Old Captain America Returns To Action To Save The Marvel Universe

Warning: Spoilers for Fantastic Four: Life Story #6!

In Marvel Comics, Captain America is a hero that will always fight for what’s right, and in a real-time story detailing the journey of the Fantastic Four over the decades, a geriatric Steve Rogers returns to do battle against the evil villain known as Doctor Doom! Having a young and healthy version of Captain America on your team is one thing, but having a retired, octogenarian version tagging along is something else entirely — and not necessarily in a bad way.

Seen in the sixth and final issue of Fantastic Four: Life Story, by Mark Russel, Sean Izaakse, Ze Carlos, and Angel Unzueta, the story of Marvel’s First Family has come to a head as their showdown with their ultimate enemy, Doctor Doom, has finally arrived. Having defeated the nigh-omnipotent Galactus in the previous issue, the Fantastic Four — or what’s left of them — join forces with the new generation of Marvel heroes to put a stop to the nefarious plans Doom has enacted on the world.

Needing as much help as they can get, Sue Storm aka the Invisible Woman, pays a visit to the Marvel hero that started it all, Captain America, to see if he’d be interested in thwarting Doom for good. But being a story that sees our heroes age in real-time, Captain America — like the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, and Iron Man before him — are all pushing eighty in this continuity, leading Steve Rogers to decline Sue’s offer as he’s content leaving the world’s fate up to the new heroes on the block.

Yet as the battle with Doom begins, the allure of one last fight becomes too much for Cap to resist, and with a single triumphant toss of his iconic shield, Captain America enters the fray with purpose and gives Doom a piece of his mind in the process. Saying, “…as long as you fascists insist on coming back…I suppose I will too,” Cap succinctly tells fans that it doesn’t matter whether he’s eighty, ninety, or the ripe old age of a hundred; Captain America will be there when the world needs him most.

A perfect way to end a near-perfect career, seeing old Cap return to the fold in a way that only he is capable of is a huge get for a group of heroes that were in dire need of his help. And while Cap has returned to his old form in both comics and film more than once, seeing him on the front lines in this particular story is a moment worth cheering for, especially when his mere presence helped rally the troops enough to put Doom down once and for all.

So although Captain America initially believes his old self isn’t needed on the frontlines, this final issue of Fantastic Four: Life Story proves that even pushing eighty, nothing hits quite like a shield thrown from the original Sentinel of Liberty himself. Captain America is one of Marvel’s most reliable heroes, and for fans, it’s good to see his age will never stop him from donning his star-spangled threads to help out his fellow heroes when needed!

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