Recent news about the upcoming Captain America 4 seems to have set off a peculiar case of brain worms. It all appears to have started with , and as we all know, nothing good ever starts with a tweet. THR is a reputable site when it comes to movie news, and the actual news (that Julis Onah is set to direct) is another example of their good reporting. But the tweet sharing said news with the world seemed confused as to what Anthony Mackie’s role might be in the movie. Mackie plays Sam Wilson, who for most of his MCU life has been Falcon, Cap’s de facto sidekick. But he’s nꦉow Captain America. We have had this explicitly explained to us in both a movie and a televi𝓡sion series starring Mackie. And yet still there are worms in our brain.
It feels beneath all of us for me to have to explain that the man they have been calling Captain America for three years is, in fact, Captain America, but for the avoidance of doubt, let’s refresh. Wilson becomes Captain America at the end of Endgame. Steve zaps off to have the life of peace he always wanted with Peggy, and returns asꦜ a very Joe Biden-looking old man to give Sam his shield. Sam says it feels like “someone else’s,&rd🎶quo; and Steve tells him “it isn’t”. Even Bucky, the only other character with a major connection to Steve, is there to nod in his agreement and support that Sam be the one to take up the mantle.
After this, we had Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney+. I know the title seems to undermine my point, but you’ll soon realise it does not. Sam, a Black m🦩an being asked to become a symbol for righteous justice in America, is uncomfortable with the realities of the position. That, plus the fact he is constantly negatively compared to his friend for whom he is still grieving, causes him to give up the shield and the role that goes with it. He is told it will be used as a memorial monument for Steve, but is instead given to John Walker, who becomes something of an America First Captain America. If Sam, who struggles to get a bank loan and is almost arrested for having a heated argument in the street with Bucky, is a symbol for the Black man in America’s history, Walker is America’s cop - the subjugator in chief.
This leads to Sam realising he can, and always should have been, a message of hope for his people. I’ll skip the fairly messy plot of the show but it ends with Sam holding the shield and the title once more. This is not a layered reading of the situation. Bucky calls him “Cap,” and he refers to himself as “Captain America”. The show even ends with the title card changing to Captain America and the Winter Soldier. It’s a lit൲tle harsh on Bucky, who spends the whole show getting out from under his old identity as the Winter Soldier, but I assume he will soon become the White Wolf. That’s a story for another time.
We have been told, by Steve passing the torch, by Sa🍸m and by Bucky, and by big letters on the screen, that Sam Wilson is Captain America. It’s fine to miss Steve Rogers/Chris Evans. It’s fine to prefer the first character, although Rogers took a few movies to grow on me so I’ll hold judgement for now. But it’s not fine to deny reality. You can dislike Wilson as Cap all you want, but it doesn’t change the fact that he is.
This is nothing new for comic books. As I’ve said, I expect Bucky’s title to change. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Danny Ramirez, who had a supporting role in the Falcon show, will likely be the new Falcon. Scarlet Witch only officially started going by Scarlet Witch in the MCU last year. Marvel has made Florence Pugh the new Black Widow and Hailee Steinfeld the new Haဣwkeye. In What If…? and Doctor Strange’s alternate universe, Hayley Atwell was the new Cap, although technically not a Captain America replacement but a mix of Captain America and Captain Britain known as Captain Carter. The upcoming Gotham Knights game has four characters, and three of them are Robins, and that’s not even all the Robins.
Captain America though feels different. I’m not sure why this has been set off now with something as small as confirmation of the director, but the worms have taken over the brain. This is a Black man taking over from a white man, and specifically in a role that represents what it means to be an American. Not only tha🔴t, in his brief time in the role, Wilson’s Cap has explored what it means to be Black in a Might Makes Right America. But what are people even asking for? Steve Rogers is an old man in this timeline, if he’s even still in it at all. He cannot be Captain America.
, and his so-called fans who want him back (but really just like using him as a foil for their racism) are attempting to argue with him. It’s very true to the comic books, where Steve steps down and insists Wilson is the new Cap, only to have racist protestors demand Steve be reinstated against his will, adopting the slogan - also 🎉now popular on Twitter - not my Captain America.
I think my favourite hypocrisy has been those suggesting the shield should go to Bucky. This is a character who was brainwashed by the Soviets and spent years working as their best hired gun, targeting defectors and key US security and technology personnel, and is still🍷 coming to terms with everything he has done and the choices he has made. This is versus Wilson, a Gulf War vet who served with distinction and after his honourable discharge found a job helping veterans who had been abandoned by the state they lost limbs and friends serving. Sam’s merit for the role seems to be under question entirely because of his skin colour, and when all’s said and done, you have to admit🥂 that’s pretty damn American.