Writer J. Michael Straczynski is returning to Marvel Comics this fall to helm a new volume of Captain America.
Straczynski, a writer renowned for his work on The Amazing Spider-Man and Thor, will be joined by artist Jesús Saiz, who worked on Marvel's most recent Punisher series and previously illustrated Nick Spencer's controversial Captain America: Steve Rogers comic.
Marvel isn't revealing a great deal about the plot of the new Captain America series just yet, teasing only that it will pit Cap against a new, supernatural threat intent on preventing Captain America from changing the world all over again.
However, Straczynski told io9 that the series will feature extensive flashbacks to Steve's pre-Cap days, a time when the recently orphaned teenager clashed with the pro-Nazi German American Bund organization in 1930's New York. In the process, the series will chronicle Steve's own formative Uncle Ben moment – the event that solidified his journey toward becoming a hero.
"One thing about Steve Rogers that’s never really been addressed is the period between when his parents died, and when he became Captain America," Straczynski said. "We’re talking about a sickly, skinny 17 year old kid, trying to survive on his own for because he’s stubborn and independent, on the street for several years, hustling for any gig he can get, even if it’s bigger than he is, trying to afford food and a place to stay. So we will counterpoint a present-tense story in which Captain America faces off against a new villain of supernatural origin, with a story about his younger self, with both stories tightly interwoven.
"We are going to put young Steve right into the middle of that real-life vortex, where despite terrible odds he will make a crucial difference at an even more crucial moment," Straczynski continued. "For a young Peter Parker, the murder of his uncle Ben was a transformational event putting him on the path to becoming Spider-Man. This story will be equally transformational, putting a young Steve Rogers on the path to being the hero he eventually becomes."
Captain America #1 will hit comic shops on September 20, 2023.
Stracznski is also making a long-awaited return to the Babylon 5 franchise. The series is returning in the form of an animated movie called Babylon 5: The Road Home, and the movie's surprising cast has been revealed.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.