Falcon (Samuel Thomas “Sam” Wilson) is a fictional superhero that appears in Marvel Comics’ American comic novels. In Captain America #117 (September 1969), writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Gene Colan debuted the character as the first African-American superhero in mainstream comic books.

Wilson utilizes artificial wings to fly like the superhero Falcon and has limited telepathic and empathic control over birds. In All-New Captain America #1 (January 2015), following Steve Rogers’ retirement, Wilson becomes the new Captain America and the Avengers’ captain. Jim Wilson, the Incredible Hulk’s occasional sidekick and one of the first openly HIV-positive comic-book characters, was Wilson’s dead nephew. Gideon Wilson, Jim Wilson’s father, would later join the Gamma Corps.

Sam Wilson has appeared in a number of media appearances as Falcon and Captain America, including those set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in which the role is played by Anthony Mackie.

He was presented as an anonymous former inhabitant of Harlem, New York City, who had acquired and tamed a wild falcon named Redwing (His own name, Sam Wilson, was not given until page five of the following issue). Wilson responded to an ad for a hunting falcon from a group of guys on an island “in the tropics,” only to learn that the “Exiles” were former Nazis working with the supervillain the Red Skull. He managed to flee but stayed on the island to rally the locals against the Exiles, who had converted them into serfs. Wilson took on the costumed persona of the Falcon and underwent training with Rogers at the suggestion of Steve Rogers, who he subsequently discovered was Captain America, in order to better inspire the people and lead the fight.

The Falcon and Captain America worked together in New York City throughout the majority of the 1970s. From issues #134″192 and 194″222 (February 1971″June 1978), the series was renamed Captain America and the Falcon, but it was remained copyrighted as Captain America. Writer Steve Englehart retconned parts of the Falcon’s background in issue #186 (June 1975). The Falcon was revealed to be a mob-connected thug whose memories were altered by the reality-warping Cosmic Cube. Originally depicted as a former social worker motivated by a desire to better the lives of inner-city youth, the Falcon was revealed to be a mob-connected thug whose memories were altered by the reality-warping Cosmic Cube.

The Falcon was a member of the Avengers from issues #183″194 (May 1979″April 1980) and temporarily joined the superhero team the Defenders in issues #62″64 (August”October 1978). During this time, he also starred in a solo adventure in issue #49 of the Marvel Premiere try-out series; however, the story was not intended to be a try-out for a Falcon series, but rather a fill-in issue of Captain America that was shuffled into Marvel Premiere after the editors objected to having an issue of Captain America with someone other than the title character as the star. In 1983, he appeared in a four-issue miniseries created by Jim Owsley. Paul Smith illustrated the first issue, and Mark Bright illustrated the remaining three issues. The Falcon was revealed to be a mutant in the series, although this was subsequently retconned in the Avengers 2001 Annual.

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