Superhero fans have plenty to look forward to at the movie theater next year. Easily one of 2011's most high profile releases is Captain America: The First Avenger . This isn't the first time Cap has been given the cinematic treatment, but it is the first time Hollywood is tackling the hero with the budget and scale he deserves. Marvel Studios finally released the first official shots of Chris Evans in his Cap uniform , and it's looking like this film is on track to capture the same fanboy glee the first Iron Man did.

Cap's name is fairly recognizable in pop culture, but like Iron Man, casual audiences don't necessarily know much about him. Worse still, many tend to dismiss Cap as a tired relic of an older comic book industry, one with no real relevance to modern times. That just isn't so. In this feature, we explain just why the Sentinel of Liberty was and still is an awesome character. There are plenty of reasons to welcome Cap's debut at Marvel Studios. If you're a Cap doubter, maybe these reasons will help change your mind.

Spider-Man remains one of the most popular heroes in comics for many reasons, but perhaps above all, it's his status as an everyman hero that makes him so appealing to readers. Peter Parker is just an ordinary guy who was given the chance to rise above his humble surroundings and fight evil. In that sense, he and Cap are kindred spirits. Cap also carries that everyman quality about him, even if his impossibly broad shoulders and chiseled jaw are hard to come by in real life.Cap was once just Steve Rogers, a skinny, sickly boy from Manhattan's Lower East Side. Like many young men in 1941, Steve just wanted the chance to enlist in the army and defend his country. However, his frail body kept him relegated to the sidelines while his friends shipped out to Europe and Japan. It was his desire to fight despite his limitations that gained Steve admittance into Project Rebirth.Cap rules because he has a big heart and a will to overcome all obstacles. Morally conflicted heroes are all well and good, but sometimes we just want a hero who knows the right course of action and executes it without complaining. DC has Superman, and Marvel has Captain America . But where Superman is a larger than life figure, Cap still has that ordinary quality about him. He's a hero who came from simple origins, and he remains a simple man at heart. More so than almost any other hero, Cap is a role model for all the ordinary Joes out there who want to do good.Most good heroes are born from tragedy. Cap is a bit unusual in that he didn't don the costume because of a murdered loved one or some other childhood trauma. The defining tragedy in Cap's life came later, at the end of his WWII career. Cap sacrificed himself to sabotage a deadly Nazi super-weapon. As a result, he was lost at sea and frozen in ice for decades.Since being thawed out in the present, Cap has suffered from being a "man out of time". For years he struggled with the need to adjust to a world that moved on without him. Cap's great challenge is this – how can he represent the American dream and way of life when he doesn't even know what that way of life involves anymore? In his own way, Cap struggles with the same dilemma so many other heroes like Spider-Man and Superman do. He just doesn't fit in.That's why readers are able to identify with him despite his good looks, powerful physique, and fancy toys. Cap is a master of warfare on the battlefield. In civilian life, however, every day is a struggle to fit in and move on from the loss of his friends and family. There's something awkward in Cap that can appeal to readers in the same way Spider-Man and the X-Men do. Everyone at some point in their life has felt like they don't belong. Cap's struggles are just a bit more pronounced than others.A hero doesn't need fantastic powers to kick butt. Cap is on the low end of the totem pole when it comes to physical abilities. His body has been enhanced to the peak of human perfection. That sounds impressive on paper, but compared to a god like Thor or a gamma-irradiated monster like Hulk, Cap hardly measures up.Not that it matters. Much like Batman, Cap has a tendency of smacking around enemies who by all rights should be able to smack him to the moon and back. He might not be able to hoist a bus over his head, but Cap does know exactly where to kick a Hydra agent to leave him crying and cowering in the dirt. His modest physical enhancements are backed up by rigorous combat training, years of experience on the battlefield, and an indestructible shield that doubles as a one-man Frisbee.These tools have proven more than adequate over the years for Cap to defeat villains and stand tall among the Avengers. Comic fans hail Batman as the master of preparation. Through sheer intelligence and force of will, Batman has been able to defeat opponents who vastly outmatch him. He's even clocked out Superman on several occasions. Cap has that same asset. He can beat up on the Wrecking Crew as easily as Red Skull, and he's even taken down Iron Man in a one-on-one fight.Cap is the last of the four big Avengers to debut on screen before the team-up movie. It's easy to assume he'll be at a disadvantage without the high-flying heroics of Iron Man or the fantastical conflicts of Thor. Cap doesn't need that. This super-soldier is taking on the worst the Axis powers have to offer, and there's no doubt his adventures will thrill on the same level as his comrades'.When talking memorable villains, comic readers generally regard Spider-Man and Batman as having the finest rogues galleries. Cap has a better roster of villains than many give him credit for, though. Yes, most of them are Nazi-themed, but when have Nazis ever made for poor villains?Cap's arch-rival is undoubtedly Red Skull. Also hailing from the WWII era, Red Skull is a Nazi commander so fiendish he even made Hitler nervous. Skull has cheated the ravages of time and death many times over the years, and always seems to return to plague Cap's life. Red Skull has also inspired a newer generation of baddies, including his daughter Sin and her partner Crossbones.Cap has also frequently clashed with the Zemo family. The first Baron Zemo was another WWII-era Nazi villain who fired the missile that caused Cap and Bucky to be frozen in ice. His son, Helmut Zemo, is even more dangerous and compelling in many ways. This Baron Zemo operates in shades of gray, both tormenting Cap and serving as an unlikely ally depending on how the mood strikes him.These fascist baddies barely scratch the surface. Cap also frequently battles the minions of Hydra and their masters, be it Baron Strucker, Madame Hydra, or the many others to lead the organization. He's clashed with the digitized Nazi madman Arnim Zola, the sinister hypnotist Dr. Faustus, and the flamboyant martial artist Batroc the Leaper.Cap's rogues gallery has a little bit of everything. If you like your villains unrepentantly evil, Cap has them. If you prefer them to be more complex in their motivations, he has that too. And if all you care about is seeing two super-powered warriors bludgeon each other with near impossible feats of physical prowess, Cap also has you covered.Even the most casual of Cap fans probably remember the cover to 1940's Captain America Comics #1. This iconic image features Cap socking Hitler in the jaw a full year before the US entered into WWII. It was common practice for comic creators of the day (many of whom were Jewish-American) to vent their frustrations about the war by attacking the Nazis vicariously through their characters. For many, Cap remains the most visible example of that fad.Captain America is a character who can generate deep feelings of patriotism in jaded readers. It's not because of his star-spangled suit so much, but rather because he symbolizes the best aspects of America. Cap is walking proof that anyone can become a great and powerful leader. He may be blond-haired and white of skin, but he fights for justice across all racial and ethnic boundaries. And if that sometimes puts him at odds with the very government he fights to uphold, so be it.Take the recent mini-series Civil War. In that story, the government instituted a law forcing superheroes to reveal their identities and submit to official training and registration. It would be natural to assume Cap would be first in line to support the new law, but the exact opposite was true. He became a fugitive from the law, leading an underground resistance movement against the likes of Iron Man and Mr. Fantastic. It was hardly the first time Cap rebelled against Uncle Sam either.Cap is a hero that inspires patriotism. The flag he wears has nothing to do with politicians or political agendas. He only cares about defending the innocent and ensuring that America continues to prosper. He's a hero that always does the right thing, no matter how hard it might be. That's why he was out there socking a fictional Hitler in the jaw when the rest of America was still reluctant to go to war. Considering the scary state of the world these days, Cap's message is something viewers of all backgrounds and dispositions should be able to appreciate.