The horrifying true story that inspired Captain America: Brave New World’s best character

Captain America: New World Order might have fallen flat with critics, but that doesn’t mean the latest Marvel movie is all bad. 

There’s agreement around the Dexerto water cooler that Anthony Mackie is a charismatic Cap; we liked Red Hulk and thought the Celestial island dog fight was fun in a slightly Top Gun-inspired kind of way.

Yet personally, I found myself most interested in the character Isaiah Bradley. Described by Sam as the forgotten Captain America, Isaiah is the Super Soldier the US government doesn’t want you to know about. While Steve Rogers became the star-spangled man with a plan, Isaiah was abused and discarded by a government he trusted.

In fact, I found myself so intrigued by Isaiah that I decided to read around the character and soon discovered something shocking. There’s more than a kernel of truth to his story. But before we get to that, we need to explain a bit about Isaiah’s comic origin.

Who is Isaiah Bradley?

Marvel Studios

Isaiah Bradley was introduced in Truth: Red, White & Black #1 (January 2003), and he’s probably best described as “the Black Captain America”. Now, that’s probably a bit reductive, to be honest, because Isaiah and Steve led very different lives despite both being super soldiers. 

You see, both men were given the serum during World War 2 (Isaiah gets his dose during the Korean War in the MCU), however, the circumstances couldn’t be more different. Isaiah was forcibly recruited along with 300 African American soldiers to take part in an experiment designed to produce super soldiers (note: it’s unclear if Isaiah was part of an attempt to replicate the serum used on Steve Rogers or given a prototype serum before Steve). 

The experiments were horrific, and of the 300 men unwillingly subjected to the flawed super soldier serum, 10 survived, and only Isaiah would ever see action after using his powers to escape his prison.

After breaking free, Isaiah would go on to steal a Captain America costume and fight the good fight. Eventually returning to the US, Isaiah spent decades imprisoned before eventually being freed. 

Sadly, the side effect of the serum he was given meant he was suffering a form of dementia (thankfully, the MCU version doesn’t suffer this affliction), and while he remains a widely respected hero, he’s not fit for active duty anymore. 

Isaiah’s story is a shocking one, but if you think it’s a comic book invention, you’re sadly mistaken. The character’s experiences were based on a very real-life experiment called the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.

What was the Tuskegee experiment?

Marvel Comics

The Tuskegee experiment (or the Tuskegee Syphilis Study) was a study conducted by the United States Public Health Service between 1932 and 1972, the purpose of which was to observe the effects of untreated syphilis. The experiment saw 400 (exact numbers very from source to source) African American men deliberately infected with the virus, which was then left untreated for 40 years. 

Of those infected, 28 men died directly from syphilis, 100 died from complications related to syphilis, 40 of the men’s wives were infected, and 19 babies were born with congenital syphilis. 

The study only ended in 1972 after its existence was leaked to the press, and it’s gone down as the most infamous clinical study in US history. President Bill Clinton eventually apologized to the study’s victims on behalf of the US, calling the experiment “shameful”. However, in my opinion at least what good are apologies? More than a hundred people have been robbed of long and healthy lives for the sake of a racist study.

The parallels between Isaiah’s story and the Tuskegee experiment should be clear, but just in case you think we’re reaching here, Marvel has been pretty explicit that Isaiah’s story is based on this dark chapter in American history. 

According to Truth Be Told: Authorship and the Creation of the Black Captain America, the idea for Isaiah came from a conversation between Marvel Comics’ publisher Bill Jemas and Editor Axel Alonso. Jemas was interested in the “politics of wrapping a Black man in red, white, and blue,” and Alonso immediately thought of the Tuskegee experiment and pitched the idea to writer Robert Morales, who ran with it.

If you enjoy true stories, check out our list of new true crime documentaries. If you’re looking for something a little more uplifting, we have a piece breaking down everything new on Disney+.