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If it’s seemed as if the superheroes of the Marvel Universe are pretty much concentrated in North America, that might be about to change with the introduction of a new group of heroes… all of whom have been inspired by Steve Rogers and are debuting in the Captain America comic. (Look, we can’t go international too quickly, okay…?)

In the second story arc of its current Captain America comic book series, Marvel has announced plans to introduce four new international counterparts to Steve Rogers: Captains France and Kingdom — the latter representing the United Kingdom — as well as the Russian Red Widow, and the Chinese hero The Star. Each of these heroes represents one of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

“I love the idea of ‘official’ super heroes, ones who work within the system,” series writer Chip Zdarsky told ComicBook.com about the n  “It felt like there would be some sort of United Nations representatives from the Security Council member countries to deal with situations like Latveria. So, the United Captains came from that idea, a team that isn’t a team, that may have their own agendas.”

This is far from the first time Marvel has attempted to build international versions of Captain America analogs. Captain Britain was created in 1976 as the lead character in a series intended for UK audiences, and has periodically returned to prominence ever since; similarly, Hauptmann Deutschland — literally ‘Captain Germany’ in German — was introduced in 1991’s Captain America #387. Beyond that, the 2005 comic book series Ultimates 2 introduced the European Defense Initiative, which included Captain Britain, Captain France, Captain Italy, and Captain Spain.

The new characters, collectively known as the ‘United Captains,’ have been designed by Captain America series artist Valerio Schiti; his design sheets for each of the new characters will be spotlighted on variant covers for Captain America #6-9, but you can get early glimpses in the gallery below. “One of the things I like most about my job is designing new characters,” Schiti said in a statement. “It has always been a great hobby of mine, even before becoming a professional! I tried to incorporate some traditional symbols from the countries of origin of the new Captains into their uniforms, which are also practical and suitable for combat.”

Will the United Captains prove to be a significant presence in the Marvel Universe moving forward? Will the five find their discussions as tense as real life UN Security Council sessions? And perhaps most importantly of all, will we ever find out what Captain Britain makes of Captain Kingdom? At least some of these answers are likely to be found when the characters debut in Captain America #6, set for release December 17.

Get ready for what's next with our guide to upcoming comics, how to buy comics at a comic shop, and our guide to Free Comic Book Day 2025.