14 DAY TRIAL // Marvel continues to switch things up with their comic book series and, after the announcement that Thor will be female starting October (which has caused plenty of unrest among fans), it’s now introducing the All-New Captain America, who is black. Comic book fans are already familiar with the character that will be taking over from Steve Rogers.
He is Sam Wilson aka Falcon, and he will be the All-New Captain America. The photo above is the first illustration released by Marvel for this character, who will debut in the series by Stuart Immonen and Rick Remender.
Marvel explains that handing over all Captain America duties and the shield becomes a necessity in this new series because Steve Rogers has been “robbed of his superior strength of vitality.” There is even some implication that he will be physically incapacitated, so he handpicks his good friend Sam to help him out.
The new series will premiere this fall.
“This is it. 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. It leads into an evolution of Steve Rogers’ character that I had very early when I was given the job,” Remender says.
“I think that it’s important with these stories to do things that are natural and make sense and have an inherent logic to the universe, but are also constantly shifting and exciting, keeping the drama high. In order to do that it really comes down to creating new dynamics,” he continues.
Many things will change in the comics because of the introduction of this new Captain, mostly because, unlike Steve, Sam is a product of modern times. Steve was frozen for years and then brought back to life, which explains all of his antiquated and very noble ideals, but also his inflexibility on certain topics.
Sam is the opposite of that. He’s also not a soldier, and that too makes his attitude different.
“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,” editor Tom Brevoort says.
In more ways than one, Sam will be a champion of the people in a manner in which Steve could never be.
“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,” Brevoort adds.
All in all, by introducing this All-New Captain America, Marvel is looking to tackle topics they couldn’t before because of Steve’s background. And they promise fans the change will be for the better.