It’s not exactly unusual for people other than Steve Rogers to take up Captain America’s iconic shield, but coming off the announcement of the brand new female Thor, this is liable to stir the pot even more—Sam Wilson (also known as Falcon) will be Cap in the comics, starting this October.
This seems a more than fitting swap; Sam Wilson was Marvel’s first black American superhero when he debuted in 1969, and letting him take over while Rogers is down for the count is an admirable choice. (It looks like Steve is being de-serumed? Poor guy. We imagine he’ll cause trouble regardless, just not in his typical duds.) It also makes sense for Marvel to go with Wilson given his recent screen debut in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, where he was played with effortless charm by Anthony Mackie. Remember this guy? Marvel is saying. You love this guy! And they’re right; Sam Wilson was instantly endearing on film, and is also fascinating character comics-side to put into that red-white-and-blue uniform.
The announcement came with Joe Quesada’s appearance on The Colbert Report (which led to this amazing illustration of Colbert becoming Falcon in Wilson’s absence). With these major changes in Marvel’s lineup, some fans are speculating that Tony Stark is next for the benching. Will he stick around, or perhaps be replaced by Pepper Potts in her Rescue armor? Either way, it should be fun to see where this goes, and what it means for Avengers comics as well as the Captain America mythos.