The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has us diving into Captain America's history, sizing up
everyone who's carried the shield from Steve Rogers to John Walker, and Isaiah Bradley
to Clark Kent. Yeah — that Clark Kent. These are the many marvelous heroes who've been
called Captain America.
The one, the only, the original Captain America.
Anyone watching this likely already knows exactly who he is and how his story unfolds.
Too small and weak to join the army, Steve Rogers joined the Super Soldier Program in
order to serve his country during World War II. Injected with Dr. Erskine's famous serum,
the scrawny boy was suddenly transformed into the absolute peak of human ability. Steve
joined the war against the Nazis, often battling the Red Skull and Hydra in the comics.
Near the war's end, however, Steve was plunged into the Arctic Sea while stopping a bombing
run, but the super soldier serum kept him alive, causing him to spend decades frozen
beneath the ice. Years later, Steve was eventually found and reanimated in 1963's Avengers #4,
joining the newly-formed team in their efforts to protect a world he no longer recognized.
The second person to become Captain America wasn't replacing Steve Rogers, but was rather
the tragic victim of a horrific attempt to reformulate the lost Super Soldier Serum.
Truth: Red, White & Black, a seven-issue series published in 2003, explores the United States
government's attempt to try to reconstruct the serum through trial and error at the cost
of human lives.
In an unsettling reference to the horrific Tuskegee Experiments, the United States launched
a program to experiment on 300 African-American soldiers in order to slowly reconstruct the
lost Super Soldier Serum. When all was said and done, only five had survived and were
successfully enhanced.
Of those five, only Isaiah Bradley lasted long enough to be sent on a suicide mission
to destroy the Nazi equivalent of the Super Soldier Program. Isaiah stole a Captain America
uniform and shield meant for Steve Rogers and successfully completed the mission — but
was arrested, imprisoned, and experimented on once again upon his return to the states.
"Pledge allegiance to that, my brother."
Played by Carl Lumbly in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier show, many fans met Isaiah
for the first time when Bucky and Sam tracked him down in Baltimore in the show's second
episode.
Audiences also met his grandson Elijah, who in the comics became the super-hero known
as "Patriot" after a blood transfusion from his grandfather made him a super-soldier.
The origin of Captain America involved some discrepancies that were only cleared up through
the invention of William Burnside, a most unusual take on the Captain America character.
We all now agree that Steve Rogers went into the ice in 1945. But the character, and Bucky
Barnes, still appeared in several adventures during an attempted revival in the 1950s.
These stories were more or less ignored until writer Steve Englehart figured out a complicated
way to make them canonical.
Writer Steve Englehart introduced the idea that the 1950s Captain America was yet another
attempt to recreate the serum and create a new patriotic super soldier.
In 1972's Captain America #153, fans met historian William Burnside, who was obsessed with Rogers
and discovered a copy of Erskine's secret formula, offering to give it to the US government
if they allowed him to fight in the Korean War as the new Captain America.
The government agreed, and so Burnside changed his name, face, and voice to exactly match
Steve Rogers. But before the serum could be administered, the Korean War ended and the
United States lost interest entirely.
Undeterred, this new "Steve Rogers" took the formula anyway and soon defeated a communist
Red Skull. The formula was flawed however, and though it gave him greater strength than
his idol, it also affected his mind, causing him to lose his sanity.
The US put Burnside in stasis until a cure could be found, and he was eventually released
from his ageless prison in present day, where he fought the real Steve Rogers for the mantle
of Captain America.
Over time, Steve Rogers grew disillusioned with increasing corruption in the United States
government and denounced his former mantle and shield, becoming a new hero known as Nomad
instead. During this time, three different men all tried and failed to take up the mantle
in his stead.
In 1974's Captain America #178, star baseball player Robert Russo tried first but quickly
gave up after misjudging a swing over a wall and breaking his arm.
In the next issue, street tough Scar Turpin gave it a shot, and after receiving an extensive
beating while trying to stop a mugging, he never tried again. Neither men were trusted
with Steve Rogers' indestructible shield.
The final replacement was a man named Roscoe Simons. After the two previous failures, Roscoe
decided to try, proving himself capable enough in battle to be trusted with Rogers' actual
shield. He even began training for the role under the tutelage of Sam Wilson, the Falcon.
His heroics were ultimately short-lived, however. In his first encounter with the Red Skull
in Captain America #183, the villain immediately knew Roscoe was not the true Captain America
and killed him, prompting Steve to once again step forward.
When Steve Rogers retired as Captain America yet again, a new, much more successful replacement
was chosen to take on the mantle in 1987's Captain America #333.
US Army veteran John Walker was just a normal man before he was given powers equivalent
to the Super Soldier Serum by the Power Broker. Though initially operating as "Super-Patriot,"
he welcomed the opportunity to become the new Captain America and filled the role with
gusto.
Handed Cap's nigh-indestructible shield, Walker was by far the most physically capable and
successful replacement up to this point, but his hardline stances and merciless execution
of his interpretation of the law made him a far darker Captain America than Steve had
ever been. After he viciously tortured and murdered a group of criminals who had killed
his parents, Steve decided that Walker was too unstable to keep the role any longer and
stripped him of the shield and title in 1989's Captain America #351.
Of course, John Walker joined The Falcon and Winter Soldier as the Marvel Cinematic Universe's
first replacement Captain America, with a storyline that followed the bleak, broad strokes
of his comic book counterpart's story.
When Steve Rogers was assassinated in 2007's Captain America #25 at the end of the comic
book version of Civil War, Tony Stark tried desperately to find someone who could fill
the void Steve left behind.
In the third issue of Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America, Tony revealed that his
first choice was none other than Clint Barton, the heroic marksman better known as Hawkeye.
Though a seemingly odd choice at first glance, Iron Man eventually revealed that he chose
Clint because he was one of the only other people on the planet who could actually handle
Cap's indestructible shield.
Though reluctant at first, Clint went out for one mission as the new Captain America
in honor of Steve's memory, but even though he performed perfectly and handled the shield
with ease, that was the last time he ever did so.
Iron Man had sent Barton on a mission to capture other heroes from Steve's side of the Civil
War, and once Barton realized this, he immediately turned on Iron Man, and turned the mantle
of Captain America down.
Tony eventually found Steve's replacement in the last place he wanted to look: Captain
America's original partner, Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier.
Made famous by the movie of the same name, Bucky's journey from World War II sidekick
to secret Russian super-assassin is well established — in the movies and comics both, Steve helped
him reject his brainwashing and recapture his inner heroism.
After Steve's death, Bucky had no desire to become the new Captain America, but after
the increased insistence of many of his closest friends and allies, he finally took up the
mantle in Captain America #34. Bucky initially used a gun, but eventually grew comfortable
enough with the shield and identity to fight evil without it.
When Steve Rogers eventually returned to life a few years later, Bucky gave his old friend
back the shield and then adopted the identity of the Winter Soldier once again.
A social worker in New York, Sam Wilson, aka the Falcon, befriended Steve after he was
freed from the ice and eventually became his partner in crimefighting starting with 1969's
Captain America #117.
Sam remained Steve's staunch ally for years and became so popular that Captain America's
solo comic book series was renamed Captain America and the Falcon with issue #134. Sam
eventually joined the Avengers and fought alongside his friend all over the world.
Later, Steve Rogers was stripped of the Super Soldier Serum that gave him his strength in
2014's Captain America #21 and subsequently transformed into the scrawny weakling he had
been in his youth.
Rogers asked Sam Wilson to take up the Captain America mantle in his stead, and though reluctant
at first, he ultimately accepted, becoming the All-New Captain America in issue #25.
Adopting a costume that kept the wings of his Falcon days, Sam took to the skies to
use his shield to battle evil and injustice across the country.
When Steve Rogers was seemingly returned to normal, he insisted that Sam Wilson keep the
shield, and the two both remained Captain America at the same time. In 2016's Captain
America: Steve Rogers #1 however, Rogers was revealed to be a secret agent for none other
than Hydra, the very evil that he had fought for almost his entire life.
This sinister "Steve" schemed for months, manipulating Sam until he was so disillusioned
that he gave up being Captain America on his own. When he was finally ready, Steve led
Hydra to victory and conquered the entire country in the event known as Secret Empire.
Thankfully, his time in power proved short-lived. Sam Wilson, upon realizing what Steve had
become, joined the underground resistance, took back the shield, and became Captain America
once again. The heroes eventually discovered that Hydra's "Steve" was from an alternate
timeline and managed to recover the true Steve Rogers once and for all, who defeated the
Hydra imposter.
After the dust settled, Sam Wilson retired from the role of Captain America for good
— returning the shield to the real Steve so that he could begin regaining the nation's
trust.
Though many heroes from Marvel Comics' vast catalogue of characters have donned the shield
and mantle of Captain America, the most unexpected person to do so didn't belong to Marvel at
all — because it was Superman.
In 1996, DC and Marvel Comics agreed to one of their rare, official crossover events in
a series titled Marvel versus DC. The miniseries was predicated on the gimmick that fans would
vote to decide various match-ups, essentially determining the plotlines.
The series eventually saw the two companies' heroes temporarily merged into an Amalgam
Universe in Marvel versus DC #3. The universe featured superhero mashups like the combination
of Dr. Strange and Dr. Fate, Dr. StrangeFate; the Batman and Wolverine hybrid Dark Claw;
and the Superman and Captain America combo known as Super Soldier.
Still named Clark Kent, Super Soldier gained the powers of Superman in the 1940s when he
received a super soldier serum developed from the cells of a deceased alien corpse. With
his newfound strength, Super Soldier took the fight to the Nazis and frequently battled
with Lex Luthor, the leader of Hydra.
Before he became trapped in ice, Steve Rogers was in love with a woman named Peggy Carter,
played on screen in the MCU by Hayley Atwell. A British secret agent, she was involved in
the Allies Super Soldier program alongside Dr. Erskine and worked with Steve in Europe
once he became Captain America. When Steve woke up in the modern world, however, he found
that Peggy was now an old woman and their romance was one of the many casualties of
his lost decades.
In one alternate reality, however, things didn't follow the same blueprint. 2018's Exiles
#3 revealed a new reality titled Earth-86315 where the assassin that killed Dr. Erskine
also killed Steve Rogers before he could take the serum.
Encouraged by Howard Stark, Peggy Carter took the Super Soldier Serum and became Captain
America herself. Combined with excellent combat and espionage skills from her time as a spy,
her new superhuman abilities were put to devastating use against the Axis Powers.
Steven Rogers, one of the most bizarre alternate Captain Americas, was created by Jack Kirby
for 1976's Captain America #194 and Captain America's Bicentennial Battles #1.
Steven Rogers was a captain in the American Revolutionary War who disguised himself in
an outfit decorated like Betsy Ross' new flag. He fought alongside General George Washington
until he was struck by a cannonball and finally killed in one of the final battles of the
war.
Though some referred to him as "Captain America," his descendent Steve Rogers would eventually
become the first individual to truly carry that title during World War II. Though the
gargantuan coincidences needed to create this story stretch the suspension of disbelief
to the breaking point, it's still a fun story that essentially functions as a "What If?"
where Steve became Cap a century and a half before he traditionally does.
By far the most recent addition to this list is Aaron Fischer, the "Captain America of
the Railways."
Set to debut on June 2021 in United States of Captain America #1 by writer Christopher
Cantwell and artist Dale Eaglesham, Aaron will be the first openly gay Captain America.
The series' story will follow John Walker, Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, and Sam Wilson
as they seek Steve's missing shield.
During their search, they will apparently come across different characters who have
been impacted by the symbol of Captain America, one of whom will be Aaron Fischer. Promotional
materials show Aaron wielding a home-made approximation of Cap's costume along with
a trashcan lid painted like his famous shield. Although he does not possess any of the superhuman
abilities of his idol, Aaron will be a force for good who helps runaways and homeless youth
along the city's many railway lines.
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