FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER SPOILERS, IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE SHOW DO NOT READ THIS BLOG POST

Today’s episode of Falcon And The Winter Soldier introduced a new, and very important, character. Now, normally, I’d do a character profile for them, but Isaiah definitely deserves something a bit more than that.

Trigger warning for mentions of early-mid 1900’s racism and human experimentation.

Who is Isaiah Bradley?

Isaiah Bradley is considered the Black Captain America, an underground legend in the Black community in the Marvel universe. He isn’t in any history book, or taught in schools, so is mostly unknown to the world.

How did he get his powers?

Isaiah Bradley is one of the only surviving patients of Project: Rebirth – a project meant to recreate the Super Soldier serum used to create Steve Rogers.

The project forced 300 Black soldiers to become test subjects for potential serums, and to hide what they were doing, the government sent letters to the families of all 300 soldiers saying that they had died in battle.

What happened after he got powers?

Isaiah and the other surviving soldiers were made into a black ops team, sent on covert missions, many didn’t survive these missions, either due to combat induced fatalities, or through side effects of the serum they had been given.

Isaiah’s final mission was supposed to be a suicide mission – to stop the German’s creating their own Super Soldier serum, and destroy a Nazi death camp. Before leaving, Isaiah stole a Captain America costume and shield, and completed the mission using the uniform.

He was unfortunately captured, but was rescued by German freedom fighters. From there, he made his way home to America.

So why don’t people know about him?

The government arrested Isaiah when he returned to America, jailing him for stealing the costume. He was given a life sentence, and spent the next seventeen years in solitary confinement.

Due to unforeseen side effects, his body and mind deteriorated. When he was finally pardoned and released from prison, he was sworn to secrecy.

But, that didn’t stop his story from spreading. The Black community spread his story through the Blackvine, and he became a hero to many, including Luke Cage, Sam Wilson and Monica Rambeau.

Anything else I should know about him?

His grandson, Eli, who we briefly saw in today’s episode of Falcon And The Winter Soldier, becomes a member of the Young Avengers.

Eli goes by the name Patriot, and says that the Super Soldier serum genetics in Isaiah gave him the same powers. But, Eli is lying about this – he does not have powers because of Isaiah. Eli is actually taking Mutant Growth Hormone, which gives him his strength.

I’ll give Eli a whole character profile at a later date, as he deserves his own post.

Where can I read more about Isaiah’s story?

Isaiah’s story is told in Truth: Red, White And Black by Robert Morales. He also appears in Captain America: Homeland by Robert Morales.

And that’s just about everything I’ve got on Isaiah, if you have questions, please leave them down below and I’ll do my best to answer them!