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Falcão and the Winter Soldier | Get to know the story of Isaiah Bradley, the “Black Captain America” from the comics

Published

1 year ago

March 27, 2023

[ANTES DE COMEÇAR A MATÉRIA, FIQUE CIENTE QUE ELA ESTÁ RECHEADA DE SPOILERS]

If you haven’t seen the second episode of Falcão and the Winter Soldier, then don’t read this article to avoid receiving spoilers.

Released in 2003, in the series Captain America: Truth – Red, Blue and Black, Isaiah Bradley was inspired by the icon of real life, the legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, who fought all his life and ended his days with Parkinson’s disease. He was a soldier who had enlisted to fight for the United States after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He left his wife, Faith, pregnant, and left to help his country try to win World War II. At that point, with the death of Dr. Abraham Erskine, the secret of the Super Soldier Serum was lost. So, seeking to create new “Capitães América”, the US government promoted Dr Wilfred Nagel to head the project.

Unlike Erskine, Dr Nagel did not work ethically and decided to test the designs of the new serum directly on humans. Thus, Project: Rebirth took shape when 300 black American soldiers were used as guinea pigs. Of the 300 selected, only five survived, one being Isaiah Bradley himself. And since the formulas were experimental, they were subjected to tortuous procedures that distorted them and caused permanent physical and mental damage. In an attempt to cover up the plan, the families of all these soldiers received letters informing them of their deaths on the battlefield. Most regretted it, but Faith, Isaiah’s wife, still believed that her husband was alive.

The five survivors became elite soldiers, but most died on the mission. When only Isaiah remained, the army sent him on a mission which was already given for certain death. He therefore sets out to arrest a German scientist who was about to discover the secret of the super soldier’s serum, which would allow the Nazis to create perfect soldiers. Knowing the importance of his mission, the hero steals one of Captain America’s uniforms and the famous Triangular Shield. Only, he is captured, undergoes experiments and is even humiliated by Hitler before managing to escape. But, contrary to his expectations, when Isaiah Bradley returns to his US base, he is arrested for taking the government-owned uniform and sent to serve a sentence in solitary confinement.

In the 1960s, after several years looking for her husband, Faith discovers that he is not dead and manages to make forgive President Dwight Eisenhower the legend known in the American ghettos as “Black Captain America”. The problem is that these years of solitary isolation, added to the side effects of the experimental serum, have caused terrible psychological damage to humans, like Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. His story has spread and icons of world history like Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X have come to visit him and pay homage to the myth. Likewise, heroes of the caliber of Black Panther, Storm, Luke Cage and the Falcon had him as their great hero.

Fascinated by his grandfather’s story and the bearer of his genes, Elijah Bradley grew up focused on perpetuating the family legacy. He even signed up for the Vietnam War. Using a drug that increased human skills, he continued to wear a uniform similar to Bucky’s, teamed up with other teenage heroes, and began to fight what would be the Young Avengers. The initiative did not please the original Avengers, but in a battle against the Skrulls, Captain America would be shot down by one of the villains without Eli, who threw himself in front of the bandirous hero and was gravely injured. When he recovered, he had to receive a blood transfusion from his grandfather. Mixed in with Isaiah’s DNA, Elijah ended up inheriting the powers of the super soldier with no side effects. Returning to life as a vigilante, he receives Captain America’s triangular shield himself and begins to act as a patriot.

Enjoy watching:

In Falcão and the Winter Soldier, Isaiah went through procedure, served in the Korean War, and faced off against the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) in the 1950s, even breaking the assassin’s metal arm. professional. For the next 30 years he was used as a guinea pig again and his heroic deeds were erased from history by the government. Knowing about those years of abuse and the erasure of a black hero from history infuriated Sam (Anthony Mackie). It’s very unlikely that we will see Isaiah again as a superhero, but Eijah (Elijah Robertson) did appear in the second episode, so it’s possible we could see him become the Patriot throughout the series.