Meet the New Captain America: Sam Wilson Takes Up the Shield in the Comics
The world of Marvel comics is going through some major changes. While Wednesday saw the announcement of a female Thor taking up Mjolnir for a new comic book series, now Captain America, Steve Rogers, has been forced into early retirement. So, who is taking over the reins? None other than his buddy Sam Wilson, aka The Falcon!
"This is it," said 'All-New Captain America' writer Rick Remender. "This is the fireworks factory we’re arriving at, and now everything’s going to blow up and be very pretty and exciting to look at."
As Whoopi revealed the news of the big Thor gender swap on 'The View,' Stephen Colbert dropped this star-spangled bombshell on 'The Colbert Report' last night. As Marvel stated in a press release, Steve Rogers has lost his super-strength and vitality and must trade in his shield for a cane, which is where Sam Wilson now steps in. But here's the best part -- he still has his Falcon wings, making him one badass-looking Captain America-Falcon hybrid. "Why not merge the two?" remarked Remender. "He pops the wings, and as he flies, he keeps the shield latched onto his back."
While this makes for an interesting turn of events in the comic books, we can't help but think this is Marvel's not-so subtle way of hinting at what could possibly happen in future Captain America and Avengers movies. We might be a little crazy, but hear us out...
We all know that actor Chris Evans will eventually hang up the vibranium shield as soon as his Marvel contract is up (he's spoken about it at length for the past year), which means someone will have to step up to the plate. When Bucky Barnes was revealed to still be alive in 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier,' some speculated that Sebastian Stan could be the one to succeed him, as is the case with his character in the comic book canon. But with this new Sam Wilson development, we now seemingly have another candidate to consider. Is it a coincidence that this new iteration of Captain America-Falcon looks a lot like Anthony Mackie, who even said he'll return in future movies?
Said editor Tom Brevoort in a lengthy statement on the new comic book run:
While Sam shares many of Steve’s beliefs in a general sense, he’s also a very different person with a very different background. He didn’t grow up in the 1930s, he’s a modern day man in touch with the problems of the 21st Century. For most of his professional life, Sam has worked as a social worker, so he’s seen the worst of urban society up close, and how crime, poverty, lack of social structure and opportunity can affect the community. So he’s got perhaps a greater focus on the plight of the common man, and perhaps a greater empathy for the underprivileged than maybe even Steve himself. He’s also not a military man, so he’s more apt to be instinctively skeptical of any situation that calls for just following orders. Sam, like Steve, will be led by his personal morality and beliefs as to what is right and what is wrong—and where his beliefs may differ in their shading from those of the previous Cap are where the interesting stories will be found.
Both Remender and his co-creator Stuart Immonen still have a lot of work to do on the comic, but 'All-New Captain America' #1 will drop this fall.