The first Marvel Legacy creative team has finally been announced. Award winning writer and producer of both Everybody Hates Chirs and The Boondocks Rodney Barnes will be teaming with “Secret Empire: Uprising” artist Joshua Cassara for Sam Wilson’s return to the Falcon mantle in his first ever ongoing series.
Barnes told ComicBook.com that, “At the moment, Sam is in a state of transition. He feels guilty about his relationship with Steve Rogers and wonders if he didn’t pick up clues as to what team Steve was really playing for what else has he missed? So he’s backing away from the limelight for a spell and taking a more grassroots approach to making the world a better place.”
It’ll be interesting to see how that grassroots approach meshes with the new villain Sam is dealing with, Blackheart, the son of Mephisto. Barnes is looking to take Sam out of his comfort zone and what better way than to throw him into the magical side of the marvel universe.
“Genre wise there’s a blending of urban street sensibilities with dark magic. Sam’s never been to the place we’re taking him and it’s going to take more than muscle to overcome the obstacles in his path.” Barnes explains. “My hope is that taking Sam out of his typical environment will cause him to use wits of a different sort. The fight now is from the inside out. And since he’s soul searching it felt kind of cool to put him in the spiritual realm. Blackheart is a character I’ve appreciated for a long time. I felt his frustration at being a second stringer on the demon totem pole so why wouldn’t he take his shot at shaking up the world? If a bad kid won’t listen to his parents surely a demon son wouldn’t take well to conformity either.”
Along for the mystical ride as The Falcon’s new sidekick is the new Patriot, Rayshaun Lucas, who was first introduced in “Captain America: Sam Wilson” #18 and first seen as Patriot in “Secret Empire: Brave New World” #2.
“The Patriot helps Falcon connect with the Millennial mindset of today’s world. Sam typically deals with deals with his own peer group who sees the world much like he does.” Barnes elaborated that “Shaun is an optimist and this helps to balance the sense of self doubt Sam’s going through. There are some similarities in Sam’s relationship with Rayshaun to the one he had with Joaquin Torres, but Sam was in a different place then. Much more the typical authoritarian. Here he’s second guessing himself and Shaun isn’t afraid to point that out.”
In the end, though Sam’s going through quite a bit of new experiences, and will be questioning himself throughout, the mission statement of this series is simple.
“By the end of my run, my hope is that Sam will be clear minded and focused as to his place in the Marvel universe. He’s worn a lot of hats over the last few years and that’s sort of disrupted his sense of self.” Barnes continues, “The plan is to restore that. I’d say the tone is more personal and intimate. Often times superheroes become so connected to the missions at hand that they forget there’s a real person under the costume.
The official solicitation reads as follows:
FALCON #1
Written by RODNEY BARNES
Pencilled by JOSHUA CASSARA
Cover by JESUS SAIZTAKE FLIGHT!
Continuing directly out of the pages of MARVEL LEGACY #1!Sam Wilson – winged warrior, avian avenger, and one-time sentinel of liberty – takes to the skies again, reborn and recommitted as the fighter for freedom, THE FALCON!
Engaged in an all-new assignment while training his new partner THE PATRIOT, Sam Wilson soars high and sees all. But Sam’s new mission finds him on a collision course with an enemy way out of his weight class – the demonic BLACKHEART! From the stratosphere to the streets, the Marvel Universe now has a high-flying hero circling above them ready to strike!
