Over the decades of publication history, numerous characters have been given the mantle of Captain America. This exhibit will focus on events in the main continuity, rather than the numerous alternate universes and mini-series that have different versions of the character.
Steve Rogers
Steve Rogers is the original Captain America in both real-world and fictional history. First appearing in Captain America Comics 1 in 1940, the character was presented as a frail young man who was deemed physically unfit for military service. He volunteered for an experimental program known as Project Rebirth in which he was given a serum that greatly enhanced his physical and mental capabilities. The character fought through most of World War II, being frozen and put into suspended animation during an accident towards the end of the war. He was revived decades later by the Avengers and continued acting as a superhero both as part of the Avengers and a solo hero.
Isaiah Bradley
Isaiah Bradley was introduced in the mini-series Truth: Red, White and Black. Based on aspects of the real-world Tuskegee Syphilis Study, this series told a story of a regiment of black soldiers during WWII who were given experimental versions of the super soldier serum that gave Steve Rogers his enhanced physique. Many of the soldiers experimented on died in the process, though Bradley and a few others initially survived. After other events resulted in the deaths of the other soldiers, Bradley was sent alone on a dangerous mission to a concentration camp. While not officially given the title Captain America by his superiors, Bradley took a uniform meant for Rogers and equipped himself with a shield modeled after the “Double V campaign” logo during this mission. After Bradley’s mission was completed and he was returned to the United States, Bradley was arrested for the theft of the Captain America uniform, and was kept imprisoned for years until petitions from his wife were honored and his release was secured.
William Naslund
The original comic series, Captain America Comics, continued publication for years after WWII had ended. However, when Stan Lee and Jack Kirby revived the character in the mid 60s they established that Steve Rogers had been put into suspended animation just before the end of the war. Roy Thomas, a writer and editor for the Captain America series, came up with an explanation in What If? 4. In this story it was established that after Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes were lost, other heroes were selected by the president to take on the mantle of Captain America in order to maintain. The first of these was William Naslund, who had previously acted as the patriotic hero Spirit of ’76. In this newly established continuity, Naslund acted in the role for a few years until his death during a mission.
Jeffrey Mace
In What If? 4, it was established that after the death of William Naslund the role of Captain America was taken up by Jeffrey Mace. Mace had previously been acting as the costume hero The Patriot. He found the dying Naslund and quickly donned the costume is Captain America in order to finish the mission Naslund was on. His story was further fleshed out in the mini-series Patriot, which covered his struggles to fill the role of Captain America during the beginning years of McCarthyism and the Red Scare.
William Burnside
While not the first replacement for Steve Rogers in the fictional history of the character, William Burnside’s story as Captain America was the first published besides that of Steve Rogers. Introduced in Captain America 153, this version of Captain America was established as being the man who showed up in the brief revival of the character in the mid 50s during the Red Scare. With this retcon, Burnside was a fan of Captain America who dedicated his life to learning more about the man and eventually discovered the secret to the super soldier serum. Burnside administered the serum to himself and a young ally of his so they could take on the roles of Captain America and Bucky. Later, due to flaws in the formula and their own personalities, the two went on a racist rampage against innocent people whom they suspected of being “anti-American”. The two were forced into suspended animation until a cure could be found, but were instead released early by a sympathetic guard. Burnside clashed with the original Captain America, assuming Rogers to be a fake. While initially defeated by the original Captain America, Burnside would show up numerous times to oppose Rogers as well as Bucky Barnes during the latter’s run as Captain America.
Roscoe Simmons
In the aftermath of the Secret Empire storyline of the 1970s, Steve Rogers gave up the identity of Captain America as he felt he could no longer represent what America had become. A few different men tried to take on the role of Captain America during this time, but most didn’t last more than a few panels. Roscoe Simmons, an employee at the gym Steve Rogers attended, tried to take up the role. Simmons ended up meeting Sam Wilson while Wilson was patrolling as The Falcon, and the two eventually began working together. Simmons’s run as Captain America was short lived, and ended in his death at the hands of the Red Skull. However, his death pushed Rogers into resuming the role of Captain America.
John Walker
In 1987, Steve Rogers once again stepped away from the role of Captain America. In this storyline, Steve had been given an ultimatum by the Commission on Superhero Activities: work directly for the commission or give up the title of Captain America. When Rogers relinquished the title, the commission scrambled to find a replacement. They quickly selected John Walker, who had been previously acting under the identity Super Patriot, and had been vocally critical of Rogers’s capabilities in the role. While physically superior to Rogers, the role of Captain America wore on Walker. That, combined with the death of his parents at the hands of a terrorist organization called the “Watchdogs”, led to mental instability and excess violence by Walker. He was removed from the role of Captain America, and Walker helped convince Rogers to resume the role. Walker would shortly thereafter take up a new superhero identity, the US Agent.
Bucky Barnes
Bucky Barnes had acted as Steve Rogers’s teenage sidekick during WWII. Barnes had been presumed dead following the accident that placed Rogers in suspended animation. However, it was revealed in Ed Brubaker’s run of Captain America vol. 5 that Bucky had been retrieved and revived by the Soviets, who used him as an assassin in the decades prior to Rogers’s revival. Rogers was able to free Barnes from the Soviet brainwashing shortly before the events of Civil War. When Rogers was assassinated in the aftermath of Civil War, Tony Stark selected Barnes to take over the role of Captain America. Barnes served in the role even after Rogers had returned, though there was significant backlash when Barnes’s past as the Winter Soldier was revealed to the world. Barnes was supposedly killed during the Fear Itself event, though it was later revealed he had survived and decided to resume working from the shadows while Rogers returned to the role.
Sam Wilson
Sam Wilson, previously known as The Falcon, has been the crime-fighting partner of Steve Rogers for decades of publishing history. When an encounter with a villain named The Iron Nail negated Rogers’s super soldier serum, Wilson was selected to be the new Captain America. This makes Wilson to be the only person selected by Steve Rogers to become Captain America. When Rogers had the serum restored in his system the two of them shared the title until the conclusion of the 2017 Secret Empire storyline (not to be confused with the storyline of the same name that led to Rogers taking on the Nomad identity). In 2022, Wilson and Rogers have once again started sharing the name Captain America, each having a comic dedicated to them in the role.
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