After Thor, Marvel Announces Big Change To Captain America

Sam Wilson will carry Captain America's shield.

It's the second major announcement from comics publisher Marvel, which also said this week that the new Thor will be female.

Sam Wilson, as you might (or might not) know, is the Falcon, one of Captain America's major allies. (He was played by Anthony Mackie in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.) He also happens to be African-American, though he isn't the first black Captain America.

In the current comic, Steve Rogers, the Captain America, has lost the strength gained from being injected with super-soldier serum. This causes him to age 65 years instantly. (Cap has been around awhile. He fought Hitler during World War II.)

"Sam's not going to be Steve," writer Rick Remender said in a Marvel statement. "Steve can be very rigid. That can be kind of joyless at times, whereas Sam is absolutely not that."

News of Wilson taking over the mantle was announced Wednesday by Joe Queseda, Marvel's chief creative officer, on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report. Here's the video:

And if the thought of Rogers no longer being Captain America saddens you, don't worry. He'll stick around and serve as a strategic adviser to Wilson.

Besides, if there's one thing we know about comics, it's that nothing — not even death — is final.

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