Captain America: Symbol of Truth Writer Teases Black Panther Villain as Sam Wilson’s “Red Skull”

Sam Wilson is back as the Symbol of Truth in a new Captain America series, and writer Tochi Onyebuchi is already teasing the villain who will act as Sam Wilson’s version of the Red Skull. Captain America: Symbol of Truth comes from writer Tochi Onyebuchi and artist R.B. Silva, and set up the Black Panther villain White Wolf as the series’ main antagonist. White Wolf recruits Crossbones to help him achieve his evil goals, and even though White Wolf is more associated with the Black Panther franchise, Onyebuchi revealed he has plans to build up the character to be Sam Wilson’s opposite, similar to Steve Rogers and the Red Skull.

Marvel.com asked the Captain America: Symbol of Truth writer why he chose to bring White Wolf over from the world of Black Panther. “I first learned of him while doing my research prep for BLACK PANTHER LEGENDS and was like: “HOLD UP! T’CHALLA HAS A BROTHER?! AND HE’S OLDER? AND HE’S WHITE?! What in the Prince of Egypt…?” Onyebuchi said. “Anyway, Hunter is such a rich character and I knew I had to work with him again (I sound like a movie director talking about an actor). One thing that’s important for me in building Sam’s place in the canon is that he’s, at one point, going to have to deal with having an opposite, someone who represents the polar opposite of everything he stands for. An eternal antagonist, so to speak. Steve Rogers has the Red Skull. Who will be Sam Wilson’s Red Skull?”

Onyebuchi also teased how Crossbones and White Wolf won’t be the only villains Sam interacts with. “We’re going to see Sam get increasingly intertwined with the rest of the Marvel Universe,” he said. “And by the end of this first arc, these won’t be the only enemies he’s made…”

White Wolf, who readers saw in Captain America #0, has plans to free and recruit Crossbones to help him kill Captain America, and also overthrow some counties. White Wolf is the adopted brother of T’Challa, with King T’Chaka taking him in as a child when his parents died in a plane crash. Hunter would go on to lead Wakanda’s secret police force, the Hatut Zeraze, before eventually adopting the codename of White Wolf. 

“I’m a huge fan of action thrillers that involve foreign locals and all of that stuff. One of the things that Sam has to do is he has to get to the bottom of a conspiracy. He has to figure out what the truth of the matter is, he has to figure out what’s really going on,” Onyebuchi said when Marvel announced Captain America: Symbol of Truth and Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty. “When so much of American foreign policy historically has been founded on operating in the shadows, manipulating federal employees or members of another government into enacting regime change for the benefit of various corporate interests, what is it going to look like when Sam runs up against the people who would wish to manipulate him for their own ends in terms of furthering ‘America’s interests’ abroad? What does it mean to be the ‘Symbol of Truth’ in that context?”

What did you think of the first issue of Captain America: Symbol of Truth? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!