One of the results is a show that was able to invert decades of tired debate over the legacies of storied white characters: Sam Wilson, a Black man, not only was finally deemed “worthy” of becoming Captain America, but was given space to ask over six episodes whether the role of Captain America was worthy of him.Īnyone who watched the show might have questioned Sam’s decision to ultimately accept the mantle in the final episode. In 2015, Kevin Feige-the architect behind the sprawling, financially explosive MCU-staged a rebellion and won, removing the MCU from Perlmutter’s influence. (Perlmutter is also known for allegedly scaling back production of Black Widow merchandise in 2015 because he didn’t think girls cared about superheroes, and for donating $360,600 in 2019 to the Trump Victory committee funding the former president’s reelection efforts). Only six years ago the MCU was still being overseen by Ike Perlmutter, the longtime Marvel CEO best known for reportedly stalling Black Panther and Captain Marvel because he didn’t think tentpole movies framed around a Black character and a woman would attract audiences. But The Falcon and the Winter Soldier also presents an opportunity to see what might be coming in the next phase of storytelling in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as how far things have come. Its odd-couple setup pairs two of the previous Captain America’s sidekicks in recent movies, one of whom was anointed by then-Cap Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) as his successor at the end of Avengers: Endgame. The show, created by Malcolm Spellman, is one of the flagship series intended to expand the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s characters and stories into TV for the streaming service Disney+. From the first episode, in which Sam’s bank manager tried to place where he knew this telegenic Black man from (“Did you used to play for LSU?”), to the end, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has wrestled with an idea: Who are superheroes for? And can a nationalist symbol be reclaimed by someone whom that nation has consistently and historically rejected? Whatever your taste as a viewer, there was probably something you found gratifying, even if it rarely lasted very long.īut the show, whose season finale aired today, always knew what it wanted to say. There was a feel-good extended montage I can describe only as Extreme Boat Makeover: Neighborhood Edition. They’ve traveled from therapy offices to bank branches to refugee camps to squillion-dollar Latvian hideaways. Sam Wilson (played by Anthony Mackie) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) have zoomed in and out of a hodgepodge of tonal plays over the past six weeks: comic caper heists and naturalistic studies of grief and trauma scenes of poignant social commentary and scenes of flamboyant nightclubs on shadowy island nations. Superlative television should always know what it wants to be, and on that front, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has felt more like Marvel’s exercise in trying things out than a series with a fully realized sense of self. This article contains spoilers through the entirety of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Avengers: Endgame.
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