Falcon is the ‘All-New Captain America’ for Remender and Immonen

Sam Wilson (better known as The Falcon) is the new Captain America. He will be the star of the All-New Captain America series, kicking off this fall in the US. Rick Remender, who writes the current Captain America series, will continue on as scribe, and will be joined by artist Stuart Immonen. 

Marvel has used Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report to announce that Steve Rogers will get a replacement, for the second time in the last decade. Indeed, Cap’s shield has been hanging on Stephen Colbert’s set since Steve Rogers’ apparent “death” in 2007. At that time, former sidekick Bucky Barnes took up the mantle. This time, it’s due to the events of Captain America #21, in which Rogers had his super soldier serum sucked out of him, leaving him without his powers of being slightly better at stuff.

Speaking over at Marvel.com, Remender remarked: “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. 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.”

All-New Captain America #1 cover by Stuart Immonen

This is not the first time that Marvel has experimented with a black super soldier. Back in 2003, Marvel’s Truth: Red, White and Black introduced Isaiah Bradley, an African-America soldier who was experimented on as part of the attempts to recreate the super soldier serum. Through the machinations of Marvel’s wibbly wobbly timey wimey things, an alternative Earth version of Bradley became the president and that version briefly crossed over with the main Marvel-616 universe.

Remender adds: “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.”

It’s not the only major change that Marvel has announced this week. Marvel broadcast its intentions to make Thor a woman on The View this week, beginning with Thor #1 in October. While the fan community remains somewhat divided over that decision, Wilson’s promotion to Captain America comes with decades of partnerships with Rogers and a recent appearance in the blockbuster film, Captain America: The Winter Soldier.