable. Having become a true believer in totalitarianism, [[HeelFaceMole Zola]] joins the newly-formed [[Characters/{{MCUSHIELD}} S.H.I.E.L.D.]] and goes about reforming HYDRA within its ranks, all the while masterminding global conflicts to make the people desperate for security. To do this, he abducts and [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashes]] people into being "Winter Soldier" assassins, keeping them in stasis and torturously memory wiping them between missions. All of this culminates in a plot to launch Project Insight, which will trap the world in an eternal surveillance state and give HYDRA the ability to slaughter any dissidents, with it being explicitly stated that this will lead to tens of millions of deaths.

** [[MadScientist Dr. Arnim Zola]] debuts as a cowardly scientist who joins the Nazis so they'll fund his work. Gleefully making war machines as [[Characters/MCUHYDRALeadership part of HYDRA]], Zola deliberately lets a SuperSoldier experiment go wrong and mutate his boss Johann Schmidt into the [[Characters/MCURedSkull Red Skull]] so a rival will be blamed and his family killed. When Schmidt lets Zola in on his plot to TakeOverTheWorld, the scientist enslaves and experiments on prisoners of war to build the super weapons necessary for the scheme before betraying his boss to the Allies when it's made clear failure is inevitable. Having become a true believer in totalitarianism, [[HeelFaceMole Zola]] joins the newly-formed [[Characters/{{MCUSHIELD}} S.H.I.E.L.D.]] and goes about reforming HYDRA within its ranks, all the while masterminding global conflicts to make the people desperate for security. To do this, he abducts and [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashes]] people into being "Winter Soldier" assassins, keeping them in stasis and torturously memory wiping them between missions. All of this culminates in a plot to launch Project Insight, which will trap the world in an eternal surveillance state and give HYDRA the ability to slaughter any dissidents, with it being explicitly stated that this will lead to tens of millions of deaths.

* CompleteMonster: [[{{Ubermensch}} Johann Schmidt]], aka the [[Characters/MCURedSkull Red Skull]], is a profound {{narcissist}} who [[AGodAmI believes himself a god]] no longer [[TheUnfettered bound by humanity's rules]]. The head of [[Characters/{{MCUHYDRA}} HYDRA]], a Nazi military organization, Schmidt has turned the group into his own personal cult. He's first introduced killing the guardian of the Tesseract and ordering the entire village where it was hidden wiped out for seemingly no reason. He goes on to betray Hitler and the Nazi party to pursue his own goals and murders the three men sent to check on the status of his research. Schmidt uses the Tesseract to make fantastic new weapons for [=HYDRA=], and has [=POWs=] torturously experimented on in order to replicate Dr. Abraham Erskine's SuperSerum. Despite their fanatical devotion to [[BadBoss Schmidt]], he continually shows no concern for the welfare of his men, having them chomp cyanide pills when captured to avoid giving out information on him, executing one merely for surviving an attack on a HYDRA base, and activating the self-destruct sequence at another [=HYDRA=] base when the Allied forces overrun it, not caring that hundreds of his troops will be killed in the blast. Schmidt's ultimate plan is to use his new weapons to wipe out half the planet, bombing nearly every major city including his own capital, just so he can rule over what's left.

* SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames: While rough around the edges, and saddled with a slow, uninteresting beginning, the ''VideoGame/CaptainAmericaSuperSoldier'' game clearly is more than just a meager cash-in like the ''Thor'' or ''Green Lantern'' games; it's got an imitation of the combat system from ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'' and a really huge castle full of HYDRA goons to explore. It's not quite as good as ''Arkham Asylum,'' but imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. The game was actually good enough that it informed ''The Winter Soldier''. Chris Evans and the Russos played it, and they were inspired to give Steve a more kinetic, acrobatic fighting style.

* CompleteMonster: [[BigBad Johann Schmidt]], aka the [[Characters/MCURedSkull Red Skull]], is a profound narcissist who [[AGodAmI believes himself a god]] that is no longer [[TheUnfettered bound by humanity's rules]]. The head of [[Characters/{{MCUHYDRA}} HYDRA]], a Nazi military organization, Schmidt has turned the group into his own personal cult. He's first introduced killing the guardian of the Tesseract and ordering the entire village where it was hidden wiped out for seemingly no reason. He goes on to betray Hitler and the Nazi party to pursue his own goals and murders the three men sent to check on the status of his research. Schmidt uses the Tesseract to make fantastic new weapons for [=HYDRA=], and has [=POWs=] torturously experimented on in order to replicate Dr. Erskine's SuperSerum. Despite their fanatical devotion to Schmidt, he continually shows no concern for the welfare of his men, having them chomp cyanide pills when captured to avoid giving out information on him, executing one merely for surviving an attack on a HYDRA base, and activating the self-destruct sequence at another [=HYDRA=] base when the Allied forces overrun it, not caring that hundreds of his troops will be killed in the blast. Schmidt's ultimate plan is to use his new weapons to wipe out half the planet, bombing nearly every major city including his own capital, just so he can rule over what's left.

** During the bar scene when Bucky [[FriendVersusLover is upset]] that Steve and Peggy aren't paying attention to him, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnVkj41ybnE the song playing in the background]] is one about someone (presumably female, but sung by a man) whose male beloved has left them for a dark-haired woman and [[DeathByDespair is dying of a broken heart]]. Come ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', [[spoiler:Steve leaves Bucky to go back in time to be with Peggy, which leaves Bucky noticeably heartbroken and coping poorly with his grief for a big chunk of ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'']].

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: "Star-Spangled Man With A Plan" is a legitimately good song, with epic orchestrations and homages to music in the 1940s. You can see why it helped Captain America sell war bonds. It's no surprise when you learn that Alan Menken composed it.

** Fondue took off as a UnusualEuphemism due to Steve

* LauncherOfAThousandShips: The title character himself. He's shipped with Peggy, Howard, all of his Avengers [[ShippingGoggles "love interests,"]] Bucky, every single one of the Howling Commandoes... Super-Soldier's a super-suitor.
* MemeticMutation:
--> "You just don't give up, do you?"\\
"Nope!"
** Schmidt's line '''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqkY2nCf2xU "YOU ARE FAILING!"]]''' has been getting some recognition.
** Fondue.
*** "Fondue is just cheese and bread, my friend."
** "I can do this all day."
*** "[[TearJerker/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier Please don't make me do this.]]"

** "Hail Lobster."/Jordan Peterson as Red Skull

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot:
** The downplaying of real [[NoSwastikas swastika-bearing]] Nazis (and the real German Army) in favor of the fictional breakaway group HYDRA trivializes the World War II setting, removing historical gravitas. The movie also gives the impression that MCU Cap was stuck containing HYDRA in one remote area all throughout his active [=WW2=] career, which raises a bit of FridgeLogic about how he could become an actual legendary war hero in-universe, and ''[[Film/TheAvengers2012 The Avengers]]'' just appears to {{retcon}} this by claiming Cap was in Berlin at least once before the present day. Not helped by Cap being firmly established as fighting real Nazis in the comics, where the Red Skull was also loyal to Hitler. Further not helped by being released in the same year as ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', where the Nazi element is much more prominent.
** To some, the decision to fast-forward through nearly two years of Cap's time in combat by using an action montage could be this. Some fans think that showing Cap dealing with the trauma of the war, bonding with the Howling Commandos, interacting with Bucky, and shown being a soldier would have made for a more grounded, realistic movie, and also would have built up his character and relationships more.

* WTHCastingAgency: Quite a few people even had this reaction after Evans was cast in the title role after his stint as a [[Film/FantasticFour2005 certain other Marvel Comics character]], but now it feels like he was born to play the Sentinel of Liberty.

* SuperCouple: This movie [[EnsembleDarkhorse elevated Peggy Carter]] to the level of an iconic superhero love interest on the same category as Lois Lane and Mary Jane Watson. To a serious degree, part of the reason the MCU's version of Sharon Carter was [[BaseBreakingCharacter so controversial]] was simply because [[ToughActToFollow the fans couldn't stop comparing her to Peggy.]] Despite 70 years of separation, almost twenty more movies after this one, and [[spoiler:her death from old age in ''[[Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar Civil War]]'']], it's almost impossible to argue they aren't the most popular couple in the MCU. [[spoiler:As a tacit acknowledgment of this, ''[[Film/AvengersEndgame Endgame]]'' even closes on the two of them [[EarnYourHappyEnding finally getting that dance.]]]]

* MoralTranscendenceHorizon: Despite his scrawniness, Steve Rogers is reluctantly approved by Colonel Phillips for SSR supersoldier program when he passes his SecretTestOfCharacter by protecting his teammates from a (secretly fake) grenade. In this case, having incorruptibly good morals is imperative to the program, since the supersoldier serum will amplify the user's inner nature, turning a NiceGuy into a hero or a bully into an OmnicidalManiac.