Red Guardian vs Captain America: Who Wins? (2024 Updated)

It’s always fun to pit your favorite heroes to such a degree, especially if they share similar abilities. Although the MCU director is silent, everyone is wondering how the fight will go down between Red Guardian vs Captain America. 

We spent 48 hours researching to help you figure out who would win in a battle between the two super-soldiers!

Captain America or Red Guardian: Which Soldier Wins?

While it’s easy to root for Steve Rogers, we cannot undermine the Red Guardian’s battle experience and military training. 

Both of them have super soldier qualities, given that they received super-soldier serum, albeit from opposite sides of the world. Unlike Steve Rogers, Alexei Shostakov is described as more vindictive and ruthless in the Marvel comics, so this will come into play in their battle. 

Captain America might pull his punches, but the Red Guardian sure won’t. Although the Marvel Cinematic Universe and David Harbour himself are silent, we’ll break down the possible outcome of this battle for you.

Head to Head Combat

Battle Experience & Training

Steve Rogers was a frail military man before being US’ first super-soldier. His fighting experience was further developed during World War II and in his battles against Thanos and his fellow Avengers.

On the other hand, Red Guardian was a trained military from the KGB of the Soviet Union (CIA’s counterpart) and was also instrumental during the 2nd world war. So aside from super soldier strength, Alexei is also a trained spy.

Also Read: Captain America vs Iron Man

Senses & Reflexes

Super soldiers don’t only get a bump up in brawn, but even their reflexes are enhanced in the process. Marvel Studios depict each super-soldier as having reflexes that exceed what’s humanly possible.

Captain America easily caught Proxima Midnight’s spear when she fought Captain America in Infinity War. In the same way, in the Black Widow movie, Alexei Shostakov dodged bullets when trying to escape from local authorities with his wife Melina and adoptive daughters Natasha Romanoff and Yelena Belova in one of their secret missions.

Fighting Style

Captain America is a skilled user of various martial arts, including Jujitsu, boxing, Aikido, and Judo and the many battles we’ve seen him fight is a testament to his skill [1]

While his Russian counterpart held himself well against Taskmaster in the Red Room even though the latter has mastered all Avengers fighting styles, including Black Panther and Captain America.

So, if ever the former Soviet Union sends the Red Guardian to fight Steve Rogers, expect that he can also “do it all day.”

Shield 

The shield Cap uses is made with vibranium alloy mixed with adamantium. Technically, it’s as indestructible as they come. Meanwhile, the Red Guardian’s is weaker until they’ve upgraded it with the same material integrated with a high-density computer and gyroscope. That’s how it returns to the man’s wrist naturally. Red Guardian’s shield is also strong and durable.

Super Strength

There are countless times Steve showcased his superhuman strength, like his fights against the Winter Soldier (Bucky Barnes), defending against Thanos (who has almost all the infinity stones), and lifting Thor’s hammer and using it against the mad titan.

While the Red Guardian displayed his physical strength in Black Widow when he tossed a steel trailer one-handed, when he defeated all inmates in arm wrestling, and last was in his escape from a Russian prison.

Intelligence

Although depicted as a dumbo, the Alexei Shostakov will mop the floor with Steve Rogers in a Red Guardian vs Captain America battle of wits.

True, Captain America is smart and a good strategist, but his training is inferior to a Soviet Union KGB-trained super soldier like Red Guardian. Alexei was a test pilot trained in espionage, infiltration, and human intelligence tactics.

Also Read: Captain America vs Batman

Energy Projection

This is where Captain America beats Alexei. Despite both of them being glorified super-soldier, lifting Thor’s hammer is nothing that a super-soldier serum can help you with.

At one point in history, Captain America used the Mjolnir against Thanos. In the Marvel movie, he also projected lightning to damage the mad titan further. 

The fun thing about lifting the Mjolnir is that it’s not a matter of strength. So even if more vials are used to heighten Red Guardian’s power, he would still fail that mission.  

Speed

In the Black Widow movie, there weren’t many portrayals of the history of the Red Guardian’s speed during his glory days, so we can presume that his peak speed during the cold war was comparable to Captain America.

As far as Black Widow goes, only the basics of their similarity were shown, like the flying disc and their impeccable strengths. We can only wish Marvel for a super-soldier fight between Captain America and Red Guardian to see more distinction.

Durability

We’ve seen how durable Captain America is - taking a direct shot to the face from Thanos is not an easy feat. In Black Widow, we also got a glimpse of the Red Guardians’ durability against Taskmaster. He survived a direct disc throw to the back and got back up immediately. Roy Thomas and John Buscema depicted Alexei as “equally durable with Steve Rogers in the Marvel comics.”

Also Read: Our Favorite Marvel Characters - Ranked!

FAQs

Did the Red Guardian ever fight Captain America?

Yes, they did fight. In Black Widow, we hear Alexei brag about fighting Captain America during the 80s. If we follow the comic book canon, there could be an instance when Red Guardian fought a different Captain America, Isaiah Bradley. Alexei simply believes that Steve Rogers is the same one he battled then.

Although Kevin Feige quipped that Rogers was still frozen then, Alexei must’ve been lying, or was he? [2]

Is Red Guardian a hero or villain?

It depends on which perspective we view it - Red Guardian may be one or the other. Certainly, he was instrumental to Russia, so he’s considered a hero there. But if we look at technicalities, the Red Guardian is on Black Widow’s side. 

Why is Red Guardian compared to Captain America?

They are compared because they share almost similar combat styles, weaponry, and uniform. The Red Guardian is also an enhanced soldier using a super-soldier serum like Captain America. It would be bizarre to compare Alexei to Shang Chi, given they share no apparent similarity at all.

And the Winner is…

If both Red Guardian and Captain America were in their prime, the battle could go either way, especially in fair hand-to-hand combat.

Although, if we add some infiltration or backhand espionage and assassination to the mix, the Red Guardian will get Captain America. On the other hand, if Cap gets hold of Thor’s hammer, then Red Guardian is toast (literally).

Now that Captain America is gone, we can never know who is the stronger super soldier, but we might get an insight if somehow John Walker faces against an aged Alexei Shostakov.

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References:

1. https://screenrant.com/captain-america-martial-arts-fighting-styles-what-breakdown 
2. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/marvel-kevin-feige-captain-america-b1887935.html