Even the best heroes in Marvel Comics have had incredibly dark moments, and Captain America is no exception. In the Marvel multiverse, two different iterations of Cap have done the unthinkable to take full control of Bruce Banner's more violent half, the Hulk: lobotomized the man to take full control of the monster. While one version of Steve Rogers what explicitly evil, the other was the Captain America of Earth-616, the main Earth in Marvel's continuity.
In Avengers vol. 5, #25, by Jonathan Hickman and Salvador Larocca, a new, more sinister team of Avengers is introduced to Earth-616. They are brought from their own universe by the evil organization Advanced Idea Mechanics, or A.I.M., which is looking to mine resources out of the collapsing multiverse as the Secret Wars event draws near. The team is quick to show their true colors, with "Thorr" killing a group of bystanders on the street when they do not immediately bow to him as the rest of the team looks on. In the next issue, it is revealed that Bruce Banner has been selectively lobotomized, rendering him under remote control by his fellow Avengers. In a battle with the hometown Avengers, the remote that controls their Hulk is broken, and he reverts back to Bruce. He is then taken into custody by SHIELD, while the rest of his team is sent to a different Earth by A.I.M.
While it is tough to swallow an Avengers team taking such a callous approach to controlling the Hulk, it makes sense they would take that route. They are a team of world-conquerers, not a group of heroes trying to defend Earth. But in New Avengers vol. 3, #28 by Hickman, Mike Deodato and Mike Perkins, Steve Rogers, now without his super solider serum to make him appear young, is the commander of SHIELD, and amid a destructive standoff against the Avengers, he instructs Maria Hill to "deploy the package." The package is revealed to be the lobotomized Bruce Banner, with a re-tooled mind-control device to keep him in SHIELD's control. When Hill questions Rogers' decision to toss him out of a Helicarrier and use him as a weapon, he justifies it by saying he "came from an Earth (his Avengers) conquered, Maria. No, I don't feel bad."
In this moment, Rogers is overcome with anger and resentment toward Tony Stark and the Illuminati, a group that has taken it upon themselves to create defenses for their Earth as the multiverse collapses around Earth-616. While Cap eventually agrees to work with the Illuminati to defend Earth, it shows that when he feels he has no choice, he will go to extreme measures to win, and it isn't the first time we've seen this from Rogers. In the 2007 Civil War event by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven, Rogers is a key opponent of the Super Hero Registration Act. In his crusade to overturn it, he leads several battles that level parts of New York City, and he nearly kills Iron Man — an iconic moment that finally leads him to back down in the war. Years later, facing off against the same man, he makes an even worse decision, using a lobotomized Bruce Banner as a weapon in his war, without even flinching.
The events of Secret Wars, however, revise this incredibly dark moment from Steve Rogers' past, as much of the continuity of the Marvel Universe is rearranged and rewritten afterward. Despite this, his use of the Hulk reminds fans of the Star-Spangled hero that, when push comes to shove, even Cap is willing to take unforgivable actions to fight for his cause. Steve Rogers will likely be one of Marvel's most celebrated heroes of all time, on and off the page. That said, even the events of a multiversal war cannot erase the darkest moments in Captain America's lauded history.
