In January Marvel will be releasing its next major crossover event, The Sins of Sinister, and teased among the new artwork is a glimpse of an all-new Captain America. The event throws the Marvel heroes that fans know and love into a future where the X-Men villain Mister Sinister achieved all that he's ever desired. The only real question is who is this new star-spangled hero, and what is his connection to Sinister?
Captain America is a title as much as it is a man. Steve Rogers is the most well-known and most deserving of the shield and mantle of America’s super-soldier, but there have been others. After Steve went into the ice near the end of World War II, the title fell to two men, William Naslund and Jeffrey Mace. These two men wore replica outfits and titanium shields, but even after Steve returned from his decades-long slumber the mantle has fallen to others at times. These replacements often came about due to various causes such as retirement, quitting, or death on Steve’s part and include: Bucky Barnes, Clint Barton, Sam Wilson, and John Walker. And of course fans should never forget one of the first Captain Americas: Isiah Bradley.
But now, in preview artwork for the crossover event The Sins of Sinister, released on its official Twitter channel, Marvel gives fans a glimpse at another person to take on the mantle of Captain America. The image shows a sharp-nosed and goatee-wearing Cap using his shield to deflect lightning from Storm. His outfit is black and blue and there is a Sinister-like diamond positioned over the “A” on his mask, marking him as an obvious ally or henchman of Nathaniel Essex aka Mister Sinister. As for the identity of this new Captain America there are several possibilities.
The New Captain America Could Be A Clone...Or Something Darker
Perhaps the most likely explanation —given the look of this new Cap— is that it's a clone of Mister Sinister himself. Though this clone is missing the pallid white skin, he still shares a striking resemblance to Essex. Sinister has a long history of custom-making versions of himself to fit new situations, such as when he upgraded his clone line with the X-Gene so that he could be considered a mutant. It would not be out of the realm of possibility that this new version of Captain America is nothing more than a Sinister clone upgraded with a bit of Rogers/super-soldier DNA, which he would need in order to properly handle the shield without hurting himself.
However, there are other possibilities to the identity of this new Cap. Thanks to the meddling of Kang the Conqueror, Taskmaster has recently been seen wearing the uniform of Steve Rogers in Timeless #1 by Jed Mackey, Kev Walker, Greg Land, and Mark Bagley. Marvel also recently introduced Captain Krakoa in the pages of X-Men #6 by Gerry Duggan and Pepe Larraz in an attempt by the mutant nation to have its own nationalistic-styled hero. That was merely an alternate hero identity for Cyclops, but given Sinister’s obsession with the Summers gene line, it is entirely possible that his version of Captain America could be some sort of corrupted version of Scott or Alex Summers.
Regardless, of this new Cap’s identity one thing is sure, this Sinister-controlled Captain America will be a force to be reckoned with. Mister Sinister has recently been making a lot of waves in the pages of X-Men and Avengers’ comics, and it seems like his machinations will all be coming to a head with Marvel's The Sins of Sinister, which will be debuting in January 2023.
Source: Marvel