While Avengers due to his indomitable morals and superior fighting ability and battle tactics, his skills as a hero actually had nothing to do with his long-standing leadership position. In fact, Captain America became the Avengers’ leader the opposite way fans would think.
Contrary to popular belief, Steve Rogers aka Captain America was not a founding member of the Avengers and actually wasn’t introduced as a member of the team until the fourth issue of the original series. After his reintroduction into Marvel Comics following his solo series years prior, Captain America quickly proved himself to be a valued member of the team because of his many heroic qualities and unparalleled fighting skills. However, in the early days of his time as an Avenger, he was far from the leader of the group as he was still considered the new guy that the other Avengers were still evaluating–that is, until he became the last Avenger standing.
In Avengers #16 by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Dick Ayers, most of the founding Avengers, including Iron Man, Giant-Man, and the Wasp, are in desperate need of some vacation time after battling one major threat after another since the formation of the team. However, they couldn’t just disband the Avengers and leave the world completely vulnerable to attack, so Tony, Hank, and Janet decided to hold tryouts for any superhuman or highly skilled person who thought they had what it takes to be an Avenger. After recruiting Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver, the original Avengers left to take an indefinite leave of absence. Since the founding were going to be leaving, the next most senior member became Captain America–and for that reason, Rogers became the leader of the Avengers.
Captain America basically became the Avengers’ leader because he was the team’s only option after the original team took some time off. This is the opposite of how fans would expect Captain America to have taken charge of the Avengers as it makes his impressive qualifications seem irrelevant. Captain America wasn’t elected the leader of the Avengers because of who he is as a hero, he was handed the title because he was literally the only option–a lack-luster origin for one of the greatest sources of heroic inspiration in the entire Marvel Universe. Fortunately though, Cap turned out to be a much better leader than the Avengers' worst leader, Doctor Druid.
While Captain America became the team’s leader because the Avengers had no other choice, he quickly proved why he should have been in charge all along. Captain America is easily the most committed Avenger, with his desire for justice and his need to throw himself into combat situations to fend off the evil of the world proving that to be true. Even though Captain America was initially handed the title–which is assuredly the opposite way fans would expect–he more than earned his reputation as being the greatest leader the Avengers had ever seen through his many years of unwavering service to the team’s heroic mission.
