Captain America

As a rallying cry, you would be hard-pressed to do better than "Avengers Assemble!" It's nearly perfect, and even when you know it's coming in a comic story, those two words still manage to make you sit up straight. Using the signature call as an inspiration point for its latest statue series, Sideshow Collectibles is bringing together a quartet of the original Avengers. Things kicked off with Iron Man, but now Captain America too has joined the fight.

This Magazine Kills Fascists looks at times that comic books and superheroes have dealt with tyrannical, corrupt and outright fascist world leaders — not because we think we can find a solution, but because art can provide inspiration in the face of oppression. This week we’re looking at a Captain America story that serves up corporate corruption, Russian meddling in US elections, and out-and-out Nazis, in one unsavory package.

Nick Spencer and Jesus Saiz shook the Marvel Universe when they revealed that Steve Rogers, one of the publisher's most beloved heroes, was secretly a deep cover HYDRA agent working to undermine the Avengers and bring about a new HYDRA regime. Marvel has now provided us with a first look at the upcoming Captain America: Steve Rogers #7, which kicks off a new arc appropriately titled "Hail Hydra."

There were a ton of rumors leading up to ‘Captain America: Civil War’ that the ending would find some of the Avengers killed, especially Steve Rogers. But after all the fighting, none of the Avengers met their fate, with Rhodey as the only one sustaining a serious injury. So why did all the superheroes survive?

Avengers Academy is a hit mobile game where your favorite Marvel Comics characters are inexplicably reimagined as teenagers attending high school, and I am addicted to it. I’m not the only one, as the charming character designs and spot-on characterization of the students has millions of people playing. So why isn’t there an Avengers Academy comic?

The Marvel Cinematic Universe, now in its eighth year, has been known to kickstart a lot of otherwise unknown actors’ careers, and give some their big break while rebooting others’ careers. While Robert Downey Jr. definitely had the biggest name at the start, it wasn’t easy for Jon Favreau to convince the Marvel execs that he was right for Tony Stark, but we’re all so glad he did. Chris Evans’ only other blockbuster credit was as the Human Torch in Fox’s Fantastic Four (2005) and its ill-fated sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), but his chiseled jawline soon landed him the title role in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger.

We already know that Avengers: Infinity War will feature the biggest roster of MCU characters yet — even bigger than Captain America: Civil War, no doubt, as Marvel’s next Avengers chapter is set to deliver an epic conclusion to Phase 3 (and finally give Thanos a chance to stretch his space-legs). Now that the studio has scaled the two-parter back to one film, it’s unclear if that lineup will still be as massive as originally planned, but it looks like we know of at least a couple more characters who will return.

We’re a little over a week away from the biggest movie of the summer, Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. In less than ten years, Marvel has built a powerful brand in Hollywood thanks to their great casting, sharp writing, and an ability to distill decades of comic books down to fun, accessible adventures. A big part of that translation process is the look of their movies, and particularly the look of their characters. And that’s all about costumes, which is a particular specialty of Marvel’s. Between Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and the rest, they’ve got some sharp-dressed heroes.

Before Captain America: The First Avenger hit theaters and helped kickstart the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel had much different ideas for Cap. Namely, a comedy. Before Iron Man became a hit, the original plan was for the Captain America movie to be funny, because they didn't know if audiences could take Cap seriously. The man they wanted to direct? Jon Favreau, the man who would eventually direct the first two Iron Man movies. These are just some of the facts packed into the latest episode of You Think You Know Movies, which heads back to WWII with Captain America: The First Avenger!

Every movie set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe contains at least a couple Easter eggs (along with a cameo from famous Marvel writer Stan Lee). They’re there — if you know where to look and what to look for (it helps to have spent a lifetime reading comic books and books about comic books and watching television shows based on comic books and you get the idea). For those of you still acclimating yourself to the magical world of Marvel — and for those Marvel zombies who just want to make sure they caught everything — we’ve compiled this extensive gallery of the best and geekiest Marvel Easter eggs so far.