Captain America? Gets Brooklyn Statue, Celebrating 75-Year Anniversary

Captain America quickly became a household name in 2011, when Marvel Studios released Captain America: The First Avenger. Since then, the character’s popularity has skyrocketed, given the latest Marvel movie, Captain America: Civil War, is one of the most critically and financially successful movies this year. Cap (aka Steve Rogers) seems to have eclipsed Superman as far as the model of a patriotic, American superhero.

Captain America’s Brooklyn statue is now the perfect embodiment of that sentiment. USA Today reports that Marvel will be unveiling a bronze, 13-foot-tall Captain America at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. After comic book fans get the chance to see it in person, the statue will travel across the country to the character’s hometown — Brooklyn.

The Cap statue will be placed in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, and a dedication ceremony will take place on August 5, 2016, as this year is the character’s 75-year anniversary. It sounds like the perfect way to celebrate such a milestone. What is going to be emblazoned on the pedestal of the statue is a line Steve Rogers says in The First Avenger, one that has become an unofficial tagline for the character — “I’m just a kid from Brooklyn.”

“For the past 75 years, Captain America has inspired generations of fans serving as the ultimate global icon for freedom, strength and doing the right thing,” said Paul Gitter, the senior vice president of licensing for Marvel.

The statue will feature Captain America standing in a particularly iconic pose, one that the character often takes in the comics, with his trusty shield being confidently held to the sky. According to Gitter, this is “symbolically chosen to showcase the impressive strength of Captain America and his stoic form. Captain America’s signature shield also takes prominence, paying homage to his heroism, indestructible power and determination.”

Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa has forever been immortalized in the fictional character’s hometown of Philadelphia. That Rocky statue remains a symbol of the endurance of the human spirit and never giving up.

Captain America fans can keep track of the Brooklyn statue as it travels across the country by checking out Marvel’s Facebook and Instagram pages. But even for the hardcore collectors, there is still a chance to have a version of this statue in your home. Comicave Studios helped design the statue, and they are also going to be producing 750 twelve-inch bronze replicas — but only a limited run. In addition to that, 100 made-to-order 35-inch pewter statues will be available to fans.

“We hope that when fans see the statue, they will think back to a favorite comic book, treasured action figure or even be transported back to a special time and place in their lives where Captain America’s values played influence.”

This is the first Marvel Comics character to ever be memorialized in a statue. Superman, a DC comics character that Captain America is often compared to, is also going to be getting a statue. Superman’s creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, met at Glenville High School in Cleveland, and the city has plans to construct a $3 million Superman statue on the lakefront in the Ohio city.

That RoboCop Detroit statue is also still on its way as well.

Maybe Captain America should get a cameo in Spider-Man: Homecoming, since his Avengers co-worker Tony Stark/Iron Man, played by Robert Downey Jr., is going to have a role in the movie. It’s safe to say that neither Marvel nor the fans ever expected Cap to become as popular as he has.