Captain America began his escapades as a superhero during World War II; and yet, many of the movies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) are in the present day.
Considering Captain America still looks pretty young in most of these movies, you may wonder how old he is.
Steve Rogers was 24 years old when he became Captain America. He was 93 when he was rescued from frozen hibernation in the Arctic, and between 94 and 105 during his time with the Avengers.
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How Old is Captain America?
The MCU version of Captain America was born in 1918. With this in mind, let’s look at how old he is in each of the major Captain America and Avengers films in which he appears.
In The First Avenger
The bulk of Captain America: The First Avenger takes place between 1942 and 1945, with the beginning and end set in 2011, the year Marvel released the movie.
The military’s Project Rebirth selected Steve Rogers in 1942, when they injected him with the experimental super soldier serum. The serum increased his speed, strength, stamina, and mental acuity, and slowed his aging process.
After leading various missions against the Nazi terrorist organization Hydra, Rogers sacrificed himself by crashing an armed Hydra bomber into the Arctic. He survived, however, and S.H.I.E.L.D. discovered him decades later in a frozen hibernation.
Since he was born in 1918, Steve Rogers was between 24 and 27 for most of the movie. When S.H.I.E.L.D. rescued him from the Arctic and he woke up in 2011, Rogers was 93 years old, though still in the physical shape of a man in his upper 20s.
In The Avengers
The Avengers takes place a year after the end of The First Avenger, in 2012.
In this film, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Nick Fury organizes a team of superheroes, including Captain America, to protect Earth from Loki’s threats.
After reaching Earth through a wormhole the Tesseract created, the Avengers apprehend Loki. His adoptive brother Thor frees him, hoping to take Loki back to Asgard before he wreaks any havoc on Earth.
Instead, Loki escapes and opens a wormhole so his fleet of Chitauri can reach Earth. This leads to the Battle of New York City, during which the Hulk apprehends Loki and Iron Man uses a nuclear missile to destroy the Chitauri fleet.
Since these events take place in 2012, Captain America is 94 years old.
In The Winter Soldier
Captain America: The Winter Soldier occurs in 2014, two years after The Avengers.
This film reveals that Hydra compromised S.H.I.E.L.D., and three Helicarriers are used to destroy anyone on Earth identified as a threat to Hydra.
Meanwhile, the Winter Soldier is used as the top assassin for Hydra. After an intense fight, Captain America realizes that the Winter Soldier is his best friend, Bucky Barnes, long thought dead after falling off a train during World War II.
Captain America is 96 years old during this movie, and the Winter Soldier is 97, as Hydra preserved him via cryostasis.
In Age of Ultron
Avengers: Age of Ultron is the sequel to the original Avengers movie and is set a year after the events of The Winter Soldier, in 2015.
Iron Man (Tony Stark) creates an artificial intelligence called Ultron to protect the world from outside threats.
However, this plan backfires when Ultron turns against humanity and wreaks havoc in the nation of Sokovia.
The Avengers are called into action to put a stop to Ultron.
Since this movie is in 2015, Captain America is 97 years old.
In Civil War
Captain America: Civil War comes on the heels of Age of Ultron and deals with the fallout from the destruction in Sokovia.
The Avengers face disagreements over the Sokovia Accords. One group, led by Tony Stark, agrees to submit to the government oversight outlined in the Accords. The other group, led by Steve Rogers, does not agree with this oversight.
Things get worse when Stark learns that Rogers’ friend, Bucky Barnes, was responsible for his parents’ death in 1991.
The events of this film take place in 2016, when Captain America is 98 years old.
In Infinity War
Avengers: Infinity War occurred two years after Civil War.
In this movie, Captain America and Iron Man are still not on speaking terms and the Avengers are divided as they prepare to face their biggest threat yet–the Mad Titan, Thanos.
Members of the Avengers and other groups, like the Guardians of the Galaxy, team up to fight Thanos as he attempts to collect the Infinity Stones.
He is successful, and he uses the Stones to snap half the universe into oblivion. Captain America is one of the survivors of this event, known as The Blip.
During the events of this film, Cap is 100 years old.
In Endgame
Avengers: Endgame is the final movie in the Infinity Saga and is a direct sequel to Infinity War.
In this film, members of the Avengers go back in time to undo The Blip, recover the Infinity Stones, and do battle with Thanos and his minions.
They team up with other heroes throughout the universe for a final, climactic battle. In the end, Iron Man uses the Infinity Stones to snap Thanos and his forces out of existence, but dies soon after from the radiation of the Stones.
After the battle, Captain America travels back in time to the 1940s to live the life he missed out on while frozen in the Arctic. He returns to the present as an old man, saying he lived a beautiful life.
This movie takes place in the year 2023, when Captain America is 105 years old.
Captain America Age Timetable
| Movie | Captain America’s Age |
| Captain America: The First Avenger | 24-27; 93 |
| The Avengers | 94 |
| Captain America: The Winter Soldier | 96 |
| Avengers: Age of Ultron | 97 |
| Captain America: Civil War | 98 |
| Avengers: Infinity War | 100 |
| Avengers: Endgame | 105 |
How Old is Captain America in the Comics?
In the comic book version of Captain America, the character is born in 1920.
With this in mind, he is 20 years old when he enlists in 1940. In a similar turn of events as shown in The First Avenger, Cap ends up frozen in the Arctic in 1945; his well-preserved body is recovered in the 1960s.
The combination of the super soldier serum and the fact that he was frozen in ice slowed his growth rate in the comics, as it did in the movies.
For this reason, Captain America continues fighting various threats over the next several decades, growing older with time but never really aging.
How Old is Chris Evans in Real Life?
In the movies, Chris Evans portrayed Captain America. Evans was born in 1981, so he was 30 years old when The First Avenger hit theaters in 2011.
Evans was 38 when Marvel released Endgame.
In the closing scenes of Endgame, when Captain America returned to the present as an old man, Evans still portrayed him; however, CGI, makeup, and prosthetics were used to make him look the part of an old man.
Conclusion
Captain America was 24 years old when he got his start in Captain America: The First Avenger. After crashing an armed bomber into the Arctic and sleeping for nearly 70 years, he woke up in the present day and was between ages 93 and 105 for most of the Infinity Saga.
Sarah Hood is a freelance content writer and editor with a love for all things Star Wars. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking, singing, and spending time in the great outdoors.