
Original artwork, not a still
I can do this all day.
— Captain America: The First Avenger ‧ 2011
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The line sums Steve up before the serum ever touches him: his courage was never about strength, only about refusing to stay down. Marvel then kept handing it back to him, as defiance against the Red Skull, a taunt in a fight with Tony Stark and a joke against his own past self. Fans use it for any stubborn stand against bigger odds.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Captain America: The First AvengerShow the scene
In Captain America: The First Avenger (2011, directed by Joe Johnston), Steve Rogers is a scrawny Brooklyn kid, rejected for Army service again and sulking in a cinema during a wartime reel. When a loud man heckles the screen, Steve is the only one to tell him to shut up. The man drags him into the alley outside and starts hitting him. Steve keeps getting back up, fending off blows with a bin lid, and keeps saying he can do this all day, until he is finally knocked down. His friend Bucky Barnes, in uniform and shipping out the next day, arrives and chases the bully off. The line comes back when Steve fights the Red Skull, Tony Stark in Captain America: Civil War, and his younger self in Avengers: Endgame.
Sources (3)
- Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki: Steve RogersEarly life section, cinema and alley scene; quote boxes for Red Skull, Civil War and EndgameReference checked
- Wikiquote: Captain America: The First AvengerSteve Rogers / Captain America quotesReference checked
- Wikipedia: Captain America: The First AvengerPlot, first paragraph; InfoboxReference checked
Context reviewed