Sam Wilson’s Captain America Series Will Explore Race on a Global Scale

Sam Wilson’s Captain America is about to tackle the issue of race on a global scale. The title of “Captain America” is very much a legacy one, with Steve Rogers sharing the shield with many others over the years. The most famous of these is, of course, Sam Wilson; the high-flying superhero who once quipped his codename isn’t “…and the Falcon” because he was getting so well-known for being Captain America’s sidekick, but who went on to prove himself a worthy successor.

Now, though, the comics have embraced the legacy of Captain America, proving two shields are better than one. Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson are sharing the “Captain America” identity, with writer Tochi Onyebuchi penning an upcoming Captain America: Symbol of Truth series that focuses in on Sam. This bold new era will begin in April in Captain America #0, which will star both star-spangled Avengers in an adventure in which they stop Arnim Zola turning people into dinosaurs (he seems to be taking a tip from X-Men villain Sauron).

In their latest podcast, Book Dreams interviewed Tochi Onyebuchi about his upcoming miniseries. While Sam Wilson comics have often focused on the cultural impact of a Black Captain America, he’s looking beyond that to its impact on the world.

“In college I was a PolySci major, with a focus on international relations, so I was always fascinated by the world outside the borders of the United States. And it never left, and so I watch a lot of foreign films, I watch a lot of foreign TV films, and I’m just really fascinated by America’s interaction with the world outside of America. And if Captain America is this… representation of America, then what does it mean to represent America in these foreign places? Especially when America’s foreign policy has been… characterized as destructive, as subversive. What is it going to look like if Captain America, as embodied in Sam Wilson, is enlisted in an effort at regime change? What is that going to mean for Sam, how is he going to react to that, what is that going to mean for Captain America – as is the subtitle of the book – a ‘symbol of truth’?”

The Marvel Universe is traditionally set in “the world outside your window” – but, typically, it’s the world outside a window in New York. When Sam Wilson became Captain America, it led to a fantastic comic book arc that explored him as a symbol of America’s fractured self-identity. But Onyebuchi is taking this idea in a very different direction, asking what Sam Wilson’s Captain America means for the world.

Clearly, Onyebuchi’s focus is well beyond the West, for that matters; he teases the possibility Sam Wilson’s Captain America will be called into action to force a regime change in another nation. While this will likely be a fictional country – Marvel has never minded creating places like Latveria, Wakanda, and Madripoor – the issues it’s dealing with are very real. What makes this even more interesting, of course, is the fact there’s a natural theme of race woven into this global context. This is Sam Wilson’s Captain America, not Steve Rogers’, and the world will react to Sam in a very different way. It’s an idea the MCU should pay attention to, given the global focus of the MCU’s Phase 4, so Onyebuchi may well be blazing the trail for the big screen here.

Source: Book Dreams

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Thomas Bacon
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Tom Bacon is one of Screen Rant’s staff writers, as well as a Peer Mentor for new writers and a member of the Care Team, offering support and a listening ear to members of the Comics group. A lifelong fan of major franchises including Star Wars, Doctor Who, and Marvel, Tom is delighted his childhood is back – and this time it’s cool. You can find him on Twitter @TomABacon.

A graduate of Edge Hill University, Tom remains strongly connected with his alma mater as a volunteer chaplain. He’s heavily involved with his local church, and anyone who checks him out on Twitter will swiftly learn he’s into British politics too.

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