Sam Wilson, formerly the Falcon, will take on the cowl and shield in a new series launching in November, CCO Joe Quesada tells Stephen Colbert.
A day after it was revealed that Marvel Entertainment would be replacing the comic book incarnation of Thor with a new, female version, the publisher followed through on an earlier tease by announcing that Sam Wilson, formerly the superhero known as the Falcon, would be taking over the role of Captain America this October.
The announcement, long-rumored in comic book fandom, was made by Marvel CCO Joe Quesada on Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report on Wednesday night.
Wilson, created by Stan Lee and Gene Colan, first appeared in 1969’s Captain America #117 and was—somewhat depressingly, given the date—the first African-American superhero in mainstream comics (The Black Panther, who had debuted in Fantastic Four years earlier, was African, coming from the fictional country of Wakanda). By 1971, he was upgraded to co-star status when the series was retitled Captain America and the Falcon, a change that lasted until 1978 when Steve Rogers went solo once more.
Since then, Wilson has enjoyed short-lived runs in various titles, including most recently Avengers, Mighty Avengers and the current Captain America series. Additionally, the character debuted on the big screen earlier this year in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Wilson will take on the role of Captain America in October’s Captain America #25, written by Rick Remender with art by Carlos Pacheco. In doing so, he will become the seventh character to use the name in Marvel continuity, as well as the second of Captain America’s former sidekicks to take the identity on in the last decade.
Quesada's appearance on the show was the second high-profile announcement from Marvel regarding a character with their own Marvel movie franchise in as many days; earlier on Wednesday, rumors began to surface that the publisher has similar plans for Iron Man, completing the trio of non-Avengers or Guardians of the Galaxy movie properties undergoing renewal this fall.