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Target 04 of 30 · Avengers

Captain America

IdentityConfirmed

Real nameSamuel Wilson

CodenameFalcon / Captain America

ContinentAvengers

In DoomsdayAnthony Mackie (on Marvel's cast list; role not yet named)¹

First seenCaptain America #117, September 1969²

Created byStan Lee, Gene Colan²

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Level 1 // The briefDecrypted · 30 seconds

WhoA Harlem social worker who became Captain America's partner, the Falcon, flying on glider wings, and later took up the shield as Captain America himself.³

AbilitiesFlight on high-tech wings, close-combat skill, and the Captain America shield.³

In DoomsdayMarvel lists Anthony Mackie in the cast but has not named his role; his most recent released role was Sam Wilson / Captain America.¹

Last seenCaptain America: Brave New World (2025), as Sam Wilson / Captain America: He faces down President Ross as the Red Hulk and clears Isaiah Bradley's name.⁸

Sources

Level 2 // Surveillance recordOn screen · 8 sightings, 8 in the MCU

Every live-action sighting of Captain America, and everything Marvel has confirmed.

2014
Captain America: The Winter Soldier MCU
Anthony Mackie A former Air Force pararescue airman now counselling veterans, Sam bonds with Steve Rogers on morning runs around Washington, D.C. When Hydra's grip on S.H.I.E.L.D. comes to light he straps on the EXO-7 Falcon wing pack, helps take the Triskelion, and keeps fighting at Steve's side.¹²
2015
Avengers: Age of Ultron MCU
Anthony Mackie A brief appearance. Sam shoots pool and swaps jokes with Steve at the Avengers Tower party, insisting he has no interest in joining the team. By the final scene he has arrived at the new Avengers Compound with upgraded wings as part of the new roster.³²
2015
Ant-Man MCU
Anthony Mackie Guarding the Avengers Compound, the Falcon catches Scott Lang breaking in to steal a piece of tech and is beaten when the shrunken thief gets inside his suit and disables it. Embarrassed but impressed, he later starts looking for the man who called himself Ant-Man.⁴²
2016
Captain America: Civil War MCU
Anthony Mackie Sam refuses to sign the Sokovia Accords and stands with Steve and Bucky, recruiting help and fighting at Leipzig-Halle Airport. Captured afterwards, he is locked in the Raft until Steve breaks the team out.⁵²
2018
Avengers: Infinity War MCU
Anthony Mackie Still a fugitive, Sam helps Steve and Natasha save Vision and Wanda from Thanos's Black Order in Scotland, then flies cover in the Battle of Wakanda. He is among those turned to dust by the Snap.⁶²
2019
Avengers: Endgame MCU
Anthony Mackie Restored to life, Sam flies through a portal to join the Battle of Earth. In the closing scene an elderly Steve Rogers hands him a new shield and with it the mantle of Captain America.⁷²
2021
The Falcon and The Winter Soldier MCU
Anthony Mackie Across six episodes, Sam gives the shield to the Smithsonian and then watches the government hand it to John Walker. He hunts the Flag Smashers with Bucky and an uneasy ally in Zemo, learns the hidden history of super-soldier Isaiah Bradley, and finally takes up the shield in a Wakandan Vibranium suit as Captain America, passing his old wings to Joaquin Torres.⁸²
2025
Captain America: Brave New World MCU
Anthony Mackie Now Captain America, with Joaquin Torres as his Falcon, Sam is pulled into a crisis when a mind-controlled Isaiah Bradley tries to assassinate President Thaddeus Ross. Tracking the plot to Samuel Sterns, he heads off a clash with Japan over Celestial Island and stands his ground against Ross after the President transforms into the Red Hulk, clearing Isaiah's name.⁹²

What Marvel confirmed

The film. Avengers: Doomsday opens 18 December 2026.¹⁰

Sources

Level 3 // Deep archiveThe comics · since September 1969

Origin, the comics by era, abilities and recorded feats.

Origin

Sam Wilson grew up on rough Harlem streets as the son of Paul Wilson, a minister who kept the peace in his neighbourhood until he was killed trying to stop a gang fight. Years later a mugger killed his mother, Darlene, leaving Sam to look after his younger siblings, Sarah and Gideon. He worked his way through college, became one of Harlem's most respected social workers, and since childhood had kept pigeons on the roof and practised falconry. On a trip to Rio he found Redwing, the falcon who would become his partner.

Answering a call for a hunting falcon, Sam travelled to Exile Island in the Caribbean, which was run by the Exiles, the Red Skull's former henchmen. Seeing how they abused the locals, he turned against them and was holding out with Redwing when the Skull dropped a captive Captain America on the same island. Cap talked him into taking a symbolic identity to rally the islanders, the Falcon was born, and Steve Rogers trained him to fight before the two of them broke the Exiles. The Skull struck back with the Cosmic Cube, and exposure to it later proved to be the source of Sam's lasting mental bond with Redwing.

His beginnings were rewritten more than once. In Captain America #186 (1975) the Skull claimed he had arranged the meeting with Rogers and had used the Cube to overwrite a petty hustler called 'Snap' Wilson. Captain America #277 (1983) reworked that history, and All-New Captain America #3 (2015) finally exposed Snap as a racist lie by the Skull: Sam had never been a criminal. Flight came later, when the Black Panther built him glider wings in Captain America #170 (1974).¹²³⁴⁵⁶

The record, by era

1969-1970
The Coming of the Falcon Debut
A falconer from Harlem leads an island revolt beside Captain America and takes the name Falcon. Back home he works alone until a street gang's murder is pinned on him, and Cap helps him clear his name by exposing a Maggia plot to destabilise Harlem.¹²⁷
Key issues: Captain America #117 (1969) · Captain America #126 (1970)
1971-1974
Captain America and the Falcon Partnership
Steve Rogers shares his secret identity, and the two become steady partners against everyone from street hoods to M.O.D.O.K. Sam's work as a Harlem social worker moves to the centre of his stories, which take on racial tension, extremism and his own doubts about standing in Cap's shadow. He splits off to fly solo, and later asks the Black Panther for an upgrade that gives him Wakandan glider wings.¹⁸⁹⁶
Key issues: Captain America #133 (1971) · Captain America #144 (1971) · Captain America #170 (1974)
1975
Mind Cage The Snap retcon
The Red Skull takes control of the Falcon's mind and claims Sam's decent past was a fake he built with the Cosmic Cube on top of a criminal called Snap. Forced to attack Captain America, Sam is left catatonic, then faces trial for crimes he cannot remember until Nick Fury helps clear him. Later writers would undo the claim entirely.¹³
Key issues: Captain America #186 (1975)
1979-1983
The Quota Avenger Avenger and solo flight
Government liaison Henry Gyrich forces the Avengers to admit the Falcon to meet a racial-equality standard. Sam joins only as a favour to Cap, feels sidelined, and resigns once Gyrich loses his authority. Back in Harlem he runs for Congress, goes public with his identity and loses the race, then returns to the skies in his own Falcon series.¹¹⁰⁴¹¹
Key issues: Avengers #184 (1979) · Captain America #277 (1983) · Falcon #1 (1983)
2002-2003
Sight Unseen Geoff Johns' Avengers
Now an urban planner in New York, Sam rejoins the Avengers while the United Nations hands the team temporary global authority. His bond with Redwing grows into a link with every bird alive, which he uses to spy on a suspicious Secretary of Defense. When that official turns out to be the Red Skull, the Falcon calls in a vast flock of birds to help the Black Panther bring him down.¹¹²¹³¹⁴
Key issues: Avengers Vol. 3 #57 (2002) · Avengers Vol. 3 #64 (2003) · Avengers Vol. 3 #70 (2003)
2004-2005
Brothers and Keepers Christopher Priest series
A rescue mission at Guantanamo Bay pits Sam against a rogue super-soldier posing as Captain America and a cartel with government friends. He gains hard-light wings designed by the Black Panther, but grows violent and erratic in a crisis later tied to the Scarlet Witch. By the end he has walked away from the Falcon identity altogether.¹¹⁵¹⁶
Key issues: Captain America and the Falcon #1 (2004) · Captain America and the Falcon #14 (2005)
2006-2010
Holding the Line Civil War and the Death of Captain America
The Falcon is the first hero to side with Rogers against superhuman registration and helps organise the underground resistance. After Steve is assassinated, Sam backs Bucky Barnes as the new Captain America and searches for the brainwashed Sharon Carter. He then helps bring Steve back during Captain America: Reborn.¹¹⁷¹⁸¹⁹
Key issues: Civil War #2 (2006) · Captain America #34 (2008) · Captain America: Reborn #6 (2010)
2014-2015
The Shield Changes Hands All-New Captain America
After the Iron Nail drains the super-soldier serum from Steve Rogers and ages him to an old man, Sam carries one of Arnim Zola's bombs into space and survives. Rogers then hands him the shield and the name. As the new Captain America he battles a revived Hydra with Nomad, foils a plot to spread a deadly Inhuman's blood across the world, and leads the Avengers during AXIS.¹²⁰²¹⁵
Key issues: Captain America Vol. 7 #25 (2014) · All-New Captain America #1 (2015) · All-New Captain America #3 (2015)
2015-2017
Sam Wilson and the Secret Empire Nick Spencer era
Sam breaks with S.H.I.E.L.D., opens a public Hotline and takes firm political stands, which brings fierce public backlash. Worn down by the private Americops and the wrongful conviction of the young hero Rage, he gives up the shield. When a Hydra-loyal Steve Rogers seizes the country, Sam takes the mantle back to rally the resistance, then returns the shield to the real Steve and goes back to being the Falcon.¹²²²³²⁴²⁵²⁶
Key issues: Captain America: Sam Wilson #1 (2015) · Captain America: Sam Wilson #21 (2017) · Secret Empire #10 (2017)
2021-2025
Symbol of Truth Captain America again
Sam suits up as Captain America once more to protect a grassroots network of everyday Captains, and then keeps the name for good with a new shield and Joaquin Torres flying beside him as the Falcon. His missions run from a Vibranium smuggling plot aimed at Wakanda to a seat on Captain Marvel's Avengers. In Sam Wilson, Captain America he takes down Eaglestar's floating Skydream colony and the forced-labour scheme behind it.¹²⁷²⁸²⁹³⁰
Key issues: United States of Captain America #1 (2021) · Captain America: Symbol of Truth #1 (2022) · Sam Wilson, Captain America #1 (2025)

Capabilities

Avian telepathy

Links mentally with any bird, commanding flocks in a fight and seeing through their eyes for surveillance.¹

Winged flight

His vibranium wings absorb impacts, reconfigure for different flight modes and respond through a cybernetic link.¹

Aerial combat

Counted among the best aerial fighters in the world, rivalling Iron Man and Captain Marvel in the air.¹

Martial arts and acrobatics

Trained in several fighting styles and gymnastics by Steve Rogers; acrobatics were his main tool before he could fly.¹

Shield fighting

As Captain America he throws the shield to hit several targets from the air with pinpoint accuracy.¹

Leadership

Has led S.H.I.E.L.D. Super-Agents and the Avengers, helped by his people skills as a social worker.¹

Source of power

Wakandan vibranium wings, designed by Black Panther and upgraded over the years, let him fly at up to 250 mph.¹³¹

Intensive training from Steve Rogers made him a master acrobat, martial artist and aerial fighter.¹

The reality-altering Cosmic Cube bonded his mind to his falcon Redwing, a link that later grew to cover all birds.¹

Recorded feats

comics Strapped to a tank by Sin's men, he broke free of his bonds and went on to stop her Hydra attack. All-New Captain America Vol 1 #3 (March 2015)⁵¹
comics Stabbed through the chest by Zemo's sword, he kept fighting and summoned a flock of birds to turn the battle. All-New Captain America Vol 1 #5 (May 2015)³²¹
comics Sent Redwing and a flock of falcons at the Red Skull, giving Black Panther the opening to defeat him. Avengers Vol 3 #70 (October 2003)¹⁴¹
screen Flew straight into a launching Helicarrier's gunfire, dodging its guns and a pursuing Quinjet while fighting Hydra on deck. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)³³³⁴
screen In his new suit, he saved two officers from a damaged helicopter, then pulled a Flag Smasher out of a hostage-filled chopper. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, episode "One World, One People" (2021)³⁵³⁴
screen Sliced through a rogue fighter jet with his vibranium wings and pulled its pilot out before it hit the Japanese fleet. Captain America: Brave New World (2025)³⁶³⁴

Notes from the archive

Redwing, Sam's falcon partner, debuted in the same issue he did: Captain America #117 (September 1969).²
The wiki lists Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #8 (April 1999) as Sam's first appearance as Captain America. It is a flashback tale set during his early Falcon days, published 15 years before he officially took the shield in Captain America Vol. 7 #25 (December 2014).¹³⁷²⁰
By coincidence, Sam shares his name with Samuel Wilson, the historical figure often credited as the inspiration for Uncle Sam.¹
The wiki notes that Stan Lee unveiled the Falcon during a talk at Duke University about comics as a mirror of contemporary culture.¹

Sources