If Captain America Were Real, This Is How Much Money the Government Would Owe Him

Captain America: Civil War hits theaters tomorrow, May 6, and one fan has calculated exactly how much the US Government would owe Captain America (aka Steve Rogers) for the service to his country.

Reddit user Anon33249038 posted their calculations to the FanTheories subreddit, in which they explained that the government technically never relieved Rogers of duty during the 66 years he was frozen (via MTV). That means they owe him some money.

Anon starts by calculating how much he'd earn in his first year. According to them, someone with less than two years experience earned $313.50 a quarter in 1945. Add an additional $100 to that number because of Steve Rogers' special training and throw on an $82.50 living allowance. The number comes to $496 a quarter, which equals an annual income of $1984 for the first three years.

"So that's $5,952 right there, considering that he was commissioned the same year that he exited basic," they explained. "Also, there is a biannual increase of pay for service with a pay cap at 22 years with no increase of specialized pay or living allowance. Now provided that they kept him at the 1945 pay scale, for the 22 years after that, he would have received a total of $81,684 plus the previous $5,952 giving him a grand total of $87,636."

The user notes that if the pay scale was kept constant from then until 2011 when they thawed Rogers and returned him to active duty, then the government would owe him back pay in the amount of $3,154,619.52, adjusted for inflation.

"After doing this calculation, the saddest part to me is that is still ridiculously low for the danger that he and all other American soldiers, past and present, put themselves in," said Anon. "God bless the American troops."

You can check out GameSpot's coverage of the upcoming Captain America: Civil War in our Next Big Movie feature or through the links below:

• Spoiler-Free Review
• Every Captain America: Civil War Character From Marvel Comics Confirmed so Far
• 11 Things You Should Know Before Seeing Captain America: Civil War
• Who is Black Panther?
• Who is Agent 13?
• Who is Crossbones?