Sam Wilson being promoted to Captain America will likely be one of my favorite things to ever happen in comics.
When it was first announced that Sam Wilson would be next in line to take up the shield once Steve Rogers was out of commission, I was one of many caught by surprise. A black man is really America’s hero, is what I constantly found myself muttering. That quickly changed to My Captain America can fly.
Outside of a few cringeworthy moments that screamed “Get off my lawn you rambunctious, millennial punks!,” I think Sam Wilson’s run as Captain America should be far more respected than it is. He became the symbol of everyday people in America, not just middle America — what some choose to inaccurately refer to as fringe America.
Sam Wilson could fly down 79th street of my native Chicago to save a family from a burning building but also stop a kidnapping in Evanston. On the other hand, I imagine Steve Rogers never coming south of 35th street or east of the Dan Ryan Expressway. And that means a lot to readers like me.