Does Captain America Have Super-Healing, Too?

When Marvel fans think of a character with super-healing, the first that comes to mind nowadays is Wolverine or Deadpool. Not many think about Captain America (Steve Rogers), who also has this amazing ability. Like the mutants mentioned above, this healing factor helps Cap to survive his fair share of bad injuries, too.  But unlike the mutants, he gained the ability from a scientific serum.

Developed by a German scientist during World War II, Abraham Erskine created a Super Soldier Serum to enhance the human body and mind. Rogers’ super-healing is due to the Super Soldier Serum which grants him the ability to heal from broken bones in merely days and cuts in just hours. Although there have been other characters who have taken this serum, Steve Rogers was the only successful attempt at creating the perfect soldier fans have come to know as Captain America.

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America’s healing power was immediately put to the test when an assassin attempted to steal the serum in The First Avenger. As he was chasing down the assassin, the American boy scout was hit by a bullet on his ribs that seemed to heal with no visible scars ever shown. The comics explain the reason, clarifying that when Rogers took to the serum, it increased his cellular fiber density on a molecular level, meaning it enhanced the proteins in his body (and the function thereof, as well).

This healing power means Cap’s body goes far beyond regenerating burned skin, broken bones, lost limbs, and organs, right down to the level of damaged cells. Effectively accelerating the cellular performance grants Steve a super-fast metabolism, as well, granting his body immunity to almost any earthly illness or disease. Unfortunately, this also means his healing power keeps him from getting drunk. On the bright side, his constantly-regenerating body means it is very difficult to take him down with a simple toxin or drug.

Captain America represents the perfect human being, so one can assume that his healing-factor is not on the level of Wolverine, who can regenerate within seconds. As fans of the MCU witnessed in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Cap is shot through the midsection by his friend Bucky Barnes, leading to some serious blood loss. If it was Wolverine being shot, the bullets would have been pushed out by his mutant healing. But for Captain America, those bullet wounds — and the blood loss instantly caused because of them — don’t go away so easily. And that is the detail which matters more than the question of whether or not Steve Rogers could eventually heal.

Can Captain America heal at a greater level and speed than a normal human? Most definitely. But if an enemy inflicts enough damage faster than his body can repair itself… he’s as dead as any other crimefighter.