In this year’s mega hit Captain America: Civil War, one of the thank-god-they’re-not-taking-this-too-seriously moments in the movie comes in a confrontation between Captain America (Chris Evans) and Spider-Man (Tom Holland). Cap says something along the lines of: “Where are you from, kid?” Spidey replies: “Queens,” to which Cap smirks and retorts “Brooklyn.” It’s the last time people from Brooklyn and Queens were ever openly friendly to one another (jk, luv u Queens).
Captain America’s is indeed a Brooklyn Heights native, according to his comic book biography: He grew up playing stickball during the Depression before ultimately joining the army and getting jabbed in the arm with super soldier serum, leading the Avengers and so forth. Captain America turned 75 this year and to celebrate, the character is getting a 13-foot-tall, 2,000 lb. statue that will tour the country before it lands in Prospect Park later this summer. Because we honor our heroes in Brooklyn, however fictional they may be. [UPDATE 8/5: The official opening ceremony will be on Aug. 10 from 1-3pm at the Children’s Corner of the park, near the carousel at Empire and Flatbush.]
USA Today reports the statue will debut at San Diego Comic-Con from July 20-24 before landing in Prospect Park with a dedication ceremony Aug. 10 (its exact location is unclear). On the huge bronze statue, Cap rocks a pose hoisting his iconic shield into the air, with the quote “I’m just a kid from Brooklyn” inscribed into a base. The quote is from the first Captain America movie, not the actual comics (though there’s probably a chance he said it somewhere in print in the last 75 years).
We called the Prospect Park Alliance, which confirmed that the statue is in fact real; it’s a project of the borough president’s office, a spokeswoman said. A spokeswoman for the borough president’s office said that after the dedication ceremony, the statue will travel to other places before moving into a TBD permanent spot elsewhere in the country. Details on the exact location will be released after the debut at Comic-Con, she said. It was commissioned by Marvel, not the BP’s office, she said.
UPDATE 8/5: The statue will be in the park for just two weeks: from there it will move to the plaza outside Barclays Center through September, where several “Marvel fan activations” will take place. Then it moves on to the exalted position in a … uh Bed Bath & Beyond opening in Sunset Park.
“Captain America was always more than just a kid from Brooklyn,” Brooklyn borough President Eric Adams said in a statement. “The epic story of this paragon of patriotism, told over decades of crimefighting, has inspired millions of comic lovers across our nation. I am thrilled to be working with Marvel to bring Captain America home on his 75th anniversary.”
If you want one of your own, Comicave Studios — which designed the statue alongside Marvel — will be selling 750 12-inch bronze replicas and 100-made-to-order 35-inch pewter ones.
In a slightly related bit of Captain America/Brooklyn news: News broke this morning that The Russo Brothers, who directed Captain America: Civil War, are adapting The Warriors, the iconic 1979 movie about a Coney Island gang, into a new TV series for Hulu. Don’t know about you, but I’d watch a gritty Avengers remake that was all about Cap, Iron Man, the Hulk and Black Widow trying to get back to Coney Island on the subway. Can you dig it?
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Steve Rogers (Captain America) is from the Lower East Side. They changed it to Brooklyn for the movies, because branding I’d guess.