MCU: Captain America vs Iron Man: Who is the better character?

@anthp2000: I disagree with that. While heroism is a foundation of Cap’s identity, he’s gone through a lot since his first movie in the MCU. The Steve Rogers in The First Avenger and the Steve Rogers in Endgame are extremely different. While Cap still has his heroism, he’s become a lot more jaded since The Winter Soldier. His distrust of governments due to the hydra infiltration of Shield was one of the key factors that led to Civil War.

Cap is also a good example of the positive Flat Character arc mentioned in a book by KM Weilend. These characters are meant to more so change other characters and the world around them due to their influence. Characters like Sam, Natasha, Bucky, and even Tony himself have all changed for the better due to Cap. Sam took up arms again after years as a civilian to become a hero and a Avenger because he trusted Cap. Steve’s unwavering morality forced Natasha to self reflect and come to terms with if she wanted to be a hero or continue being the morally gray spy. She wanted Steve’s trust and knew she couldn’t have it if she kept doing morally ambiguous missions behind his back. And by Endgame we see her stepping into the role of de facto leader of the make shift Avengers during the five years post snap. Steve was the one who fought for Bucky getting the help he needed and protected him when he was wrongly accused of the bombing in Civil War. And he challenged Tony to not just be a guy in a suit flying around fighting bad guys, but to actually be a hero who would be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice if it came down to it. And one of the biggest ones was him inspiring the shield agents to not give into Hydra during Winter Soldier m even when they were being held at gun point.

Steve’s a lot like Superman in that a lot of people rag on the Boy Scout image and say characters like this are boring and don’t get a lot of development, but they do, it’s just more nuanced. It’s not as in your face as someone like Tony who went from being a narcissistic prick to a selfless hero, but more subtle in that Steve had to adjust and operate in a world that no longer held the same morality that it once had, and challenges his beliefs he grew up on.