The Legacy of Cap

From Dictionary.com Unabridged (v1.1)

leg a cy [leg-uh-see]
n. pl. leg a cies

1. Law. a gift of property, esp. personal property, as money, by will; a bequest.
2. anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor: the legacy of ancient Rome.
3. an applicant to or student at a school that was attended by his or her parent.
4. Obsolete. the office, function, or commission of a legate.
–adjective
5. of or pertaining to old or outdated computer hardware, software, or data that, while still functional, does not work well with up-to-date systems.


Which of these describes the new Captain America? What, you hadn't heard? Where do you live, under a rock? It even made the national news. Course it's a pretty slow news day, the only real competition is Al Gore getting the Nobel. So yeah, slow.

Yes, there will be a new Captain America this January, and the new Cap has got some new threads as well. Actually, that's one of the things that gets me worried, they're (Marvel) showing off the costume change more then they're playing up the fact that it's a new person wearing the shield and wings. The wings, according to the costume's designer Alex Ross, were an essential part. In an interview with Newsarama, Ross said' "I did not want to provide a single drawing or sign off on my participation on it, without those wings."



In that interview the word legacy comes up a lot. The legacy of Captain America and this costume's place in it. The new guy's place in "the legacy". That's what got me thinking about the definition of the word. Because most people think of first, a gift from the past to the future. But as we see, there are several things that it might mean, unintentionally, but that might be just as appropriate in this case. Did Civil War make them think Steve Rogers was so out of time and antiquated that he was no longer relevant? Who names the new Cap, did Steve specifically ask for someone, or is it one of his former proteges taking up the mantle? As you see, it might have been a very carefully chosen talking point for them.

I would also point you towards one of the blogs over at Wired.com, where Adam Rogers makes some very interesting, if moot (aren't they all), observations. Defiantly worth a look. Expect the new Cap in January.



-Dan