Since 1940, Captain America has [mostly] been portrayed by Steve Rogers, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed All-American archetype meant to represent American ideals in the face of the then-threat of Nazi Germany. The title “Captain America” has outgrown the man as Captain America represents an icon, an idea, a belief of American justice and patriotism. Without getting too into the fictional story behind the Captain America comics or Steve Rogers, many story arcs have analyzed the definition of who and what Captain America is.
Many stories have seen other characters take the mantle of Captain America outside of Rogers. For instance, Isaiah Bradley was the first black character to share the Captain America name in the 2003 limited series, Truth: Red, White, & Black, which took the initial super soldier serum story that gave Rogers his powers, but also drew parallels to the Tuskegee syphilis experiments that took place from 1932 to 1972. However, whereas Truth: Red, White, & Black depicted an alternative Captain America never meant to replace Rogers, Marvel’s new direction for the character will not only re-envision the future of the Captain America brand, but also represents Marvel’s willingness to update and modernize their stories and characters to befit current American culture.
Last week, the company announced that Sam Wilson AKA The Falcon (portrayed by Anthony Mackie in Captain America: The Winter Soldier) will become Captain America this fall in the pages of All-New Captain America #1. With Wilson in the fray, Marvel will not only be able to move away from the “displaced man from history” trope that Rogers always represented, but can depict a Captain America that holds different values and views that differ greatly from Rogers’, but still correlate to what the stars and stripes represent. Captain America editor Tom Brevoort elaborates:
“[Sam] 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[…] 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.”
The move makes sense from a creative and narrative standpoint for Marvel. However, it also represents something much larger than a simple comic book: Marvel’s willingness to adapt and modernize decades-old establishments that have, for better or worse, become outdated. Three years ago, the company introduced a new Spider-Man to their Ultimate universe, Miles Morales, a young half-Black, half-Latino teenager who took over the Spider-Man name after Peter Parker’s death. In the three years since his debut, Morales has become one of the company’s most popular characters. However, while he may be the star of the Ultimate line of comic books, he didn’t replace the standard Peter Parker found in the main Marvel comic books, instead representing a push towards a spotlight on minorities on a smaller scale within the Ultimate line. Still, the willingness to introduce a multiracial character into a large role was huge for both Marvel and the reception and acceptance of minorities in major pop culture circles.
Earlier this year, Marvel introduced the first Muslim character, Kamala Khan, to have their own comic book with Ms. Marvel, the fourth character to take the name of Ms. Marvel. Khan, a Pakistani-American teenager, has been viewed as a window through which non-Muslim readers can see. Also announced last week was Marvel’s intentions to replace the current Thor character with a woman. With a black/hispanic Spider-Man, a Muslim Ms. Marvel, a female Thor, and a black Captain America, Marvel is flipping the white hegemony historically found in comics by elevating a wide range of racially-diverse characters into the spotlight under the names of the company’s most iconic heroes.
Furthermore, it’s the perfect time for a mainstream entertainment juggernaut like Marvel to feature a minority character in a substantial role. It’s one thing to create a new character with a new background, mythology, etc.; it’s another to include a character in the long-line of history and prestige that something as iconic as a brand or name carries with it. By appointing Sam Wilson as the next Captain America, Marvel is showing their investment and faith in the character, the comic’s writers, and audiences’ acceptance of the shifting status quo.
Naysayers may just see the move as a gimmick. And to be honest, those are very real concerns, especially considering the entire Captain America franchise outside of the comics. For example, Captain America: The Winter Soldier finished its box office run with above $700m in revenue. Considering the announcement of a new Captain America was just announced, it will be many years before the possibility of a black Captain America hits the screens. By that point, will Sam Wilson still be in the stars and stripes? Will Marvel even want to portray a character not named Steve Rogers as Captain America on the big screen? Earlier this year, when current The Amazing Spider-Man star Andrew Garfield expressed his support of Miles Morales appearing underneath the Spider-Man mask in theaters, Marvel balked at the idea of another character portraying one of their tentpole characters.
Marvel took a major step towards the diversification of their characters and brand. In doing so, they also acknowledged the changing landscape of American culture, setting forth a precedent where it won’t be news that the next Iron Man will be Chinese or Spider-Man will be Filipino/Colombian. For now, all of us minorities can be happy that a company with such prestige as Marvel’s is willing to buck the American white hegemony for one that better represents modern-day America.