I don't think it would work to put someone else in the costume and call him "Captain America."
If there is a "problem" with the character at all in the modern world, it is in fact
the costume, not the guy in it. Steve Rogers has been fairly consistently portrayed throughout his history as a decent man with a good grasp of what America should be about, despite the shifting winds of popular sentiment or which party happens to hold power at any given time. But it's those darn star-spangled longjohns that have at times made him a difficult character to promote, to write or to read about. There's an implied jingoism in that outfit, or at the very least an implied *pride* in something, that can be difficult to reconcile in eras where America's beliefs are shaken. In order to understand Steve, you first have to read the books, and to read the books you first have to get past those stars and stripes being shoved at you.
Whoever puts on the outfit is going to inherit that same liability, only without the upside. Because whoever it is almost certainly is NOT going to share Steve Roger's virtually unique understanding of American principles and ideals, his faith in the country's potential despite its slips, or his long history of service to its cause.
If you put a fervent patriot in the outfit, you're back to square one; promoting a jingoistic character in a time of low national confidence. If you put a rebellious, anti-establishment type in the outfit, then it just makes no sense...why would he wear the symbol of a system he deplores, except maybe to mock it, which would disgrace the character.
I think the only way it would "work" would be to give someone else the name, but not the outfit. The new outfit should reflect modern sentiment, maybe something black along the lines of USAgent. The shield is irreplaceable, so it would have to stay on, but the rest should change.
Of course this has already been done, ad nauseum, but then Marvel is the House of Recycled Ideas.
VanZee writes:Captain America is one of a very short list of ordinary humans who put on the superhero tights and leapt out to stop injustice. Used to be more of them, particularly in the Golden Age. Swap "Cap killed by sniper" with "Batman killed by sniper" and see how that feels in the mouth. It feels wrong. It's about one notch up from "Robin slips in shower, paralyzed."
Yes, or maybe "Batman paralyzed by third-rate nobody character brought in from left field a few months before."
Or "Superman killed by mindless Image-reject monster invented for that sole purpose."
The fact that Cap's "death" is so pointless, so unfitting and committed by a relative nobody is the biggest guarantee it won't be permanent.
Well, that and the movie deal.