The Falcon from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier expected to be grounded.
While the Falcon and the Winter Soldier is a huge hit, star Anthony Mackie has revealed he was under the impression that rather than giving him his own show, Marvel was going to fire him from the role of Sam Wilson.
The Falcon’s flight
Avengers: Endgame ended with an emotional scene of an aged Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) retiring as Captain America and giving the shield to Sam Wilson (Mackie). That seemed perfect for the spin-off of Sam taking on the Cap mantle.
However, in an interview with MTV Asia, the actor laughed that when Marvel summoned Mackie for a special meeting. He was worried they were telling him he was either being replaced or the Falcon was no longer needed for the MCU.
“You never know, man, you never know. They call you and they’re like, ‘Come to L.A.’ So you instantly go online and Google yourself and say, ‘Did I do anything to get fired? I have no idea, what did I do, what did somebody videotape and say I said? What did I do?’ So for about 45 minutes, I Googled myself and I was like, ‘All right, I didn’t do anything, so let’s see exactly how this was gonna play out.'”
“It was great, man. It’s always a pleasure to see those guys, and when they call you in you know something special is gonna come out of that meeting. So going into it, I was very unsure of what possibly the outcome was gonna be. But when they told me the outcome of it, I was very happy.”
To be fair to Mackie, the MCU has had a history of replacing actors such as Don Cheadle taking over as James Rhodes/War Machine from Terrance Howard. Thus, his concerns were partly justified but thankfully, Marvel had no plans to give up on the Falcon.
Refusing the shield
A surprising moment in the show’s premiere is when Sam, rather than becoming the new Cap, gives Steve’s shield to the Smithsonian. While the government does make John Walker the new Captain America, Sam seems reluctant as he doesn’t feel he can live up to Steve’s legacy.
Mackie added in the interview that it was not only the worry of failing Steve but also the darker history of America that drove Sam to refuse the shield.
Well, because the shield belongs to Steve, and you know, Sam got into this because of his relationship with Steve. Sam wasn’t waiting in the wings, hoping and waiting to become Captain America. The whole goal and idea was to save the world with Steve. So if he’s Cap, that means Steve is no longer with him. So, it takes the fun out of it.
You know, the idea of being a superhero and being Captain America as a Black man, representing a symbol that for 500 years, has literally enslaved, downtrodden, and persecuted you people is a harsh reality to try and come to grips with.”
So far, Sam and Bucky are more interested in using Helmut Zemo to stop the super-powered Flag Smashers. While the expectation is that Sam ends up becoming Cap by the end of the series, Mackie’s words explain why the Falcon prefers to fly as his own man right now.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier streaming new episodes every Friday on Disney+.