Published Apr 18, 2026, 5:30 PM EDT
Captain America: The Winter Soldier is still one of the best MCU movies, and rewatching it gets me even more excited for Avengers: Doomsday
Captain America: The Winter Soldier is still one of the best films in the entire MCU, despite having been released over a decade ago. Released in 2014, The Winter Soldier is one of the most grounded and dynamic movies Marvel Studios has ever produced, a real game-changer that set a strong precedent for future films.
As part of our larger MCU Super Rant Rewatch series leading up to Avengers: Doomsday at the end of the year, the time has come to revisit this epic 2014 political-espionage thriller. Not only does The Winter Soldier mark a key turning point in Steve Rogers's life, but it also represents the beginning of a new creative era for the MCU under directors Joe and Anthony Russo.
Despite all the great MCU movies that have been released since, the magic of The Winter Soldier hasn’t faded in the slightest. Here’s why Captain America: The Winter Soldier still feels like peak MCU more than a decade later, as well as my biggest takeaways rewatching the movie ahead of Avengers: Doomsday.
2014's The Winter Soldier Redefined What The MCU Could Be
Following my recent rewatch of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, I once again left the movie appreciating just how different this unique sequel feels compared to the rest of the MCU.
Rather than leaning into more traditional superhero spectacle, The Winter Soldier very much embraces the tone of a political espionage thriller, especially as Steve Rogers' Captain America uncovers a major conspiracy within SHIELD with the help of Nick Fury, Black Widow, and newcomer Sam Wilson/Falcon (who's since become the MCU's new Captain America).
From the opening mission with Captain America and Black Widow recovering SHIELD agents aboard The Lumerian Star, the iconic elevator fight with secret Hydra agents embedded within the security organization, to Steve Rogers fighting the Winter Soldier himself and discovering his true identity as the brainwashed Bucky Barnes, the stakes and intensity of The Winter Soldier continue to escalate while still maintaining a deeply character-driven story.
Additionally, the reveal that Hydra had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. had a massive impact on the entirety of the MCU in the aftermath of The Winter Soldier, especially considering how it significantly affected Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. television series (which was only in its first season). After all, what happens to your show about SHIELD when Captain America just dismantled the entire organization?
Likewise, the film’s themes of surveillance, security, and the price of real freedom feel just as relevant today as they were 12 years ago (perhaps even more so).
Winter Soldier Is A Solid Blueprint For The Rest Of The Russo's Legacy Ahead of Doomsday
Looking back and seeing how far they've come since 2014, it’s quite remarkable that Anthony Russo and Joe Russo's first mark on the MCU was such a home run. Likewise, it's very much the foundation for everything they’d go on to build with their future films with Marvel Studios.
The Russos' committed focus on character-driven storytelling, while still providing massively entertaining action sequences like those in The Winter Soldier, would eventually scale up as we saw in 2016's Captain America: Civil War. Additionally, those ideas were pushed even further in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, with even larger ensemble casts and stakes.
Marvel Cinematic Universe · Character Profile Which Avenger Are You? “There was an idea… to bring together a group of remarkable people.”
🔧 Iron Man The Genius
⭐ Captain America The Soldier
⚡ Thor The God
ASSEMBLE →
01
The world is under threat. What’s your approach?
ALock myself in the lab and build something nobody’s ever seen before — tech is the answer to everything BRally the team, draw up a plan, and lead from the front — we do this together or not at all CCharge straight into the fight — I’ve faced worse on other worlds, and I’m still standing
NEXT →
02
A teammate makes a call you disagree with. What do you do?
AOverride them — I’ve already run the numbers in my head and I know I’m right BVoice my concerns clearly but respect the chain of command — trust has to go both ways CSpeak my mind loudly — if they can’t handle the truth from a warrior, that’s their problem
NEXT →
03
How do you rally a team that’s falling apart?
ARemind everyone what we’re fighting for — the mission is bigger than any one of us BCrack a joke, defuse the tension, then show them a new gadget that changes everything CTell a rousing tale of past victories — warriors fight harder when they remember glory
NEXT →
04
You have to choose between saving one person or protecting millions. What do you do?
AFind a third option — I refuse to accept a no-win scenario when there’s still time to think BSave the one person — we don’t trade lives, not ever, no matter the math CProtect the millions — a true warrior accepts the burden of hard choices
NEXT →
05
A former villain wants to join the Avengers. How do you respond?
AEveryone deserves a second chance — I’ll vouch for them if they prove they’ve changed BTrust but verify — I’ll run every background check, scan, and protocol before they get near my team CI know the road of redemption well — I’ll test their honor in combat and see what they’re truly made of
NEXT →
06
What’s your greatest flaw as a hero?
AI carry too much guilt — every failure haunts me, and I try to fix everything alone BI’m too stubborn about my principles — I’d rather break the team than compromise what’s right CI’m too confident — I underestimate threats because I’ve always been the strongest in the room
NEXT →
07
An alien army appears in the sky above a major city. What’s your first move?
ASuit up, fly in, and start analyzing their tech for weaknesses while fighting — multitask or die BEvacuate civilians first, set up a perimeter, then coordinate the counterattack from the ground CSummon the lightning, fly straight at the mothership — cut off the head and the army falls
NEXT →
08
What does being a hero mean to you?
AProtecting the realms you love — honor, duty, and standing tall when the cosmos needs a champion BUsing every ounce of your genius to leave the world safer than you found it — even if no one thanks you CStanding up for the little guy — not because you’re the strongest, but because it’s the right thing to do
REVEAL MY AVENGER →
Mission Complete Your Avenger Identity
🔧
Iron Man (Tony Stark)
“I am Iron Man.” You’re the genius who sees problems as puzzles waiting to be solved — preferably with cutting-edge tech and a healthy dose of sarcasm. People think you’re all ego and one-liners, but underneath the armor is someone who carries the weight of every life they couldn’t save. You build walls (sometimes literal ones made of titanium-gold alloy) to keep people at a distance, but when the moment comes, you’re the one willing to fly a nuke through a portal to save the world. Like Tony Stark, your greatest weapon isn’t the suit — it’s a mind that never stops working, and a heart that cares more than you’ll ever admit.
Genius Sarcastic Self-Sacrificing Visionary
⭐
Captain America (Steve Rogers)
“I can do this all day.” You’re the moral compass in a world that keeps trying to spin off its axis. When everyone else is calculating the odds, you’re already standing between the innocent and whatever’s coming, shield or no shield. People call you stubborn — you call it having principles. You believe in second chances, in the goodness of people, and in doing the right thing even when it costs you everything. Like Steve Rogers, you didn’t become a hero because of a super-soldier serum — you became one because you never learned how to back down from a fight that matters.
Principled Loyal Selfless Unyielding
⚡
Thor Odinson
“Bring me Thanos!” You’re the warrior with a heart as big as the thunder that follows you into battle. Confident, boisterous, and unshakably honorable, you light up every room (sometimes literally) and charge into danger with a grin that terrifies your enemies. But beneath the bravado is someone who’s learned humility the hard way — through loss, failure, and the slow realization that true strength isn’t about the hammer or the lightning. Like Thor, you’ve discovered that being worthy isn’t about power — it’s about who you choose to be when everything has been taken from you.
Mighty Honorable Resilient Compassionate
↻ PLAY AGAIN
One of the things that stood out to me most following this recent rewatch is just how well the Russos balance tone. Even in a smaller-scale story compared to the bigger event movies they'd go on to direct for Marvel, the Russos successfully weave humor, tension, and emotional stakes without undercutting any of them.
You can also see the early seeds of that ensemble storytelling in The Winter Soldier. Characters like Natasha Romanoff and Sam Wilson are given meaningful roles, with no characters feeling overshadowed or sidelined. The same is true for the Russos' subsequent MCU films, giving me great hope for the future with Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars on the horizon.
My Biggest Takeaways Rewatching The Winter Soldier Ahead of Avengers: Doomsday
At least from my perspective, rewatching Captain America: The Winter Soldier in our lead-up to Avengers: Doomsday makes one thing abundantly clear: the MCU is at its best when the stakes feel personal first, and epic second. Although that balance is something the franchise has occasionally lost in the years since Avengers: Endgame, I'm confident things will get back on track with the Russos' return for Doomsday and Secret Wars.
Rewatching The Winter Soldier also serves as a good reminder that Chris Evans' Steve Rogers has always played a crucial role in every MCU movie the Russos have directed. It shouldn't really come as a major surprise to anyone that the Russos wanted Rogers back for Doomsday, even if he did give up his shield and official mantle of Captain America to Sam Wilson in Endgame.
With such a massive cast and huge multiversal stakes, there's a chance that Avengers: Doomsday could lose the plot or feel far too big in scope to not really resonate as well as Infinity War or Endgame did. The same concern also exists for Secret Wars. However, The Winter Soldier proves that maintaining focus and giving individual characters their time will absolutely pay off, allowing viewers to relate to the movie's various heroes even amid world-shattering events.
Essentially, if Avengers: Doomsday can combine its inevitable massive scale with even a fraction of The Winter Soldier’s discipline and character focus, the epic MCU crossover movie releasing in December will no doubt be a major success. More than any crazy threat or unique battles between Avengers and X-Men, Doomsday will first and foremost need the same caliber of solid character-driven storytelling the Russo Brothers have always given us in the MCU ever since 2014's The Winter Soldier.
Let us know your thoughts on Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) in the comments, and be on the lookout next week for our Super Rant Rewatch of X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)! You can also check out our Super Rant: Doomsday Preppers podcast on Spotify and YouTube.
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Avengers: Doomsday
Release Date December 18, 2026
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Vanessa Kirby
Sue Storm / Invisible Woman
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Johnny Storm / Human Torch
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Ebon Moss-Bachrach
Ben Grimm / The Thing
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English (US) ·