Question that has been bugging me for a while

[ellid]

And proves that I am a very,very, very big geek:

Is Captain America still an active duty soldier, or a civilian seconded to SHIELD? And was he ever actually an officer, or was "Captain America" just his code-name? I remember from the comics that his cover identity was a wimpy private somewhere, but obviously that hasn't applied since he was unthawed.

This is driving me nuts and I have yet to find an answer that isn't fanon. Thank you and please do not mock me.

Comments

[spiderine.livejournal.com]

If I'm not mistaken, he was given the rank of Captain after the treatment. He was commanding officer of the Howling Commandos in WWII.

[zephre.livejournal.com]

Well, I don't think the movies have made it clear yet what his status is re: active duty, but in the Captain America film, Steve Rogers is shown wearing captain's bars on his uniform, so I think the "promotion" offered to him by the Senator is legit. When he is working with the Strategic Science Reserve (or whatever it is), it looks like he is a Captain in and out of the costume.

The only real clue about his status in the Avengers movie comes from his willingness to accept Fury's orders. I think there were scenes cut from the film that might have offered some insight, because they featured Steve in his Army uniform. I expect some of this will come up in Cap 2, since the Army is sure to want him back if they can figure out some way to get him; then again, maybe they won't, if it means they owe him 70 years' combat pay.

A lot of the fanon seems to come down on the side of Steve being a free agent now, much as he was in the comics, and that any obligation he may have had to the Army was served out by his 70 years on ice. That makes his participation in the Avengers with SHIELD a bit easier to imagine, but I expect that if the movie needs his Army connections, they can have him assigned to SHIELD but still technically in the Army.

I guess we'll see when we start getting info from Cap 2. :D

[Or did you want a comics-based answer? I can do that, too!]

[hotspurre.livejournal.com]

Now, keep in mind that I really only followed this back in the 80s and early 90s, but as far as I know the Comic Book version of Cap was not a part of the US Military after they thawed him. He was generally a free agent, almost always associated with the Avengers (though he wasn't always an active member,) which operated with government approval (usually,) but no active sanction.

I do know that in the ... 60s or early 70s, I think, he became dissilussioned with the American government and gave up the name and became "Nomad" for a little while (a title which was then taken over by a weird sort of retconned Bucky.) Then back in the 80s the government took the title and the shield "back" from him and gave it to a government-sponsored superhero (bit of a dick, really,) and IIRC he just went by "the Captain" at that time, and used a black version of his uniform. I believe he was eventually give both things back, but I wasn't reading the comic at the time.

Too much info? :) A lot of writers enjoyed playing Cap's optimism and sunny viewpoint against a darker government.