Captain America Would Lose Any Fight To Wolverine (Without His Shield)

Warning! This article contains spoilers for Amazing Fantasy Vol. 3 #5

One of the greatest soldiers, tacticians, and overall fighters in the entire Marvel Universe is Captain America, but unfortunately, fans just learned that, without his shield, Steve is no match for Wolverine. Captain America’s shield is nearly as iconic as the character himself as Cap is rarely without it during battle. Unfortunately it seems as though Captain America has become too dependent on his shield and has proven that he would easily lose a fight against Wolverine without it. 

In Amazing Fantasy #5 by Kaare Andrews, a number of heroes including Spider-Man, Black Widow, and Captain America have died at different points of their respective pasts and ended up in a realm of the dead. In this realm, an entity known as the Red King is working to cross over to the physical world to find the magical spells he needs to overrun the Earth with the dead. The Avengers take off on a mission to stop the Red King, and in the process, they fight against his army of the skeletons. During the skeleton war, Captain America comes up against a seemingly zombified Wolverine with the six claws coming out of his fists to match, and the fight does not go in Cap’s favor. 

As Captain America battles the Wolverine-like skeleton soldier, he is more so dodging than actually putting up a fight. As the battle progresses, Captain America’s situation begins to look more and more desperate, and the hero even says, “Without my shield I’m–” and is then cut off for at that moment he is stabbed in the gut. Captain America knew that he would lose against this foe without his signature shield, and he was right. The worst part about the situation is that the creature he was fighting wasn’t even the real Wolverine, just a monster with the same weapons as the mutant soldier, which means Cap’s defeat against Wolverine if the two were to fight shield-less is even more assured. 

Wolverine is an incredibly skilled fighter in his own right, with his healing factor and adamantium claws a boost that makes him one of the most ferocious fighters in Marvel Comics. Captain America also has some major fighting skills, being technically more advanced in different techniques than Wolverine with at least eleven different forms of martial arts in his arsenal including Krav Maga, Judo, and boxing whereas Logan has more of a brutish fighting style without any discernible form. 

Overall, the two are fairly evenly matched in their respective fighting styles, with their weapons making them perfectly matched in a fight. In a hypothetical fight between the two, Wolverine would assuredly lash out at Captain America, at which point Captain America would expertly dodge him and block the attack with his shield. However, without the shield as Cap’s weapon and with Wolverine maintaining his weapons in the form of his claws, Captain America doesn’t stand a chance.

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