Exploring the Virtues of a New Captain America

In the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe were introduced to a new Captain America: Sam Wilson, whom we first met as the Falcon in the film Captain America: Winter Soldier and who will make his cinematic debut as the Sentinel of Liberty in Captain America: Brave New World.

But comics fans have known Sam as Captain America since 2014, when Steve Rogers handed him the shield in Captain America (vol. 7) #25 after having the super-soldier serum in his body neutralized, returning him to his natural age. In the years since then, Sam has done honor to the name of Captain America, even if his approach to the role differs at times from Steve’s.

To be sure, Sam shares many of the same virtues—character traits that lead you to behave ethically and promote "the good life" for yourself and others—that made Steve Rogers a moral exemplar as Captain America.* Sam proved this for years as the Falcon, of course, but the greater prominence of his new title allows—and demands—that these virtues shine brighter than ever.

Source: Marvel Comics

1. From the beginning, in his very first adventure, he demonstrated again his willingness to sacrifice for others when the villainous Scarecrow releases his fear gas and Sam gives his only gas mask to the young girl he’s protecting (All-New Captain America: Fear Him Infinite Comic #2).
2. He showed his defiance when he thinks to himself, “If I’m all that stands between a legion of super-monsters and New York City—well, that’s the job. Standing alone against impossible odds is what Captain America does.” (Captain America and the Mighty Avengers #7)
3. He exemplified moral integrity when he tells a kid, “Captain America gave you his word. Word is bond” (All-New Captain America: Fear Him Infinite Comic #2), and perseverance when he fought Black Panther (who refused to use Sam’s new title), telling him, “You can stop calling me Sam Wilson. I’m Captain America and I can do this all damn day” (Captain America: Symbol of Truth #5), adapting Steve's famous line from the 2011 film Captain America: The First Avenger.
4. Finally, when Steve’s adopted son Ian asked how he resisted Scarecrow’s gas, Sam admitted to being embarrassed to say it “like your pop would” before telling him, “Courage isn’t about never being scared. It’s about facing that fear. Standing up, pushing through, and doing the damned thing anyway.” Knowing that Steve was listening in, Sam said, “Hope you enjoyed that, Steve,” to which he heard Steve in his earpiece reply, “You know I did” (All-New Captain America: Fear Him Infinite Comic #4).

We also see in this early adventure some subtle ways in which Sam approaches being Captain America differently than his predecessor did.

1. For example, Sam leaned on his background as a social worker when Ian—who grew up in a villain’s brutal Dimension Z before Steve found him there—wanted to beat a thief to scare him straight. Sam explained to him that “criminals aren’t mindless Dimension Z mutates. They’re people. Human beings who’ve made mistakes. We’re out here to help. To make the city safer” (All-New Captain America: Fear Him Infinite Comic #1). Although Steve is fully aware of human fallibility, Sam has more experience dealing with it firsthand, which informs his interactions with people who are closer in moral character to him than to the Red Skull: misguided and mistaken, and certainly to be held responsible for that, but not evil, irredeemable, or subhuman.
2. We see this also when he found a group of kids living underground (literally), and when they became afraid he was going to arrest them, he said, “I grew up on those same streets. My dice landed better than yours, but I hear you. I remember” (All-New Captain America: Fear Him Infinite Comic #2). Steve has had his own moments of “there but for the grace of God go I” also, but more often after he encounters people who had bad reactions to the super-soldier serum than to people who are simply down on their luck (even though he grew up poor as well).

In the posts that follow, we’ll look deeper into Sam’s life to see how and why his approach to Captain America differs from Steve’s in important respects—starting with the most obvious difference between them.