As WandaVision (2021-) prepares to close the curtains on its first, if not only, season, there's still more of Marvel Studios on the way both through streaming and cinematically.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021-) pokes its head out from around the corner, and with it, comes the fate of one Marvel hero.
Anthony Mackie is set to headline the series as Sam "Falcon" Wilson alongside co-star Sebastian Stan as Bucky "the Winter Soldier" Barnes as they explore the immediate aftermath of Avengers: Endgame (2019) and take on the trials of living in a post-Avengers world. Endgame concluded with Chris Evans' Steve "Captain America" Rogers passing the shield on, leaving serious implications in his wake.
Now, it appears that Wilson may be the new Captain America. Though Wilson was the Staar-Spangled Man with a Plan in the comics, this is the first time that a person of color will carry the shield on-screen. Though Mackie himself neither confirmed nor denied that his character will carry on the legacy, Marvel president Kevin Feige praises the transition from hero to hero.
"Sam Wilson as played by Mackie is different than a Thor or a Black Panther because he’s not from another planet or a king from another country," said Feige. "He’s an African American man. He’s got experience in the military and doing grief counseling with soldiers who have PTSD. But where did he grow up? Who is his family? Mackie was excited to dig into it as this man, this Black man in particular, in the Marvel version of the world outside our window," Feige said for Variety.
Showrunner Malcolm Spellman chimed in on the upcoming series and the issues it aims to face head-on. "The same thing with the issues of a black man confronting that shield," Spellman said in an interview with SFX Magazine. "The stories have been out there. They've been in our faces forever. There's no avoiding it, and Marvel doesn't ask you to avoid it. What they do ask you to do is never burden the storytelling. Let the storytelling be energetic and fun and aspirational, and within that, be honest and be truthful."
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier premiers on Disney+ on March 19, 2021, and with it, brings along the next chapter in Captain America's legacy.
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