As we’ve seen in the past few years, perhaps race relations in this country maybe aren’t as advanced as we thought they were. That will play a part in the upcoming Disney+ series ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’, as a black man– Anthony Mackie‘s Sam Wilson– steps in to fill the void left as Caucasian Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) chose to go back in time and live a normal life with his beloved Peggy Carter rather than continue acting as Captain America in the present.
Interestingly, during the D23 Expo, it was revealed that Wyatt Russell had been cast to play a character named John Walker, who started out as the fanatical Super Patriot, but who later replaced Rogers as Captain America for a while in the 1980s. In that comic book story, before appointing Walker to rhar role, the US government considered replacing Rogers with Sam Wilson, but it was decided that America wasn’t ready for a black Captain America. That was in 1987! It’s rather sad that it’s over 30 years later and the same thing may still hold true, even in the fictional universe of the MCU.
In 2003, Marvel published the miniseries ‘Truth: Red, White and Black’, which chronicled the government experiments to replicate the Super Soldier Formula that made Cap a superhuman. These experiments were conducted on black enlisted men, based on the real-life experiments conducted on the Tuskeegee Airmen. In that story, most of the subjects mutated and died. Isaiah Bradley was the only survivor and he became the black Captain America, but over time, the pseudo-Super Soldier Formula took its toll. It eventually damaged his body and mind.
A fan on Twitter asked the question:
I am so happy to have Sam Wilson as Captain America. Will reactions to a black Captain America be explored? Will Sam’s feelings about Steve going back to an era when the two of them would not have been able to go into the same diner be given any space?
— ellie_nors • 💗💜💛💙 • thot crime (@NorsEllie) August 26, 2019
Writer Derek Kolstad replied:
“Oh, yeah. And then some.”
(Kolstad’s response seems to have been deleted, possibly because it was considered too spoiler-y.)
‘Black Panther’ dealt with race relations, even in America, even though the majority of the film was set in the fictional nation of Wakanda. But it did so without being too heavyhanded. It’s probably safe to assume that even though ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ will address such issues, that it will still be primarily an action-adventure story.
Malcolm Spellman also served as a writer on the show. Kari Skogland will direct all six episodes. Mackie and Russell will be joined by Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier, Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter, and Daniel Brühl as Helmut Zemo. ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ is expected to arrive on Disney+ in August of 2020.
