Project Rebirth

"I am looking for qualities beyond the physical." "Do you know how long it took to set up this project? Of all the groveling I had to do in front of Senator What's-his-name's committee?"

- Abraham Erskine and Chester Phillips

Project Rebirth, also called Operation Rebirth and Weapons Plus, was a secret United States government project administered by the United States Army to create Super Soldiers for its World War II efforts. Their first and only success was Steve Rogers who eventually became 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

Steve Rogers was chosen by Abraham Erskine to become a Super Soldier with 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.

Appearances
In chronological order:
 * 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)
 * Iron Man: Security Measures (mentioned)

Trivia

 * In The Incredible Hulk the Super Soldier Program was labeled "Weapons Plus". In the comics, Project Rebirth was the first Weapon Plus program, labeled as "Weapon I", that continued to create projects over the decades.
 * Howard Stark stated his desire to name the operation "Brooklyn Project", to contrast with the 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.