Project Rebirth

> "Peg, all I've done my whole life is create destruction. Project Rebirth was... He was the one thing I've done... that brought good into this world."
>
> Howard Stark to Peggy Carter, Valediction

**Project Rebirth**, also called **Operation: Rebirth**, **Weapons Plus**, the **Bio-Tech Force Enhancement Program**, the **Erskine Program**, and the **Super Soldier Program**, was a highly-classified United States government project, the goal of which was the creation of Super-Soldiers to be deployed during World War II against the Axis powers. Administered by the United States Army's Infantry Weapons Development Program, their first and only success was a man named Steve Rogers, who would go on to become the special operator and superhero known as Captain America.

## History

> What was Project: Rebirth's goal?"
> "That's still classified to all but Omega clearance, Coulson. But to give you an idea of its importance, what Stark has is just a prototype...a reject. The final product was lost... Although you can bet your life we'll never stop looking for it.
>
> Phil Coulson and Nick Fury, Iron Man: Security Measures

Steve Rogers was chosen by Agent Milly Taylor and Abraham Erskine to become the first American Super Soldier via the Super Soldier Serum. The test was successful, but Heinz Kruger shot Erskine and took the serum. After Erskine's death, Kruger ultimately committed suicide with a cyanide pill.

The serum was lost, as the vial Kruger had was destroyed in his flight from Rogers; the project was disbanded. Blood samples were taken from Rogers by scientists and Peggy Carter in hopes of recovering the serum; of the twelve samples taken, one was given to Howard Stark.

The Strategic Scientific Reserve created a file box entitled Project Rebirth; inside that box included a picture of Steve Rogers before his transformation as well as a Vita-Ray Detector.

### Legacy of Project Rebirth

> Since World War II and the success of Steve Rogers, there have been many failed attempts to create a super soldier.
>
> Daniel Whitehall, Rise and Shine

In 1951, Milly Taylor and Howard Stark almost recreated the serum, but their lab was blown up by the Winter Soldier, with Taylor inside. The research was lost, but Taylor gained somewhat the same effects as a super soldier with enhanced strength, however her longevity was stretched beyond natural years.

By 1991, Howard Stark finally managed to recreate the Super Soldier Serum. However, he was assassinated alongside his wife and the entirety of his supply was taken by Winter Soldier.

Since the success of Project Rebirth, HYDRA made many attempts to create a super soldier like Winter Soldier Program, Serpent Program and Project Destroyer of Worlds.

In 2016, after Steve Rogers went rogue, President Matthew Ellis appointed Brigadier General Glenn Talbot to find a new enhanced individual to be the public face of the United States of America in the race of the enhanced assets. Talbot took inspiration from Project Rebirth to start "Project Patriot", creating a enhancement serum based on a modified confiscated solution to use on Jeffrey Mace, an American journalist that was revered as an hero following his actions in the Bombing of the Vienna International Centre.

## Appearances

* *Captain America: First Vengeance*
* *Captain America: The First Avenger*
* *Agent Carter*
	+ *Season One*
		- *Now is Not the End* (mentioned)
		- *Bridge and Tunnel* (mentioned)
		- *The Blitzkrieg Button* (mentioned)
		- *Valediction* (mentioned)
* *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.*
	+ *Season Five*
		- *Rise and Shine* (mentioned in flashback)
* *Iron Man: Security Measures* (mentioned)
* *The Incredible Hulk* (mentioned)
* *Avengers: Age of Ultron* (picture)
* *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.*
	+ *Season Three*
		- *Failed Experiments* (indirectly mentioned)
	+ *Season Four*
		- *The Patriot* (mentioned)

## Trivia

* In *The Incredible Hulk*, the Super Soldier Program was labeled "Weapons Plus." In the comics, Project Rebirth was the first iteration Weapon Plus program, labeled as "Weapon I," which continued to create projects over the decades, including "Weapon X."
* Howard Stark stated his desire to name the operation "Brooklyn Project," to contrast with the Manhattan Project and let Robert Oppenheimer and his crew in Los Alamos know they had competition. In an ironic twist, Stark would wind up working with Oppenheimer on the Manhattan Project later in the war.
* Before Captain America was rediscovered in 2011, the specifics of his creation (Project Rebirth itself) were highly classified. For example, within S.H.I.E.L.D., only Omega-level personnel knew the full details. To the rest of the world, he was a war hero and icon of American wartime propaganda with an origin shrouded in mystery.