Avengers: Endgame spawned many hilarious memes, but “That’s America’s Ass!” is one of the funniest – here’s the meme’s origin, meaning and spread explained. Part of what makes the MCU such a popular franchise is how it balances action and emotional drama with a healthy dose of humor and wisecracking characters like Tony Stark, Peter Quill or Ant-Man, who are always on hand to make a one-liner to lighten the mood.
Some MCU characters are funnier than others though and one superhero not exactly known for his sense of humor is Captain America: The First Avenger to his last appearance in Endgame, Rogers has been a character better known for his sincerity and sturdy moral com than one audiences can count on for light comic relief. A running gag in Avengers: Endgame, however, showed that Captain America can be quite the comedian (even when he’s the butt of the joke) and inspired a hilarious meme along the way.
The meme in question, of course, is “That’s America’s Ass!” which arose thanks to a scene in Endgame that sees several of the Avengers travel back in time to the Battle of New York in 2012 to retrieve some of the Infinity Stones. When Tony sees the 2012 version of Captain America he remarks how the superhero’s earlier costume did nothing for his posterior, but Ant-Man hilariously jumps to Steve's defense stating that he looks great and “As far as I’m concerned, that’s America’s ass.” Shortly after, when Captain America knocks out the 2012 version of himself, he looks down as his unconscious former self’s derriere and confirms “That IS America’s ass.”
The assertion that Captain America’s backside was the collective property of the USA quickly became one of Avengers: Endgame’s most meme-able moments. Soon enough the internet was flooded with “That’s America’s Ass!” memes agreeing with the sentiment and celebrating the superhero’s posterior. In its simplest form, the “That’s America’s Ass!” meme is usually made up of several shot-from-behind pictures of both Captain America and Chris Evans accompanied by some sort of appreciative comment, while another particularly funny format featured a behind-the-scenes shot of Robert Downey Jr. seemingly checking out his co-star’s rear-end. One of the funniest versions combines the famous Drakeposting reaction meme with elements of Cap’s hindquarters.
Now that Evans’ time in the MCU is officially over, the proliferation of “That’s America’s Ass!” memes have died down somewhat. However, with Anthony Mackie’s character Sam Wilson officially taking over the Captain America mantle, perhaps there’ll be a resurgence of the meme with Mackie as the focus rather than Evans.
