Steve Rogers is the loneliest Avenger, a man out of time. When we meet up with him in The Avengers, he's taking out all his frustration and sadness on a punching bag, as memories from World War II flash in his mind. The events of Captain America: The First Avenger took place 70 years ago, but they feel like yesterday to Steve. As he batters that bag, we get that he's mourning, but there's actually an entire deleted sequence that shows just how depressed Cap has become.
The scene opens with Steve, alone in his apartment, watching World War II propaganda films. The black-and-white footage shows Captain America leading men into battle against Hydra, but Steve can only take so much nostalgia and quickly turns off the video. After looking through government files of friends long gone, he briefly considers calling his old flame Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), but he never picks up the phone. After all, what do you say to the woman you haven't seen for 70 years?
Steve then wanders through a city of cell phones and fancy cars, completely lost in the 21st century, before winding up at a cafe. For a moment, it looks like he might actually make a human connection. A pretty waitress starts flirting with him, but despite Stan Lee's advice, Steve fails to get her number. (This poor actress would show up in the actual film for only a few seconds, as almost all her scenes were cut.) He then takes a lonely subway ride to the boxing gym where he meet him in the actual film. It's a shame this sequence was deleted, as it truly shows Steve's isolation, so when he starts finding his place in the world, it makes his arc all the more triumphant.
