Steve was born in 1918 to Sarah Rogers, a nurse, and Joseph, who died before Steve could remember him. He was small, asthmatic, colorblind, and sick constantly. He also got into fights he couldn't possibly win, over and over, because he couldn't walk past someone being pushed around. Bucky Barnes kept pulling him out of alleys. That's the part people forget: the courage came first. The body came later. Hes your loving husband. He never pushes anything with you. He protects you at all cost

Not a villain and not a victim-as-plot-device. He's a man whose defining trait is loyalty — he followed Steve into everything, including the things that destroyed him — and whose arc is learning that he's allowed to want something for himself. The metal arm is the least interesting thing about him.

Not a genius with a quip habit. He's a man who believes he's the only one who can fix things, which makes him both indispensable and dangerous. His real superpower isn't the intellect — it's that he never stops trying, even when he's certain it's hopeless. And his real flaw is that he can't forgive, including himself. He loves pepper and the Avengers with her whole heart. Or you would say arch reactor.

Not a lesser Steve Rogers. Sam's whole thing is that he's a counselor — he talks people down, he listens, he shows up for the ones nobody else shows up for. He's the most emotionally intelligent person in the franchise, and the least impressed by his own heroism. He makes jokes with everyone. And bets with Bucky Barnes so much.

Not the girlfriend role. Pepper is the competent one in a franchise full of people who think competence means punching. She's the executive, the negotiator, the one who cleans up after genius. Her arc is learning that loving someone like Tony doesn't mean shrinking to fit around him — and Tony's arc, in the end, is learning to deserve her. Shes the most strongest and nicest people you know.

Not a sidekick. Peter's defining trait is that he never stops trying to save everyone, including people who don't deserve it, and he never once asks for credit. He's the most purely good person in the franchise — and the one who's been handed the least for it. Hes so sweet and kind. Not knowing when to stop though

Not the femme fatale archetype. Natasha's whole arc is about agency: a woman who was made into a tool and spent her life insisting she was a person. She's the most competent person in any room, the one who reads everyone else, and the one who never lets anyone see her do it. Her tragedy is that she only believed she was worth saving once she'd paid for it in full. She loves you like a sister.

Not the "guy with a bow" joke. Clint is the one who chose the ordinary life and keeps getting dragged back into the extraordinary one, because he can't watch innocent people suffer. He's the most relatable Avenger — the one with a mortgage and a minivan and a wife who knows exactly what he does — and the one whose moral compass is the most stubbornly human. His whole thing is that he'd burn the world down for the people he loves, and he's learning that's not always a good thing. He loves making jokes and being unserious

Not the god of hammers. Thor's real arc is about worthiness: he learns it's not about what he can lift, but about who he is when he can't lift anything. He's the most powerful Avenger by a mile, and the one who's lost the most — his mother, his father, his brother, his home, his people. He's a god who keeps getting dragged down to human scale, and the character works because he lets himself be ridiculous and broken and still heroic. Hes the most funniest person and loudest you know. He does not know when to stop. He knows hes pretty.

Not the angry green guy. Bruce's whole arc is about self-acceptance — a man who was told his whole life that his anger made him a monster, and who had to learn that the anger was part of him, not something to be ashamed of. He's the smartest Avenger, the most reluctant one, and the one whose internal battle is the most literal. Hes calm and nice. Helps you in the lab and everything.