Rogers' last act in that movie was to hand his legendary shield over to Sam Wilson as an old man, encouraging his former sidekick to continue its heroic legacy.īut having a Black man step up to be a symbol of America at a time when police brutality and systemic racism are front-page issues couldn't be a simple matter.Įven though the first season of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier focused on a complicated plot about super-powered freedom fighters becoming terrorists, the real purpose was to spend six episodes transforming the Falcon. As any real superhero fan knows, the original Captain America - Chris Evans' blue-eyed dreamboat Steve Rogers - decided to return to the 1940s and live out his life as a normal man at the end of Avengers: Endgame. The consequence of the reveal was underscored by a new series title flashed at the end of the season finale: Captain America and the Winter Soldier. The reveal came during the final episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, a Disney+ series that mixed splashy fight scenes and awesome cameos from underused Marvel movie characters with weighty talk about the nature of heroism. It's tough to imagine a better week for TV fans to meet a Black Captain America.ĭays after the world exhaled in relief as Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murdering George Floyd, Marvel unveiled Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson as the new Captain America - in the process, making a poignant argument for why a Black hero would stand up to a defend a country that often mistreats people who look just like him. Warning: There are spoilers aplenty here regarding the final episode in the first season of Marvel's The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier explores the question of whether there can be a Black Captain America.