2 remarkable quotes from Captain America #9

The following article contains spoilers for Chip Zdarsky’s Captain America #9

“But what’s done is done. The pressing thing is the weapons. We have our mission, and we need to see it through or even more people will die. You’re all soldiers, you understand this. Steve Rogers is used to doing what he wants no matter what kind of mess he leaves behind.”

-Nick Fury Junior

During the clandestine mission into Latveria featuring Captain America and rogue mercenaries led by Nick Fury Junior and his new S.H.I.E.L.D, Cap discovered a mass grave of civilians created by Salvation, the successor of Victor Von Doom. The original mission was to find the remnants of Doom’s weapons of mass destruction. Instead, Cap found a grim human rights violation based on the suppression of outspoken opinions. 

Cap pivots the mission, going rogue alongside freedom fighters to take Salvation down. He invites his S.H.I.E.L.D teammates to join him. Thus, the quote features Nick Fury’s attempts to talk them down.

In it, he showcases how S.H.I.E.L.D and similar organizations value the mission over human rights violations, giving greater precedence to the weapons than the country’s oppression. Fury follows through by reminding the team of their lives as soldiers, a subtle way of maintaining a “Follow orders with no questions asked” discipline.

At the end, the contrast between Captain America and the other soldiers is displayed. Cap will do what he feels is right regardless of the political atmosphere, making him less of a regular soldier and more of a captain. And that is why he remains the one to constantly bring change inside the Marvel universe.  

“This isn’t just your fight—this is a fight that needs all good people of Latveria to stand as one. I’ll march by your side. I’ll risk my life like any Latverian, but I can’t be your voice. This call to action needs to come from a Latverian. One who stands up for them, who they’ll believe when they tell them that freedom needs fighters.”

-Captain America to Alina Von Doom

Captain America has no problem fighting the war of another country, as long as he believes it to be morally sound. Hence, this is the case when he prepares to overthrow Salvation alongside the Latverian people.

But being alongside political and public figures for so long, Cap understands the scope better than most. He is a symbol, but he can’t be the figurehead for the Latverian people. It needs a Latverian figurehead, and he chooses Alina Von Doom, the leader of a humanitarian and peaceful organization.

Cap understands the value of speeches, and he understands that a fight is necessary in this scenario for actual change to be substantial. Hence, Cap puts the battery in Alina’s back, knowing the gravity and reasoning of the fight is elevated when even a peaceful leader advocates for it.