A new shield for Sam Wilson appears to merge his roles as Captain America and the Falcon in the upcoming Marvel's Voices: Legacy. The one-shot anthology will focus on Marvel's black heroes, including Luke Cage, Moon Girl, and Wilson himself, with the cover also featuring Storm, Bishop, Spectrum, Black Panther, Spider-Man, and skateboarding super-genius Night Thrasher. While the narrative behind Sam Wilson's story is still under wraps, the cover by ChrisCross implies he'll be getting a new shield that honors his legacy as both the Falcon and Captain America.
A longtime ally of Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson became Captain America after Steve was stripped of his super soldier serum, rapidly aging past the point where he could wield the shield. While the title and shield were passed on, many refused to accept an African-American Captain America, and Sam had to fight enemies and supposed allies alike to hold onto the role, all while being severely undermined by Steve, who had been secretly brainwashed by Hydra. When Steve revealed his dark intent, Sam lived up to the Captain America name by saving the country, but ultimately returned to his role as the Falcon. However, with Sam having recently become Captain America in the MCU's The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, the comics have shown a renewed interest in following his adventures in the role.
In the upcoming Marvel's Voices: Legacy, Sam's story will be written by J. Holtham (a writer on TV shows Jessica Jones and Cloak & Dagger), in an issue with art by Natacha Bustos, Maria Frolich, and more. The cover (shared by Marvel) shows Sam in his Captain America costume, brandishing a shield that takes the traditional star emblem and turns its central element into a separate symbol evoking Falcon's wings. Sam kept his wings - and even his superpower of being able to telepathically influence birds - as Captain America, so the symbol both honors the role he's held for longest in the comics and works with his Captain America look.
The new shield is a particular surprise since Sam just got a brand new shield of his own. The United States of Captain America saw the four most famous shield bearers - Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson, Bucky Barnes and John Walker - unite to retrieve the stolen weapon, only to meet civilians who had taken up the Captain America mantle all over the country. In the second issue, from Christopher Cantwell and Dale Eaglesham, Sam revealed that Misty Knight had created a new black shield with white detailing that he used in the adventure. The series ended with that shield hanging in the Smithsonian with those of the other Captains, and apparently as of Marvel's Voices: Legacy, he'll have moved onto another.
Giving Sam his own shield is a potentially fraught idea, since much of his original tenure as Captain America involved a bigoted #TakeBackTheShield campaign to strip him of the iconic weapon. Despite this, with his current comic role as Falcon not matching his new MCU status as Captain America, Marvel needs a way to present Sam as fans expect to see him without inventing some kind of convoluted shield timeshare with Steve Rogers. While there's an outside chance that the shield only exists for ChrisCross' cover, that seems unlikely (why not simply give him the shield fans expect to see if that's the case), and it's to be hoped that this new shield - with a design honoring Sam as both Captain America and Falcon - will get its own backstory when the comic hits retailers February 16.
Source: Marvel