History[]
Early life[]
Samuel Thomas Wilson was born in Harlem, New York City, to Paul Wilson, a prominent minister, and Darlene Wilson. Wilson has a happy childhood and finds he has a natural affinity for birds. He takes up training pigeons, and has the largest pigeon coop in Harlem. In his teens, however, encounters with racism leave him jaded. When he is 16, Wilson refuses to join the church, believing his deeply religious parents to be ignorant for their faith. To his surprise, rather than put up a fight, his parents provide him with books on different religions and comparative theology. The next night, however, Sam's father is killed trying to break up a neighborhood fight (originally Paul was said to have been killed when Sam was 9 years old). Two years later, his mother is shot and killed by a mugger one block from their apartment. The tragic death of his parents does not stop Sam from being a respected community volunteer.
As a grown adult, Sam continued doing social work and meets Captain America on Exile Island (years later, he would say "I actually loved this place quite a bit. It's where I met my two best friends," referring to Captain America and Redwing). The once-peaceful island had been taken over by the Exiles, a group of would-be world conquerors who had collaborated with the Nazi supervillain the Red Skull during World War II. They had been betrayed by the Red Skull and were forced to remain in hiding on the island, enslaving the natives. Wilson finds and befriends Redwing, a falcon with which he feels a remarkably strong bond.
Becoming the Falcon[]
Wilson is an upright and cheerful social worker who is eventually lured to the Exiles' island and organizes the natives to fight for their freedom. Steve Rogers (Captain America) befriends him there and convinces Wilson to adopt a persona to inspire the natives in their rebellion. The two create the costumed persona the Falcon and train together extensively before attacking and defeating the Exiles and the Red Skull. The Falcon becomes Captain America's regular partner in crime-fighting, and briefly even takes on the Captain America costume and identity when Rogers is believed to have been killed.
Later, again as the Falcon, Wilson receives help from the Black Panther, who creates a harness for Wilson, allowing him to fly. When Rogers briefly abandons his Captain America identity, others attempt to take up the mantle, including a young man named Roscoe whom the Falcon mentors. When the Red Skull eventually kills Roscoe, Rogers again becomes Captain America.
Soon afterwards, the Red Skull tricks Sam into believing that he had a secret past as Snap Wilson, a professional Los Angeles criminal and gang member persona created out of grief and "angry at the world" following the death of Sam's parents. Red Skull makes the untruthful claim that the Cosmic Cube was used to erase the memories of this Snap Wilson past so that Sam could be used as a mole for Red Skull. Red Skull then unsuccessfully attempts to use the Cosmic Cube to make the Falcon kill Captain America. Believing in the existence of this fake criminal past but deciding to continue as a hero, the Falcon is eventually named head of the Super Agents at the espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D.
Powers[]
In his earliest appearances, Wilson exhibits a close bond with his bird Redwing, which is confirmed as being a telepathic link by Professor X in Captain America #174. The Red Skull later claims that he had used the Cosmic Cube to create a "super-normal mental link" between Sam Wilson and Redwing. Falcon later recalled memories of such an experience, stating he "Hurt like hell. Being mentally fused with that falcon. Able to see through his eyes". Wilson is a skilled hand-to-hand combatant, having been trained in Judo and Karate by Steve Rogers. Wilson is also highly skilled in the use of Captain America's shield. Wilson's original Falcon wing harness featured detachable jet-powered glider wings made of lightweight titanium ribbing and Mylar. The wings were covered with wafer-thin solar power receptors that convert sunlight into electricity to power miniature high-speed electric turbine fans in his uniform and boots. The wings detached and reattached to his uniform cybernetically. The harness was destroyed in Captain America and the Falcon #2 (2004). The uniform was made of synthetic stretch fabric lined with a steel-alloy mesh.
After the original flying harness's destruction in a 2004 storyline, the Black Panther supplied Falcon with a new costume and wings. An emitter array on Falcon's back creates holographic "hard light" wings with a maximum wingspan of up to 50 feet (15 m). Controlled by a cybernetic link, the wings can be instantly reconfigured into "dozens of different cruise configurations". A "magnetic drive", in turn, provides the thrust needed to get Falcon airborne. The emitter also possesses GPS jamming devices that prevent satellite tracking, while the hard-light wings interfere with infra-red tracking. A vibranium microwave was added to the costume itself, making Falcon resistant to small arms fire. The entire system is controlled mentally through cybernetic circuitry in the Falcon's mask. The costume has in the past featured a hidden "talon", a cybernetically controlled grappling line built into the gauntlets of his costume which he uses to entangle opponents, hook objects or for swinging and climbing when his wings are detached. The costume's visors come equipped with various capabilities, including infrared lenses, giving him the ability to see objects by their infrared signature at night, magnification capabilities, and remote imaging sensors that allow a full 360 degree of vision when activated. The cowl also has a wideband receiver and transmitter with an unspecified range. The suit was originally built by the Black Panther, with costume modifications by Desmond Burrell.
In other media[]
- Sam Wilson / Falcon and his pet falcon Redwing appear in The Avengers: United They Stand animated series, voiced by Martin Roach. They appear as members of the Avengers.
- Sam Wilson / Falcon and his pet falcon Redwing appear in The Super Hero Squad Show, voiced by Alimi Ballard and Steve Blum respectively. They appear as members of the titular squad and the series' version of the former is capable of launching his "feathers" at his enemies.
- Sam Wilson / Falcon appears in the Avengers Assemble animated series, voiced by Bumper Robinson. This version is a 17-year-old S.H.I.E.L.D. operative and member of the Avengers. When the latter were brought together to save Captain America from the Red Skull, Wilson was originally offered the War Machine armor, but turned it down in favor of the Falcon armor. Additionally, Wilson's wing pack is capable of assuming a "Redwing Mode", wherein it detaches itself and flies autonomously. During season four, Wilson is kidnapped by Kang the Conqueror and spends years in the future working to stop a black hole from destroying the Earth before eventually returning to the present.