History YMMV / CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger

* VindicatedByHistory: At the time of this film's release, while it did well enough critically and at the box office, it was largely glossed over by comics fans and casual viewers as an okay superhero movie and a stepping stone toward ''Film/TheAvengers2012'', especially in light of [[Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier its]] [[Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar sequels]] being much, much more bombastic and memorable. However, following the conclusion of the Infinity Saga and the mixed reception of entries from phase 4 with lots of criticism over the MCU's increasing reliance on CGI and plotlines that seem to care more about setting up a half-dozen other projects than telling an actual cohesive story, ''The First Avenger'' is being looked back on much more fondly for having stellar practical sets and being a tightly-written origin story that, while still setting up Cap joining the Avengers in the present day, does so while still making the audience care about his former life and friends. The iconic ending of Cap running out into modern-day New York and realizing he'll never get to have his date with Peggy, in particular, is cited as being one of the best endings to ''any'' superhero movie for so succinctly concluding the tragedy of Cap's life in the 40s with one hell of a GutPunch.

* VindicatedByHistory: At the time of this film's release, while it did well enough critically and at the box office, it was largely glossed over by comics fans and casual viewers as an okay superhero movie and a stepping stone toward ''Film/TheAvengers2012'', especially in light of [[Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier its]] [[Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar sequels]] being much, much more bombastic and memorable. However, following the conclusion of the Infinity Saga and the mixed reception of entries from phase 4 with lots of criticism over the MCU's increasing reliance on CGI and plotlines that seem to care more about setting up a half-dozen other projects than telling an actual cohesive story, ''The First Avenger'' is being looked back on much more fondly for having stellar practical sets and being a tightly-written origin story that, while still setting up Cap joining the Avengers in the present day, does so while still making the audience care about his former life and friends. The iconic ending of Cap running out into modern-day New York and realizing he'll never get to have his date with Peggy, in particular, is cited as being one of the best endings to ''any'' superhero movie for so succinctly concluding the tragedy of Cap's life with one hell of a GutPunch.

* NarmCharm: Though the Hydra salute may be silly-looking to some, others may find the it chilling anyway.

* 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]], especially considering Chris Evans was mostly previously known for boisterous JerkWithAHeartOfGold characters, but now it feels like he was born to play the Sentinel of Liberty.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Peggy's popularity might strike some newer fans as odd - since her role in the film still is as the love interest. She just happened to be played by an actress who really brought her to life and got to [[ActionGirl do some things in the film beyond pining over the hero]]. Black Widow made a striking appearance in ''Film/IronMan2'' a year earlier, but she was largely a supporting character and female superhero movies were thought to be a dead genre. This movie also came out before ''Film/TheHungerGames'' and ''{{Literature/Divergent}}'' broke out of the GirlShowGhetto. Sif in ''{{Film/Thor}}'' experienced a similar phenomenon.

** [[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 delights in the disastrous results of Dr. Abraham Erskine's SuperSoldier experiment in anticipation of [[Characters/MCUJohannSchmidt Johann Schmidt]] turning to his scientific expertise instead, all while mocking his rival over the prospect of his family being executed for his failure. 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, 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.

* VindicatedByHistory: While not considered bad by any means, making respectable bank at the box office, and having generally commended casting and acting, the film was considered fairly meh - it wasn't a megahit like ''Film/IronMan'', and it didn't have a charismatic villain like ''{{Film/Thor}}''. The action was pulpy, the plot was boiler-plate, and the villain was (admittedly intentionally) fairly one-dimensional. However, when taken in retrospect as part of the Captain America trilogy (which is generally considered to be the most cohesive of the MCU's main trilogies), part of Steve's arc across the MCU, the introduction of the Infinity Stones and HYDRA, and source of one of the MCU's greatest {{Breakout Character}}s in Peggy Carter (who got [[Series/AgentCarter her own show]]), it is now considered an excellent character piece in its own right and a key pillar of the MCU.