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Several people have taken on the role of Captain America. Outside of Steve Rogers, the United States government gave John Walker the role, Iron Man offered it to Bucky Barnes, and Steve himself gave the shield to Sam Wilson.

Walker took over after Steve quit the role in in Mark Gruenwald and Tom Morgan’s Captain America #332. Tony Stark gave it to Winter Soldier after Captain America died after the Civil War storyline. Finally, after he began rapidly growing old after losing the effects of the Super-Solider Serum, Steve handed the role to the Falcon.

This happened in Captain America Vol. 7 #25 by Rick Remender, Carlos Pacheco, and Stuart Immonen. When the world believed the Star Spangled Avenger was dead, he, in reality, went to Dimension Z and lived and fought there for 12 years. When he returned to his regular time, he faced a villain named Iron Nail, who neutralized the Super-Solider Serum in his body, causing Steve to rapidly age. Simultaneously, The Falcon risked his life to save the world. At a subsequent Avengers’ meeting, Steve introduced Sam as his official replacement.

This wasn’t the end of Sam Wilson as Captain America, though. After working in a rescue network, helping people escape from America under Steve Rogers’ fascist rule, events brought Wilson back into the fight. When the Underground convinced Sam to help them retrieve pieces of Kobik to restore Rogers back to normal, Sam saw how far the United States had fallen and took up the mantle of Captain America once again.

Sam approached Steve Rogers with the final Cosmic Cube piece. He headed it over to Steve while the Winter Soldier released the real Steve Rogers from the cube. Once Rogers returned and beat his evil self, Secret Empire ended, and the world went back to its original form. But there was still one last thing to do. In Generations: Sam Wilson Captain America & Steve Rogers Captain America #1 by Nick Spencer and Paul Renaud, Sam returned the shield with a note, saying Steve needed to inspire the people again and be the hero they need. Sam knew that the world needed Steve Rogers as Captain America, and he wanted his friend to have a chance to redeem himself.

Shawn S. Lealos is a freelance writer who received his Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma with a minor in Film Studies. He has worked as a journalist for 25 years, starting in newspapers and magazines before moving to online media as the world changed. Shawn is a former member of the Society of Professional Journalists and a current voting member of the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle. He has work published on websites like The Huffington Post, Time Warner Cable, Yahoo Movies, The Movie Network, Chud, Renegade Cinema, 411mania, and Monsters & Critics. Shawn is also a published author, with a non-fiction book about the Stephen King Dollar Baby Filmmakers and has begun work on a new fiction series as well. Visit Shawn Lealos’ website to learn more about his novel writing and follow him on Twitter @sslealos.