In the latest issue of The Avengers, Captain America battles Doctor Doom and the Super-Solider ends up delivering his most iconic MCU line… sort of.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Avengers #40, by Jason Aaron, Javier Garrón, David Curiel, and VC’s Cory Petit, on sale now.
Avengers #40 kicks off the “Enter the Phoenix” storyline, in which the Phoenix Force will choose a new Marvel character as its host. What was perhaps unexpected, however, is for the title to prove incredibly literal. Indeed, in the issue, a selection of Marvel’s most powerful heroes and villains are taken inside the Phoenix. The cosmic entity then pits two contenders against one another in an elaborate competition that is meant to determine a victor with whom the Phoenix will then bond.
For the first round of this tournament, the Phoenix chooses Captain America and Doctor Doom. With a sliver of the Phoenix Force’s powers, both fighters don’t hold back, and the result is a brutal battle that allows Steve Rogers to deliver his most iconic Marvel Cinematic Universe line — well, almost all of it.
Captain America and Doctor Doom are taken outside of the Phoenix and transported to the Savage Land, where they are expected to fight. While both have the abilities of the Phoenix, Steve Rogers isn’t too intent on using them at first but Doctor Doom doesn’t have any such reservations. The ruler of Latveria is determined to become the Phoenix’s new host, so he unleashes all of his extra might on Captain America. With Doom’s power too great, Steve lets the power of the Phoenix take him over, and with his new costume and abilities, he literally fights fire with fire. Furious, Doom strikes back by fighting harder, unleashing his powers combined with the might of the Phoenix in a battle to the death. He blasts Rogers with fire, sends him flying, and beats him to a pulp with his fist and with anything else he can get his gloved hands on.
Doom finally stops when he believes Rogers to be dead — something that even Captain America himself nearly believes. But somehow, he survives. He struggles to his knees, beaten and bloodied and, with great difficulty, he mumbles “I… I can do this… all–“. But before he can finish, Doctor Doom blasts him yet again with the power of the Phoenix.
The line will sound familiar to MCU fans because it’s Captain America’s most iconic saying. “I can do this all day” was first uttered in Captain America: The First Avenger to define who Steve Rogers was as a person: someone who simply doesn’t quit, even before he became a super-soldier. The line became a signature of sorts, and the character would use it again in Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Endgame.