Chris Evans shattered all of our hearts when he posted that now infamous goodbye tweet, following his wrap on Avengers 4. While we don’t know what’s going to happen to Steve Rogers until the film is released, we do know that we’ll miss Evans portraying the popular character. We’re also most definitely going to majorly stock up on tissues beforehand. After all, through 10 years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and 75+ years in comics, Captain America has affected a lot of people: on page, on screen, and in real life. In turn, they have affected the character as well: for better or worse.
While Cap may be a beacon of good in the Marvel Universe, he isn’t necessarily best friends with everyone he encounters or works with. Even though he is a consummate professional to his allies, that doesn’t mean that he’s friends with them. That remains true no matter the medium or the universe. Some characters definitely leap to the forefront of a fan’s mind when anyone asks who Steve Rogers is close to, but others can definitely be a surprise.
Throughout comics and film, Marvel characters tend to admire the good Captain, but this isn’t about how other people feel about Steve Rogers. This is about who Steve himself likes and dislikes. It is definitely a list of who’s who in the Marvel Universe. We’re going back to look through his storied history in both film and comics to find out who’s in Steve’s good books.
Here are 12 Heroes Steve Rogers Is Close To (And 8 He Can’t Stand).
CLOSE: Nick Fury
Whether live-action films or in the comics, Steve Rogers definitely seems to have a special sort of relationship with Nick Fury. In comics, it’s because they served together during the WWII. In the films, Nick respects that Steve has his stuff together on the field. While Steve is a bit wary of the spymaster’s secret keeping in The Avengers, they were able to move past it.
Now, the pair have something like a friendship rooted in mutual respect for each other’s skills. While we don’t know what Fury and Steve were up to in between Age of Ultron and Infinity War, it’s likely that the rogue heroes needed some help. Who else better to turn to?
CAN’T STAND: Hank Pym
This entry applies to the now defunct Ultimate universe over the regular comic universe. Mainly because, while Hank Pym can be a jerk sometimes in the normal universe, he’s not an abusive one. In the Ultimate-verse, Hank Pym beat Jan, had ants attack her, and then sprayed her with insect repellent. While Ultimate Cap may be a bit of a jerk, he’s not going to take that behavior from anyone. What does he do?
Hank turns in a 50-foot tall Giant Man in order to fight Steve. Steve still beats him.
While the Ultimate-verse wasn’t perfect, we can say that this moment and the existence of Miles Morales were definitely the exceptions to the rule.
CLOSE: Peter Parker
This one definitely focuses more on the comics than the movies, if only because Peter’s relationship with Steve is more established there. Even so, they did have that nice moment in Civil War of being just a couple of good-hearted boys from New York, despite being on opposite sides. The comics, however, have a more established relationship between the pair.
In fact, it led to one of the most iconic moments for Cap. In Amazing Spider-Man #537, during the Civil War event, Steve and Peter have a moment. Steve thinks Peter did the wrong thing by switching sides and revealing himself. He also respects his decision and gives the famous “no, you move” speech. Even though they’re on opposite sides, Peter expresses his admiration for Steve and vice versa.
CAN’T STAND: Cyclops
We don’t know if the X-Men will truly be added to the Marvel Cinematic Universe when the time comes, but it would be nice to see them on screen with some of our favorite heroes. One X-Men, however, who won’t get the warmest welcome from Cap, at least in comics, is Cyclops. Yeah, Cyclops definitely went off the wall in the comics, during the Avengers vs X-Men.
He destroyed Professor Xavier and attempted to hunt down every Avenger.
Needless to say, Cap wasn’t too thrilled about what was happening. Eventually, he was stopped by the combined forces of the X-Men, the Avengers, and Nova. Steve did try to salvage some good from the situation, creating the Uncanny X-Men in order to bridge the gap between the various factions of heroes.
CLOSE: Hawkeye (Clint Barton)
Clint Barton and Steve Rogers have an interesting relationship both in comics and on screen. On screen, Steve trusted Clint after he was released from mind control thanks to Natasha. He also called Clint to help out during Civil War and the archer did appear for the airport fight.
In the comics, Clint was part of what was endearingly termed as “Cap’s Kooky Quartet” along with the Maximoff siblings. During a time when Clint was going through a bit of personal crisis following a fight with Crossfire, Steve got Clint to start shooting his bow again and listed what he admired about his fellow hero– namely, that he “believes in second chances, even for himself.”
CAN’T STAND: Reed Richards (Comics)
Reed Richards is definitely a complicated character for Marvel fans. While the Fantastic Four are beloved throughout Marvel Comics, the love doesn’t entirely extend to Reed. He can be a nice enough guy, but his whole absent-minded professor persona can lapse into abrasiveness as well. He also doesn’t quite have the balance between being a scientist and being a hero as well.
Steve and Reed’s clash of personalities also sprung from the original Civil War arc.
Reed was on the side of Pro-Registration and worked with Tony Stark in order to figure out how to make such things work. He also built a prison in the Negative Zone, accessed by Fantastic Four technology.
CLOSE: T’Challa
T’Challa and Steve may have gotten off on the wrong foot, so to speak, in the MCU. Their motivations, however, were totally understandable: Steve wanted to protect Bucky and T’Challa wanted to get revenge for his father’s untimely death. Once those differences were cleared up, the two of them seemed to have taken to each other well.
T’Challa allowed Steve and the rest of Team Cap a brief respite in Wakanda and took Bucky into his protection.
In addition, the two were quite pleased to see each other again in Infinity War. They respected each other’s prowess on the battlefield. In comics, the admiration remains largely the same. Steve made an impression on T’Challa’s ancestors during WWII as well.
CAN’T STAND: Deadpool
Wade Wilson is just one of those guys that seems to get on everyone’s nerves, in both Marvel Comics and his own film series. While Wade has a skewed moral compass and some serious issues, he’s usually semi-heroic. Even so, you wouldn’t see Steve Rogers hang out with Deadpool in his time off.
On the few times that the pair have worked together, it hasn’t exactly been the best experience in the world.
Take, for example, when Steve had to sit on Deadpool’s lap to spare Natasha for doing so. There was also the time when he roasted Wade hardcore, “I don’t get your jokes. And you’re not easy on the eyes. Do you and Red Skull share a dermatologist?” Burn.
CLOSE: Thor
Thor is the one Avenger that everyone loves. It’s no surprise that Thor and Steve are pretty amazing together on screen. Thor respects Steve as a fellow warrior, even giving him Asgardian liquor which he is says is “not fit for mortal men.” He also follows Steve’s lead in battle, though he’s usually the leader on Asgard. Their first reactions to seeing each other in battle in Infinity War is happiness and a bit of fashion talk in the middle of the battlefield.
In the comics, Steve is one of the few outside of Thor who can lift the hammer Mjolnir, showing that he is worthy. In addition to that, Thor even repaired Cap’s shield with his hammer when it was shattered.
CAN’T STAND: Vision
It’s not exactly the case that Steve can’t stand Vision, but more that he doesn’t really understand him. In Age of Ultron, Steve attempts to stop Tony and Bruce from creating Vision because he’s scared that there would be repercussions, mainly another insane Artificial Intelligence running around, trying to destroy the Earth. It’s a valid sort of concern, even if it did work out for them.
In Civil War, it just came down to disagreeing about the Sokovia Accords.
Vision saw it logically, thinking that oversight would make sense given the nature of the Avengers. Steve, meanwhile, was still thinking about the HYDRA invasion along with unnecessary bureaucratic red tape.
CLOSE: Wanda Maximoff
Like Clint Barton, Wanda was also a member of “Cap’s Kooky Quartet” in comics. Although they don’t interact too much in the modern day, they did serve together as Avengers. In the films, there is definitely a bond between the pair; a brother-sister sort of bond. Steve understands why she and her brother would volunteer for Strucker’s experiments in Age of Ultron. He attempts to use that understanding so that they can fight with the Avengers.
In Civil War, he offers her comfort following the lives lost in Lagos and stands firm by her side. He also takes her on the run following Team Cap’s heroic exile, though he does make sure she can meet Vision.
CAN’T STAND: Frank Castle
Let’s make it clear. The distaste is entirely one-sided. Frank Castle admires Steve Rogers, both as a hero and as a fellow soldier. Steve, however, disagrees with Frank acting as judge, jury, and executioner. This is because he does believe in the spirit of Constitution and the Bill of Rights: one of which is to a trial by a jury of one’s peers.
It’s definitely a philosophical clash between the two.
Frank was also on the anti-Registration side in the first Civil War, but Steve was reluctant to have him on team. He’s not the most stable guy in the best of times. He eliminate two minor villains so Steve gave him a whooping.
CLOSE: Natasha Romanoff
At first blush, it seemed like the cool, collected Natasha Romanoff and Steve Rogers would probably not make good friends. Oh, did they prove us wrong in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. In the film, the two are very much friends, beyond even a work connection. Natasha teases Steve, tries to get him to date while working a mission, and sticks by his side. Even when they disagree on certain issues, like in Civil War, there is still a foundation of respect for each other’s opinions. When Steve said that something else was going on, Natasha believed him, even throwing the battle.
Steve’s relationship with Natasha also probably stopped him from going to a darker place. He had someone in the present who he cared about. While it didn’t stop him from missing his time, he still had a friend.
CLOSE: Namor
Putting it nicely, Namor the Sub-Mariner is a bit of an egotistical pain. It would seem strange to a casual Marvel fan that such a character would be close with Steve Rogers.
Granted, they’re close in a “frenemy” way.
The two have fought on the same team and against each other many times over the years. Classically, they teamed up for the WWII version of The Invaders. Namor, in his own special way, seems to respect Steve Rogers. Steve works well enough with Namor, who is one of the few that remembers the past that he left behind. Frenemies are just like that sometimes.
CLOSE: Batman
This one appears to be out of left field, but it actually did happen in comics. During the JLA/Avengers crossover event, Batman and Steve start out fighting each other, like the other heroes from the two universes. They then realized that they were being played against each other. The pair then stopped fighting and were able to get the other heroes to stop as well. Steve won Batman’s respect in that moment, which is a hard feat all on its own.
Batman, however, trusted the good Captain so much that he and Superman ceded leadership of the Justice League to Steve. Sure, we may never get a DC-Marvel crossover in canon again, but this proves that Steve has friends even in a rival company.
CLOSE: Wolverine
It’s too bad that Hugh Jackman left the X-Men franchise now that it looks like the characters will be folded into the larger MCU. In comics, Logan and Steve both served during World War II. Whenever the Avengers worked with the X-Men (or a Logan served as an Avenger), the two worked well together.
Logan respects Steve and Steve appreciates someone who remembers him before the legend.
Who knows how long Steve will live with the serum? He and Logan may be friends for decades to come. In the end, even the surliest and least people person of the X-Men is friends with Steve. Who knows? Maybe we’ll see that friendship on the big screen someday. Just not with Hugh Jackman and Chris Evans, which is a bummer.
CAN’T STAND: Maria Hill
The relationship between Steve Rogers and S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Maria Hill only improved in the movies versus their comic counterparts. While they’re not friends, per se, they are definitely work colleagues who get along. In the comics, however, the relationship between the two is a bit frostier. While Steve is the consummate professional in his dealings with SHIELD, a line was crossed.
In fact, this disconnect between Steve and Maria led to him fully declaring his Anti-Registration stance in Civil War. When Steve refuses to round up his friends for violating a law that hasn’t passed, Maria immediately attempts to arrest Steve. Steve eventually escapes, but the relationship definitely hasn’t been great since.
CLOSE: Sam Wilson
Another great comic friendship that came from page to screen is between Sam Wilson and Steve Rogers. These two have had a decades long friendship and partnership in comics. When Steve retired as Cap for the second time, there was n one he thought was better suited for the position than Sam, even calling him a man that he loved. Seriously, these two are best friends.
In the movies, Sam offered his hand in friendship to see and even understood some of Steve’s issues as a returning vet.
More to the point, he didn’t see the legend, but the man underneath. In the MCU, Sam Wilson would pretty much do anything for Steve, including becoming an international fugitive and stealing his wings back.
CAN’T STAND: Tony Stark
We’re specifying movies here because Tony and Steve have a great friendship in comics. While they disagree on a lot of things, at the end of the day they still care about each other very much. Nothing will keep these two down and out for very long. The same cannot be said for the movies. It would be unfair to blame this solely on Joss Whedon because Tony and Steve should have had interactions outside of the team-ups.
Even when they’re not fighting, they act more like work colleagues than close friends.
It just makes that line in Civil War, when Steve stands next to his literal best friend against Tony’s attack and Tony acts all hurt, more of a moment for cheap drama than anything else.
CLOSE: Bucky Barnes
Really, who else would be at number one? Whether you look at comic or film canon, Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes are tighter than peanut butter and jelly, than macaroni and cheese. While the duo have storied friendship in the pages of the comics, we’re talking about the MCU version of the characters.
Everyone in the MCU knows that Steve Rogers would go anywhere for Bucky Barnes.
Bucky’s backstory was changed for the movies, making him closer in age to Steve, and having them be lifelong friends. The friendship is one of the greatest things that Steve values. In the end, the two of them care for each other deeply, so much so that Bucky broke through so deep brainwashing for him. Now that’s closeness.
What other heroes is Captain America friends with? Let us know in the comments!
