The Sons of Hancock are something straight out of Steve’s worst nightmare; a group of Americans who pursue tyranny under the guise of patriotism.
WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Captain America #1, available now from Marvel Comics.
For Steve Rogers, the honor of being Captain America has always come with the harrowing knowledge that his alter-ego, like any other symbol of America, can stand for something that goes against his own cherished ideals of freedom and equality. Although the Sentinel of Liberty has never been afraid of facing down supervillains like the Red Skull, one of his few outspoken fears has always been the thought of someone using his star-spangled shield as an icon of tyranny, discrimination or any of the other human evils he’s spent his life fighting against.
Marvel Unlimited forces Steve to confront this long-held fear head-on when a group of overzealous “patriots” turns a historical landmark into their new base of operations. To make matters even worse, Captain America’s newest foes appear to have found a new way to use an old enemy’s unique technology to aid them in their sinister plans.
In Captain America #1 by Jay Ediden, Nico Leon, Dono Sanchez-Almara and Joe Sabino, Steve is forced to abandon a date with Sharon Carter when the U.S. Department of Defense calls to inform him that Independence Hall has been taken over by the Sons of Hancock, a white nationalist militia led by a disgraced former Congressman named William Travis. Having taken the building’s guards and the Liberty Bell hostage and caused an external communications blackout, Travis is demanding an audience with Steve, who he views as the only “true” Captain America. Fearing that an all-out assault would result in a bloodbath and rally sympathy for the Sons of Hancocks’ cause, Steve’s superiors ask him to comply, adding that an undercover journalist named Anita Dehnavi has informed her contact in the Philadelphia Examiner that the militia is putting together something extremely dangerous inside the building.
Upon entering the building, Steve is met by an enthusiastic William, who immediately begins spouting nationalistic platitudes about how America has lost its way and must be restored to its former glory by force. While Steve is outwardly polite, he’s not really listening to anything that Travis is saying; all he can think about is how angry the sight of the racist and ignorant ex-statesman lounging in Washington’s Rising Sun Chair makes him. Eventually, Travis introduces Steve to “Amanda Davis,” AKA Anita Dehnavi, who reveals the truth behind the Sons of Hancock’s mysterious secret weapon once they’re safely out of earshot.
Dehvani explains that Travis and his men are building an advanced sonic weapon based on blueprints they’ve discovered on the Internet, blueprints that happen to have been drawn up by Ulysses Klaue. Klaue, AKA Klaw, is an old enemy of Black Panther with a murderous obsession with Wakanda and its vast supply of Vibranrium. Equipped with an advanced sonic converter capable of weaponizing Vibranium’s unique ability to absorb, amplify and transmit sound, Klaw can project powerful sonic frequencies capable of disorienting and crippling his opponents and fire concussive blasts of raw sound. He can even create a tangible field of “cohesive sound” that can act as both a shield and a makeshift prison capable of securely containing superheroes.
Like many of Klaus’s other sonic devices, the one that the Sons of Hancock are building is capable of interfering with sonic transmissions, explaining why communications are blocked within range of Independence Hall. But unlike Claw’s previous inventions, this device has a new ability that makes it more frightening than any that preceded it; the sonic waves it produces can be used to brainwash people en masse. This opens up a frightening new dimension to Klaw’s powers, and the existence of the weapon’s schematics means that Klaw could be planning to use similar devices for his own purposes in the future.
While it’s not exactly clear what the Sons of Hancock plan on doing with the device, Travis’ ramblings about “taking back America” imply that they intend to use it to control the populace of America and enforce their ultranationalist agenda throughout the entire country. With their appropriation of America’s most sacred symbols and their willingness to use brainwashing to achieve their agenda, the Sons of Hancock are something straight out of Steve’s worst nightmare; a group of Americans who pursue tyranny under the guise of patriotism.
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