New 'Captain America' comics will be written by Baltimore native Ta-Nehisi Coates

After writing Marvel’s rebooted “Black Panther” comics, Baltimore native Ta-Nehisi Coates is taking on a second superhero: Captain America.

The writer announced that he will write the new “Captain America” comics Wednesday in a piece for The Atlantic, for which he’s a correspondent.

“There’s a lot to unpack here. Those of you who’ve never read a Captain America comic book or seen him in the Marvel movies would be forgiven for thinking of Captain America as an unblinking mascot for American nationalism,” Coates wrote, going on to explain the complex relationship the superhero, whose real name is Steve Rogers, has with the military and American ideals.

“Captain America, the embodiment of a kind of Lincolnesque optimism, poses a direct question for me: Why would anyone believe in The Dream? What is exciting here,” Coates wrote, “is not some didactic act of putting my words in Captain America’s head, but attempting to put Captain America’s words in my head.”

The first issue of his “Captain America” series will be released, fittingly, on the Fourth of July. Leinil Yu will create the interior panel illustrations, and Alex Ross will do the covers, Coates said in The Atlantic.

Coates, a self-professed comic book nerd, made his comic debut with the release of the rebooted “Black Panther” series in 2016. He’s also the author of such books as “Between the World and Me,” which won the National Book Award, and “We Were Eight Years in Power,” a collection of his Atlantic essays about Barack Obama’s presidential tenure.

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Celebrated West Baltimore author Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote the latest "Black Panther" series, which was published in 2016 with art by Brian Stelfreeze and has served as inspiration for the "Black Panther" film to be released on Friday. (Marvel Entertainment Inc. / TNS)