Revisit: Captain America: The First Avenger

Is it cheesy to rewatch Captain America: The First Avenger on 9/11? Maybe "cheesy" isn't the right word, but it feels a little ham-fisted. A little too on the nose for a day that none of us who experienced that day know how to "properly" mourn or handle our complex feelings.

A few weeks ago, with Doomsday on the horizon, I decided to rewatch as many Marvel movies as I could before the movie comes out. So naturally, being a stickler for the rules, I had to watch them in MCU chronology.

So that brings us to Captain America.

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

I have to admit, this movie had me missing the good ol' days when the MCU put out movies that were more serious than goofy. Back then, casting someone like Tommy Lee Jones didn't mean there was a risk they'd make him look ridiculous and cheapen his role (think Christian Bale in Thor: Love and Thunder). They made these movies as serious as one could, dealing with comic book characters, and the MCU was all the better for it.

We watched a scrawny Steve Rogers become a super soldier, never forgetting to be a better man than just a tough guy. A true embodiment of the motto "with great power comes great responsibility," not just beholden to Spider-Man.

Look at our man, locked in

There was something so simple about watching someone picked on finally stand up to the bully and get to punch some Nazis.

But something about watching it today hit me differently than usual.

When Steve tells Peggy it's his choice to put the plane in the water in order to save millions of people's lives, it reminded me of all the first responders who chose to enter the World Trade Center towers. And I'll admit, I probably cried for the first time in a long time when I saw it.

The best of the best

Obviously, one scenario is movie fiction and the other is horrifically real, but the sentiment is the same. None of the first responders worried about their own lives. Strangers' lives were at stake. Heroism wasn't the motivator; duty was.

So yeah, it might be a strange movie to put on during today's awful reminder of what evil brought to our shoreline 25 years ago. But perhaps watching a character who had been beaten down become something better and heroic instead of bitter and vengeful could give you those September 12th kind of feelings back.

Side note: the goal is also to listen to each movie soundtrack after I watch the film, which is, as the kids say, pretty banger on a day like today.