Sam Wilson Is Not MCU’s Captain America – And Here’s Why It’s a Good Thing

‘Captain America: Brave New World’ recently released its first trailer. We’ve seen glimpses of action, Sam Wilson and Falcon in action, Thaddeus Ross as Red Hulk, Esposito’s mysterious villain, and Sabra, who caused much controversy.

But, the fact that Sabra is in the movie was not the only source of controversy, it’s the fact that Sam Wilson has inherited the mantle of Captain America back in ‘Endgame.’ Plenty of fans objected to the fact that Falcon is now Captain America, some reasons are legitimate while some come from a place of ignorance.

There’s one line from the trailer in which Thunderbolt Ross says “You are not Steve Rogers” and Wilson replies that he is not. This is completely true, as the next installment in ‘Captain America’ franchise has the opportunity to present to us a better version of, or rather, a different version of the character we are used to seeing.

Sam Wilson is definitely not the Captain America we are used to seeing in the MCU, and there are several reasons why that’s going to be an excellent thing.

Plenty of fans that criticize Wilson’s Captain America simply aren’t aware that this story is comic-accurate and the character inherited the mantle in the source material as well. ‘Endgame’ merely provided a perfect sendoff for Rogers, giving his story a complete and wholesome ending. So what the MCU did with Falcon’s character is not a woke or DEI thing, it’s accurate, it happened. Similar to how Shuri in the comics inherited the mantle from her brother after T’Challa died.

I realize that fans are worried because Wilson doesn’t have a Super Soldier Serum, meaning he is a regular human, and he can’t possibly hope to defeat the Red Hulk on his own.

This also presents one exciting opportunity, something that the actor Anthony Mackie commented on as well. Action in ‘Brave New World’ will be far more raw and real due to the high stakes involved. In the upcoming installment, behind that vibranium shield is not a superhuman, it’s a regular human. The stakes are high and the prospect of Wilson dying is rather high. Despite these dangers, he throws himself, nobly right into the thick of it, because it’s his duty. He chose this.

Second, Wilson’s Captain America will be grounded in reality and we can expect him to be far less judgmental than Steve Rogers. Rogers was a product of propaganda and institutionalized brainwashing, so some of his worldviews did not accurately represent the true state of the world.

Wilson is disillusioned, he is more modern in his thinking, he knows the flaws of the society he lives in, and his take on it will be more realistic and grounded in reality. We don’t even have to focus on the fact that he is black to know that he has certainly struggled with his status to get where he is. This makes Wilson’s Captain America far more relatable, and in many ways, far more noble.

But, back to the criticism now, there’s one thing that I have to agree with it’s that Falcon was already made and built character, that fans already liked. It’s going to be hard to separate him from that identity and I’m not sure that criticism will ever really go away. We do have Joaquin Torres as the Falcon now, and I can’t wait to see him in action but it’s going to be hard to see him as THE Falcon.

There are many valid points that critics of the new Captain America make, but most fall short and are not logical at all, especially if you take into account the source material.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!

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