The big picture
- In the MCU, Steve Rogers is handing over the role of Captain America to Sam Wilson, who is fully embracing the role in the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
- Introduced as Falcon in Marvel Comics, Sam Wilson formed a partnership with Steve Rogers that eventually led to his tenure as Captain America.
- Sam Wilson officially became Captain America in Captain America Vol. 7 #25 after Rogers appointed him his replacement due to his age and the neutralization of his powers. Wilson later resumed the shield to free America from Hydra’s rule, eventually returning it to Rogers.
Since debuting in Timely Comics Captain America Comics Steve Rogers, number 1 in December 1940, is the name that has become synonymous with All-American hero Captain America. The same is true in the MCU, of course, where Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) became Captain America in the 2011 film Captain America: The First Avenger. Fans of the MCU will also know that the aged Steve Rogers passed his shield on to Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), also known as Falcon, at the end of Avengers: Endgame, placing Captain America’s mantle on Wilson’s shoulders. It wouldn’t last until the end of the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldierhowever, when Sam Wilson fully embraced the moniker, and didn’t do so until the release of the fourth Captain America film in 2024, Captain America: Brave New Worldthat we’ll see Wilson’s Cap back in action. However, in the pages of Marvel Comics, Sam Wilson has been there for a while and is doing so.
What is Sam Wilson’s relationship with Steve Rogers in Marvel Comics?
Image via Marvel Comics
Sam Wilson was featured on the pages of CaptainAmerica #117, September 1969. He is a former Harlem resident who had adopted and trained a wild hawk named Redwing. After a group of men placed an ad on an island looking for a hunting falcon, Wilson responded. However, he soon learned that the men were former Nazis and cohorts of the rogue Red Skull. Wilson escaped their clutches and stayed on the island to encourage the natives to revolt against the men. Wilson then met Steve Rogers, who urged Wilson to assume the identity of the Falcon, one of the first Black American superheroes in mainstream comics, and trained with him to inspire villagers to take action. It was the beginning of a partnership that would see them as a formidable team throughout the 1970s and beyond. It’s the camaraderie and trust between the two that laid the foundation for Wilson’s tenure as Captain America.
When did Sam Wilson officially become Captain America?
Image via Marvel Comics
Sam Wilson had taken on his friend’s role a number of times over the years, including in a story arc where Rogers was killed by the leader of the Sons of the Shield, resulting in Wilson taking on the role of Captain America in order to inherit the legacy his friend’s continued will not be clouded. But it wouldn’t take that long CaptainAmerica Vol. 7 #25, published October 2014, that Sam would first legitimately become Captain America. In the accompanying storyline, Rogers’ super soldier serum’s powers were neutralized by the villain known as Iron Nail, causing him to age rapidly. Unable to continue, Rogers named Wilson his official successor at an Avengers meeting, which was a given given the Falcon had risked his life to protect and save the world.
Wilson’s tenure as the new Cap continued in 2015 All new Captain America Comics and then a series from 2015–2017 Captain America: Sam Wilson. After learning that SHIELD would create its own Cosmic Cube, an action Wilson staunchly opposed, he quit his government job and chose to be a hero whose priority was the people. After the new Cosmic Cube, Kobik, was completed, it gave Rogers his powers and youth back, and for a time both Rogers and Wilson were Captain America, only Hydra Supreme had replaced Rogers with a Hydra version. As Rogers and Hydra began to take over the US government, Wilson officially resigned as captain and refused to cooperate with America as the country was taking a worrying direction.
As the US became a fascist state under the rule of Hydra Rogers, Wilson worked in a rescue network, helping people flee the country. Upon discovering that the real Steve Rogers was trapped in Kobik, which had been shattered to pieces, Wilson picked up the shield, determined to restore an America that had fallen dramatically. As Cap, Wilson helped locate all of Kobik’s pieces and restored the true Rogers, defeating his evil doppelganger and restoring America to its former freedoms. In Generations: Sam Wilson Captain America and Steve Rogers Captain America #1: Wilson returned the shield to Rogers as he believed the world needed Rogers as Captain America to inspire it and wanted his longtime friend to have a chance to redeem himself.
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Sam Wilson returns as Captain America, with a little help from his friends
Image via Marvel Comics
CaptainAmerica #750 contains a story that explains why Sam Wilson became Captain America again, and it’s one of the most touching moments in comics. Steve Rogers himself would continue to try to have Wilson back as a fellow Captain America, but Wilson dismissed the idea. Until private detective and friend Misty Knight presents a new shield built with the help of all the Avengers. “T’Challa provided the vibranium“Says Misty.”Tony created the design. Thor used his hammer. And I used mine.” Then she reads the who’s who of the Marvel heroes who all believe he’ll be Captain America again: Sharon Carter, Quicksilver, Black Widow, Steve Rogers and more. It would be a solemn moment to stand in front of the tombstones of his parents as Wilson is genuinely motivated to become who they raised him to be, which is to become Captain America.
The beauty of Sam Wilson as Captain America is how he speaks for and empathizes with people. He has no powers, no super soldier serum to increase his strength, no mutant abilities, not even a vast fortune and the know-how to build a high-tech armory. Wilson is just a man, but a man who believes in the good he can do as a symbol of what is right. A man who can understand the struggles of humanity on a level that people of superhuman abilities simply cannot understand. As a hawk, Wilson protected the people of his town and worked with Rogers to make the world a safer place. As Captain America, he works as an equal partner with Rogers’ Captain America, two inspiring heroes who define those honorable qualities that elevate their country and the rest of the free world above those who would rise up against them.
Source : collider.com