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Sam Wilson Biography & Facts

The Falcon (Samuel Thomas "Sam" Wilson) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was introduced by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Gene Colan in Captain America #117 (Sept. 1969), and was the first Black American superhero in mainstream comic books. Samuel Wilson, or known as his superhero alias Falcon, uses mechanical wings to fly, defend, and attack. He also has limited telepathic and empathic control over birds. After Steve Rogers retires, Wilson becomes Captain America in All-New Captain America #1 (Jan. 2015) and leader of the Avengers. Wilson's deceased nephew was the Incredible Hulk's sometime-sidekick Jim Wilson, one of the first openly HIV-positive comic-book characters. Jim Wilson's father Gideon Wilson would go on to join the Gamma Corps. Wilson as Falcon and Captain America has made several media appearances, including in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where the character is portrayed by Anthony Mackie in the films Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Ant-Man (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), the television miniseries The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021), and the upcoming film as Captain America in Captain America: Brave New World (2025). Publication history Samuel Thomas Wilson, known as Falcon, was the first Black American superhero in mainstream comic books. The character first appeared in Captain America #117 (Sept. 1969). Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Gene Colan, he came about, Colan recalled in 2008, ...in the late 1960s [when news of the] Vietnam War and civil rights protests were regular occurrences, and Stan, always wanting to be at the forefront of things, started bringing these headlines into the comics. ... One of the biggest steps we took in this direction came in Captain America. I enjoyed drawing people of every kind. I drew as many different types of people as I could into the scenes I illustrated, and I loved drawing black people. I always found their features interesting and so much of their strength, spirit and wisdom written on their faces. I approached Stan, as I remember, with the idea of introducing an African-American hero and he took to it right away. ... I looked at several African-American magazines, and used them as the basis of inspiration for bringing The Falcon to life. He was introduced as an unnamed former resident of New York City's Harlem neighborhood, who had adopted a wild falcon he trained and named Redwing. His own name, Sam Wilson, was not given until the following issue. When a group of men on an island "in the tropics" wanted a hunting falcon, Wilson answered the ad, only to discover that the self-dubbed "Exiles" were former Nazis in league with the supervillain the Red Skull. He escaped, but remained on the island to organize the natives to confront the Exiles, who had turned them into serfs. At the urging of Steve Rogers, whom he later learned was Captain America, Wilson took on the costumed identity of the Falcon and underwent training with Rogers to better inspire the villagers and lead the fight. Through most of the 1970s, the Falcon and Captain America were a team in New York City. The series was cover-billed Captain America and the Falcon from issues #134–192 and 194–222 (Feb. 1971–June 1978), though still copyrighted as Captain America. In issue #186 (June 1975), writer Steve Englehart retconned aspects of the Falcon's past. Originally depicted as a former social worker, motivated by a desire to better the lives of inner-city youth, the Falcon was revealed as a mob-connected thug whose memories were altered by the reality-warping Cosmic Cube. The Falcon briefly joined the superhero team the Defenders, appearing in issues #62–64 (August–October 1978), and was a member of the Avengers from issues #183–194 (May 1979 – April 1980). During this time he also starred in a solo adventure in issue #49 of the try-out series Marvel Premiere; however, the story was not a try-out for a Falcon series, but an intended fill-in issue of Captain America which was shuffled into Marvel Premiere when the editors objected to having an issue of Captain America with someone other than the title character as the star. He starred in his own four-issue miniseries in 1983, written by Jim Owsley (later known as Christopher Priest). Its first issue was illustrated by Paul Smith with the final three issues by Mark Bright. The series revealed that the Falcon was a mutant, although this development was later retconned in The Avengers 2001 Annual. After regularly appearing in Captain America vol. 2 (Nov. 1996–Nov. 1997), the Falcon rejoined the Avengers in The Avengers vol. 3, #1 (Feb. 1998). This time, he remained with the team, becoming one of its most prominent members by issue #57 (Oct. 2002). Concurrently, he was also a supporting character in Captain America vols. 3–4 (Jan. 1998–Feb. 2002 and June 2002–Dec. 2004). The Falcon next appeared in the short-lived Captain America and the Falcon series, in 2004 and 2005. After the events of the storyline "Avengers Disassembled", when the Scarlet Witch temporarily restored his criminal personality, the Falcon became a supporting character in Captain America vol. 5 (Jan. 2005–July 2009). The Falcon continued to play a significant role in the series after it returned to its original numbering, beginning with Captain America #600 (Aug. 2009). Falcon was a member of the Avengers in the 2012 Marvel NOW! relaunch. On July 16, 2014, Marvel Comics announced that Sam Wilson would relinquish the mantle of Falcon and would become the new Captain America, succeeding Steve Rogers in the role. During this run, it is established that Sam Wilsons's "Snap" backstory as a drug dealing pimp was fake memories implanted by the Red Skull to discredit Sam through racism. An ongoing series starring Sam Wilson as Captain America launched in October 2015, as part of Marvel's post-Secret Wars relaunch, written by Nick Spencer and Daniel Acuña. Wilson temporarily returns to the role of Captain America in the 2017 miniseries Marvel's Generations. Wilson resumed the identity of Falcon in a series written by Rodney Barnes that debuted in late 2017, the character's first solo series since 1983. Fictional character biography Early life Samuel Thomas Wilson was born in Harlem, New York City, to Paul Wilson, a prominent minister, and Darlene Wilson. Wilson had a happy childhood and finds he has a natural affinity for birds. He takes up training pigeons, and has the largest pigeon coop in Harlem. In his teens, however, encounters with racism leave him jaded. When he is 16, Wilson refuses to join the church, believing his deeply religious parents to be ignorant for their faith. To his surprise, rather than put up a fight, his parents provide him with books on different religions and comparative theology. The next night, however, Sam's father is ki.... Discover the Sam Wilson popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Sam Wilson books.