What Happened To Everyone Who Became Captain America?

8. Isaiah Bradley

Captain America Generations Alex Ross
Marvel Comics

Currently making waves on television thanks to a barnstorming performance by the ever wonderful Carl Lumbly, Isaiah Bradley was history's forgotten Captain America.

Introduced in 2003's Truth: Red, White & Black by writer Robert Morales, artist Kyle Baker and editor Axel Alonso, Isaiah Bradley was inducted into a twisted version of Project Rebirth during the Second World War. The story drew inspiration primarily from the US government's racist Tuskegee Syphilis Study, which deliberately infected thousands of unknowing Black Americans with the virus, and serves as a commentary on how Black soldiers in particular suffered both during and after their service in the conflict.

In an attempt to recreate Erskine's super soldier formula, another scientist, Dr. Josef Reinstein, experimented on numerous Black soldiers, with only a few surviving - one of them being Bradley.

Bradley and his comrades are sent into dangerous missions during WW2, which eventually leaves him the sole survivor. He's responsible for shutting down the Nazis' own super soldier program, but such a feat doesn't alleviate his situation one bit. He's imprisoned shortly after the war, until he receives a pardon from US President Eisenhower just before the end of his term.

Bradley's story was wiped from the history books, but he remained a legend among Marvel's Black heroes, and eventually met Steve Rogers years later. Bradley also saved the life of grandson Elijah, the Young Avenger known as Patriot, during a blood transfusion, which gifted him too with the powers of the super soldier serum.

Content Producer/Presenter
Content Producer/Presenter

Resident movie guy at WhatCulture who used to be Comics Editor. Thinks John Carpenter is the best. Likes Hellboy a lot. Can usually be found talking about Dad Movies on his Twitter at @EwanRuinsThings.