At the end of Avengers: Endgame, Steve Rogers officially retired from his role as Captain America and passed on his iconic shield to Sam Wilson aka The Falcon, played by Anthony Mackie. In an interview with Variety, Mackie weighed in on the momentous occasion of Sam accepting the legacy of Captain America, and what that moment meant to him personally as an actor.
“I was really surprised and affected by the idea of possibly getting the shield and becoming Captain America. I’ve been in this business a long time, and I did it the way they said you’re supposed to do it. I didn’t go to L.A. and say, ‘Make me famous.’ I went to theater school, did Off Broadway, did indie movies and worked my way through the ranks. It took a long time for this shit to manifest itself the way it has, and I’m extremely happy about that.”
The repercussions of Steve retiring, and Sam becoming the new owner of the Captain America shield will be explored in detail in the upcoming Disney+ show, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. According to MCU showrunner Kevin Feige, the series will explore the nature of the legacy left behind by Steve Rogers, and how it would affect someone like Sam.
“Suddenly, what had been a classic passing of the torch from one hero to another at the end of ‘Endgame’ became an opening up of our potential to tell an entire story about that. What does it really mean for somebody to step into those shoes, and not just somebody but a Black man in the present day?”
Few details are currently known about The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, other than the fact that we will be seeing some familiar faces. Apart from Sam and Bucky Barnes aka The Winter Soldier, the show will also see the return of SHIELD agent Sharon Carter, and the villainous Baron Zemo, who is continuing with his mission to rid the world of superheroes.
Although the character of Sam will take center stage, and the trailer for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has shown Sam practice throwing the iconic shield, it is still not clear whether The Falcon will now officially be called Captain America going forward. In a past interview, Anthony Mackie had stressed that even though Endgame ended with Steve bequeathing his shield to Sam, the latter is yet to officially accept the title of Captain America.
“At the end of Avengers: Endgame, Sam never accepted the shield. Sam never said he was going to be Captain America. So, in the series, you learn who’s going to be Captain America, who the shield is passed down to, and where we go from there.”
Directed by Kari Skogland, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier stars Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Emily VanCamp, Wyatt Russell, Noah Mills, Carl Lumbly, and Daniel Br&ühl. The series premieres on March 19 on Disney+. This news originated at Variety.