Steve Rogers is a hero; Captain America is a symbol of justice and freedom. He aims to do everything to the best of his ability and live up to his strong ethical code. It's kind of hard to believe that some might consider him an anti-hero—a villain, even.
Why would anyone think that? Well, it has to do with Avengers: Infinity War. In the movie, as Thanos and his children are hunting the stones, Rogers makes the call to not sacrifice Vision in order to get rid of the Mind stone. As the former leader of the Avengers says, "We don't trade lives, Vision."
People then take this question and juxtapose it against the fact that Cap chose Vision's life over that of countless Wakandans and basically half of existence. When put that way, he doesn't seem like he's living up to his hero status.
Well, now The Marvels director Nia DaCosta added her own two cents to the conversation.
Steve Roger, the Anti-Hero?
In a conversation with Inverse, The Marvels director Nia DaCosta was offered her opinion on how she felt when it came to the fateful choices of Steve Rogers in Avengers: Infinity War.
The director admitted that she believes that "the snap is all [Captain America's] fault" because "he chose one robot's life... over literally the entire universe:"
"... Something I like to say a bit flippantly about Captain America is that the Snap is all his fault because he was trying to do his best, trying to do the right thing. There is a world in which he’s a villain because, at the end of the day, he should have just sacrificed Vision. He chose one robot’s life, albeit a sentient one, over literally the entire universe. There’s a sort of anti-hero in that if you want to look at it through that lens."
DaCosta realized that her words might be controversial, saying that "people would say [she's] crazy for thinking that way:"
"People would say I’m crazy for thinking that way, but there’s something connected to the journey of the anti-hero and the hero. The hero’s pain is something that spurs them to martyr themselves, and an anti-hero’s pain is a thing that kind of starts their journey as opposed to ending it."
Steve Rogers, the Hero
Fans blame Thanos' victory on many different people. One of the more common in this regard is Peter Quill, who lashed out at Thanos after learning of Gamora's murder at his hands.
When it comes to Captain America, there are plenty of logical and heroic explanations as to why he made the choices he made. For one, the destruction of the stone wasn't a guarantee that Thanos' path of destruction would be stopped. Secondly, Vision was basically like a brother to Steve and Wanda, a daughter. So sacrificing the android's life simply wasn't something he would have been able to bring himself to do unless absolutely necessary.
More importantly, the choices made by those that helped Steve and Vision, including Black Panther and the Wakandan army, were entirely their own—Steve didn't twist a single hand.
At the end of the day, everyone knows Thanos would have accomplished his goals no matter what.
When mentioning these points against characters such as Star-Lord or Captain America, people tend to forget the fact that Doctor Strange clearly told audiences how there is only one way they are victorious—meaning everything that happened in both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame had to happen exactly as they did; otherwise Thanos would have won.
In the meantime, while pondering over Steve Roger's role in Infinity War, Marvel Studios' next film, Eternals, hits theaters on November 5, 2021.
