A thing I’ve always liked about Captain America, and I particularly love about Sam here, is a recognition that in a lot of ways, those decades Steve spent frozen don’t really rate.  Steve is a wounded veteran.  Like so many other veterans, he’s come home after war to find he’s left the world that makes sense to him behind: the place where he made a difference, and the people he trusted and bonded with most.  The place where he understood the rules and what he needed to do.

Here he is, back in civilian life, without many people he knows.  Those few he does know mostly didn’t share his most meaningful experiences, and so he stands isolated, on the far side of a chasm of understanding and communication.  He’s got no established civilian career, nothing that makes him feel like he’s making an impact or leaving the world a better place than he found it. He’s got an offer from Fury of basically returning to that service, but he’s not sure he wants that either.

He might be from a war that’s 75 years ago now, but Sam can see him struggling with the same questions every returning vet struggles with.  Steve may be a lot of things, but for Sam, first and foremost he’s a brother.

Even more than that, he’s a brother Sam has a particular respect for, because they share so many of the same nurturing, protective instincts.  And I love that in the MCU, in some ways, Sam is the mentor.  He’s already walked the road Steve is struggling down.  He’s made his adjustments and made a new place for himself.  Emotionally, Sam is the strong one–strong enough to offer his shoulder to the men and women around him who are scrabbling to rebuild their lives.  I love what a deeply equal and compassionate relationship the two of them have.

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