How Long Can Marvel Keep Captain America Dead?
My fellow blogger BB posted an article on Sega’s plan to develop a trio of heavy hitter video games for Marvel.
And one of them will be the now-deceased Captain America.
All of this calls to mind one question - just how permanent is Captain America’s death? Yes, we know Marvel has answered time and time again that Cap is dead , but the real question is: for how long?
Comic book deaths play by their own rules. While some deaths, such as Sue Dibney in 
Identity Crisis or Ralph Dibney in 52, are more questionably solid than others, certain deaths - usually of popular, headliner heroes - are simply formalities. Still, this doesn’t mean we should sound the trumpets just yet - after all, DC kept Green Arrow dead for at least 3-4 years.
But timing is everything for Marvel. First, they’ve conspicously kept Captain America’s book running post-mortem - and while this might not be a sign that Cap’s coming back next week, as talk show host Craig Ferguson joked on the occassion - it does put a speed clock on Captain America’s down-time, or rather, grave-time. Though Ed Brubaker is one of the most capable writers in comics, just how long can he keep writing a book without the title character?
And finally, there is the matter of the rumored 2009 Captain America movie.
Marvel has never believed movie tickets alone will sell comics, but it doesn’t seem wise salesmanship to have the rumored Brad Pitt running around as Steve Rogers while Frank Castle, Bucky Barnes or Elijah Bradley runs around beneath the mask in the four-color format.
Captain America’s fate may have been a ticking time bomb during the final days of Civil War, but here’s the million dollar question - is his long-awaited return running on a similar clock, or do Marvel and Ed Brubaker have a couple more trick up their sleeves?
Only time will tell.
April 18th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
[...] How Long Can Marvel Keep Captain America Dead? [...]
April 18th, 2007 at 5:51 pm
Excellent question, Headliners have a way of getting resurected in some way, when deman increases. Look for him to return in time to prop up the opening of the new movie.