Nuke is wasted potential

[LordTrump]

I cringe at how lame and cartoony some elements of the Marvel Now Captain America were, especially following the espionage and war of Brubaker's run.

Nuke basically represents the divide between the ww2 and Vietnam generation. Vietnam vets were treated like crap by the government that sent them to fight, the citizens they fought for, and the elders they looked up to. The "perfect generation" didn't question when their sons were spat on, called baby killers, and generally given the exact opposite of the heroic treatment that they were given.

Shouldn't Nuke absolutely hate Captain America? Shouldn't he look at him literally as everything he couldn't be, everything he couldn't have?

Cap is hailed as a hero, Nuke is considered a psycho due to the psychological damage. Cap is seen as the embodiment of the "good old days", Nuke is seen as one of those "reefer smoking losers who couldn't even win a damn war".

How is this character not used more?

[Michael Watkins]

Nuke was a psychopath prior to going to Vietnam. the military recruited him after he murdered his family members. Wolverine and Captain America helped put him down. Norman Osborn revived him as Scourge in Thunderbolts. he's seen a lot of use, actually. but Dark Reign was kind of his swan song. he claimed US Agent's arm and leg; ironically since Agent's brother died in Vietnam.

[ed2962]

I cringe at how lame and cartoony some elements of the Marvel Now Captain America were, especially following the espionage and war of Brubaker's run.

Nuke basically represents the divide between the ww2 and Vietnam generation. Vietnam vets were treated like crap by the government that sent them to fight, the citizens they fought for, and the elders they looked up to. The "perfect generation" didn't question when their sons were spat on, called baby killers, and generally given the exact opposite of the heroic treatment that they were given.

Shouldn't Nuke absolutely hate Captain America? Shouldn't he look at him literally as everything he couldn't be, everything he couldn't have?

Cap is hailed as a hero, Nuke is considered a psycho due to the psychological damage. Cap is seen as the embodiment of the "good old days", Nuke is seen as one of those "reefer smoking losers who couldn't even win a damn war".

How is this character not used more?

I imagine that type of story while big during the 80's, might not be something that today's audience is into?

Having said that, a few years a go there was an Ultimate Capt America mini that mined that territory a bit. It also borrowed a couple bits from Dark Knight Returns and Apocalypse Now.

[t hedge coke]

As has been said, Nuke was nuts before, and his take on everything is both insane and encouraged to be so by the folks he usually works for.

But, I want to tackle this idea that "the greatest generation" were somehow not coming back PTSD/shellshocked, or that they were all given big parades or some huge glory. We managed to leave plenty of men behind, bring them back shattered, and otherwise run guys through a horrorshow ringer. Vietnam was a terrible and violent war fought for dumb reasons, but it was far from the first damaging or dirty combat in the world, and far from the first time a government didn't give a damn about its soldiers.

The big difference was that, with World War 2 and even Korea, reports home were limited to prose or carefully edited and voice-over heavy promotional newsreels. With Vietnam, much rawer footage got out much faster and directly into homes on television. Everybody at home got to see how bad things can get, even if we didn't see remotely the worst, before the government or returning combatants could clean it up into more palatable war stories.

And, really, honestly, the idea that as a vet of one war, Nuke should hate vets of other wars is... odd. He could. Some do. But, it's far from a universal response.

[Mike_Murdock]

I don't necessarily disagree, but I wonder if that ship has passed. We're still caught up in some of the same rhetoric of the Vietnam era, but I don't get the impression that the divide is as strong. Vietnam doesn't translate as easily to Afghanistan or Iraq and a dialogue between Vietnam and World War II just feels dated.