What Happened to Captain America in Marvel ‘Ruins’ Storyline?

Besides the mainstream Marvel Universe, there are plenty of alternate Earths that don’t belong to the mainstream continuity. Some of those universes showcase what would happen if different decisions had been made and are generally vastly different from the mainstream Universe. Marvel’s ‘Ruins’ storyline is set on alternate Earth-9591, where superheroes are faced with the real consequences of having superpowers, and as a result, the whole world is seen going in the wrong direction. Superheroes are transformed into threats, and groups such as the Avengers are considered domestic terrorists. We know that Captain America is one of the most famous members of the team, and as such, he was part of the team in ‘Ruins’ as well. In today’s post, we’re going to bring you his story. Now without further ado, let’s see what happened to Captain America in Marvel’s ‘Ruins.’ 

Captain America was killed when the Avengers Quinjet was shot down with a Patriot Missile by the US government because the team was considered to be a secessionist rebel movement dedicated to the secession of California. The Quinjet was shot down after Scarlet Witch sold out her former team members in exchange for protection. Most of the Avengers were killed in the incident, and only Steve Rogers’ shield was recovered from the wreckage. 

Now that we’ve covered what happened to Captain America, it’s time to analyze the story in a bit more detail. If you’re interested in more, stay with us and keep reading!

Marvel’s ‘Ruins’ offer a look at the bleak reality where having superpowers is scientifically accurate

Marvel ‘Ruins’ was written by Warren Ellis in an attempt to parody the storyline under the title ‘The Marvels.’ The two issue storyline was released in 1995 and offered a look at an alternate universe where superheroes are a danger to society, and their superpowers often result in horrifying disfigurements, deaths, and, well, cancer most of the time. 

The story is told from the point of view of Philip Sheldon, a former retired The Daily Bugle reporter who noticed that something has gone very wrong in the universe. In his own words, he suspected that Murphy’s law was at play here, as everything that can go wrong did go wrong, and now they are stuck inside a twisted and ruined universe filled with paranormal phenomena with great consequences. 

Philip Sheldon set out to write a book titled ‘The Marvels’ and traveled the country in search of evidence to support his claims. Some of the events mentioned in the story are the Kree Invasion that ended horrifically for everyone involved and the death of Galactus, who humans mistook for a god due to his size. 

Philip, on his travels, encounters some of the most popular superheroes from the Marvel Universe, but they are often horribly disfigured, suffering, or imprisoned in special facilities in an effort to contain their powers, like what happened with Quicksilver, whose legs and arms were amputated, for his own good. 

But how did such a twisted reality come to be?

What happened to Earth-9591?

It is heavily implied in the story that Marvel’s first family, aka Fantastic Four, are to blame for this reality being ruined. Philip Sheldon eventually interviews Ben Grimm, but surprisingly he is a fully functional human being without superpowers. He recounts the moment that everything changed for him. In this version of the story, Ben Grimm was a young engineer, and Reed Richards approached him, wanting to fly a spacecraft Astraea to study the cosmic rays in the local space. 

Ben Grimm explained to Reed that such a thing would be extremely dangerous to do without proper preparation and installed lateral motors. And he would need some time to install the proper parts to Astraea before they can safely fly. Reed wasn’t interested in what Grimm had to say, but Grimm refused to fly them to space.

Reed then approached Victor Von Doom, who stole Astraea and flew them to space, but tragedy struck, and they flew straight into a flashstorm of cosmic radiation. If they had lateral motors, perhaps they would be able to dodge the cloud.

Anyway, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, Reed Richards, and Doom were bombarded with cosmic radiation, and Astraea crashed down to Earth, with everyone on board horribly disfigured or dead. Johnny Storm was incinerated on the cellular level.

Reed Richards was stretched beyond recognition, and Sue Storm was rendered light-reflective, invisible, and blind. Victor Von Doom was turned into a mineral, wearing his internal organs on the outside. 

In ‘Ruins’ Captain America vas a cannibal

Obviously, ‘Ruins’ is a very horrifying place, but the story of Avengers actually starts with Man in the Iron Mask, aka Iron Man. 

Tony Stark of Earth-9591 was sent by President X to negotiate peace with Vietnam. But during the mediation process, he was clipped by the shrapnel from the grenade thrown by National Guard. He managed to save himself by creating his famous Iron Man suit but got disillusioned with the cause and started advocating California’s secession from the rest of the USA and its freedom from the oppressive rule of President X.

He joined with other Californian scientists like Pym and Doctor Strange, and they formed a revolutionary cell, a secessionist rebel movement called the Avengers. 

They fought the regime for a time, but eventually, the movement got old and boring, and it led to the destruction of the Avengers. Most of the Avengers were eliminated. Black Panther was arrested, and Clint Barton was executed on Haight Street after Scarlet Witch sold the Avengers in exchange for legal protection. 

Captain America met his end along with the rest of the Avengers when their Quinjet was shot down with a Patriot Missile killing everyone on board. Captain America, Ant-Man, the Wasp, Dr. Strange, and “The Man in the Iron Mask” were likewise killed in the explosion. 

Only Rogers’ shield was recovered in the aftermath, and Nick Fury, now a government agent, claimed that he fought alongside Captain America during WWII and that it was Rogers himself who introduced him to eating human meat. 

What do you think about Captain America’s fate in ‘Ruins’? Let us know in the comments!