Hypothetically speaking, what would happen if Captain America took (and survived) the heart shape herb from Wakanda?

Lots of people on the internet would get angry.

The implications aside

Probably nothing in terms of powers. I think it’s fairly implied that the herb doesn’t stack and that he already has an equivalent power set. 

What would be interesting is, the herb seems to put you in a real or imagined communion state with your dead ancestors or perhaps the dead ancestors who took the herb before? So Steve Rodgers goes and sees Irish Immigrants in Brooklyn or on the ship over maybe? Or maybe sees George Washington? Or just, who knows, he sees the black panthers and has a weird and awkward conversation. 

I don't know about Steve, but to generically answer your question-- you end up with a monster. Remember in the Hulk movie, Emil was first enhanced one way, then enhanced another way, and that's why he became the Abomination? Similarly, Ted Sallis took the super-soldier serum then got hit with the mystical energies of a Nexus and again-- he became a monster. Even Sharon Ventura became a female monster because she was enhanced two or three different ways.

There are other examples, but the gist is always the same: most of the time when you're greedy to be enhanced more than once, your body can't handle it and you mutate into a monster.

He'd be the White Puma

We don't have anything even approaching enough info about how either work to make any real arguments for or against literally any outcome. So whatever the story needed to happen. That's kind of a copout answer, but it's also the actual reason we don't have enough info. The writers don't want to close doors they might want later by explaining too much now.

Although, I did see where someone pointed out that those enhanced in multiple ways become monsters. They make a good point that I hadn't considered, but I'm not familiar enough to say if there might be cases where that's not true too.

Anyone else out there think it might be the severest ingredient that made the super soldier serum actually work? 

I don't think it would enhance him any more than he was, but damn I'd love the scene with him and his father in the Ancestral Plane.


I read one fic, and it was kind of heartbreaking, but it was all the times Steve almost died and he'd end up in Heaven but in an antechamber (Heaven knew what was up) and he always asked to talk to his father and every time he'd ask him if he was proud of him and his dad would tell him yes. And every time Steve would live- mostly because of the serum- and forget. So his poor dad had to tell his self sacrificing son over and over that yes he was proud of him hoping he'd stop trying to get himself killed just to live up to a ghost but not being able to do anything to stop him.

I thought it would be interesting if the MCU either made Sam a mutant as a through-line to the X-Men, or gave him the heart-shaped herb, perhaps after a battle where he's badly hurt and the herb would cure him. 


Nothing. The serum made him as physically perfect as he could be. The herb would have nothing to improve

I think whichever made him stronger, faster would win

That's how we got the Pink Panther.

I think he’d talk to his mom. I’m not sure if the changes would do much more than what the serum already did.

I always assumed the super soldier serum was derived from the heart shaped herb, or a reproduced version of it's effects

So likely nothing. He's already got it.

My absolutely baseless theory is that the super soldier serum is an attempt to make an synthesised version of the Heart Shaped Herb

My headcanon, based on nothing, is that the Super Soldier Serum is actually derives from the Heart Shaped Herb via samples stolen in the 19th century by German explorers and unsuccessfully studied for decades until Dr whatshisname figured out how to make it work. So taking more wouldn't help.

Having two different means to achieve the exact same end annoys me. It's inelegant.

Do we know the origins of the super soldier serum? I imagine it could originate from the heart shaped herb. This doesn't answer the question of what would happen with a double dose, but it's food for thought.

Cap is already at the peak of human capability. Nothing would happen.