Captain America Discovers the 1 Weakness of a Marvel God, Making Them Beatable

Warning: Contains spoilers for Captain America #13!!Facing any deity in the Marvel Universe isn't exactly a walk in the park, yet Captain America is always up to the challenge. Since discovering his status as a Change Agent, he's been gearing up to face Death itself as Life's champion. It seems like a fight requiring insight and strategy, yet Steve makes the surprising discovery that this version of Death has a weakness to standard physical assault.

Captain America #13 by J. Michael Straczynski, Carlos Magno, Espen Grundetjern, and Joe Caramagna sets Steve Rogers and his Change Agent team up to finally confront Death, who has turned a full city of innocent civilians against them. Cap eventually makes his way to the entity, prepared to handle him while the others make it to the Front Door.

He quickly discovers that Death's immense power is dispersed too widely and further hampered by being in a mortal body for the first time in thousands of years. What should be the conflict of a lifetime quickly turns into a brawl, with Steve noting that Death "has never been in a physical fight."

Captain America Discovers That Death is Weak in a Physical Fight

Captain America #13 by J. Michael Straczynski, Carlos Magno, Espen Grundetjern, and Joe Caramagna

Since meeting Lyra and being roped into her war against her brother, Death, Steve Rogers has been recruiting Change Agents to protect all life on Earth. Essentially, he's entered a war against the very concept of death. At a glance, it seems like an impossible fight to win, but Captain America's determination makes that word meaningless, and he does what he does best - throw a punch. After spending tens of thousands of years as an incorporeal being in the Pale City, Death is ill-prepared to handle a human body as expertly as Cap can, especially with Steve being aided by Lyra's gifted rings.

Death remains distracted long enough for the Change Agents to reach the Front Door before pulling his power from the murderous civilians, but the table is tilted back in his favor too late. Steve exploiting Death's weakness in a physical fight turns out to be the perfect tactic. It may not work twice, but it is incredibly effective when it needs to be and proves that even Death isn't all-powerful if Captain America knows where to strike. He assesses the situation and sees a single opening that has a chance of working, and, in true Cap fashion, he's willing to go down fighting.

Captain America Completes His Mission to Protect Life

But Death Won’t Lose the Same Way Twice

Although Captain America manages to keep Death down long enough in order to complete the mission for Lyra, it's unlikely to be a strategy that will work twice. Steve has a window of opportunity and cleverly takes it, but the idea that Death can truly be overcome just through physical force probably won't be the case during their future encounters. It does, however, make the entity beatable in these circumstances, as he is ill-prepared for Cap's approach. He correctly surmises that it is the right call and is spot-on in believing that Death is both unaccustomed to his body and in a weakened state.

This move highlights Captain America's incredible tactical mind above all else. This time, it works out in his favor, but few people would probably think of taking the same route. Only Steve Rogers would look Death itself in the face and decide to go hand-to-hand based on a (correct) guess that it will work well enough to count. The circumstances of their fight are unusual and more firmly situated in Cap's territory than his opponents, but it still takes prowess to make that work. Captain America has discovered that Death can't win a physical fight in a human body, and manages to secure a win against a god.

Captain America #13 is available now from Marvel Comics.

Captain America

Initially debuting in 1940, Captain America is the patriotically themed superhero who has shared the title with only a few individuals. Beginning with Steve Rogers, Captain America's birth resulted from a frail man taking part in an experimental U.S. Army super-soldier trial, which imbued him with super-human abilities. The character is often depicted wielding a nigh unbreakable and aerodynamic shield made of vibranium that they use to defend and attack their foes.