Marvel Studios recently released their latest episode of Marvel Studios ASSEMBLED that gives a behind-the-scenes look at the recently concluded first season of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier.
In that episode, actor Anthony Mackie, who plays Sam Wilson on the show, recently claimed that Marvel Studios and Disney are trying to “change the way society looks at itself” through the show.
He says, “It’s been an emotional experience, especially in the time in which we live in now. For Marvel to give me the opportunity as a black man, from the south, to become Captain America, I think, says a lot, not only about the work that I’ve put in to get to this point that they would entrust me with that. But with the way that they’re hoping to change the way society looks at itself. ”
Mackie also made a couple of other contradictory comments throughout the episode. At one point he says, “Sam, you know, being a soldier and being a veteran, being a counselor, he realizes that as a people, we’re all Americans.”
“I’m not black Captain America. Steve wasn’t white Captain America. He was solely Captain America. So as a society, as a country, we need to realize, that all the people who are citizens here on this soil, no matter what their origins are, they are Americans.”
He adds, “And, you know, the old adage, ‘I am my brother’s keeper,’ comes into play. You know, Sam realizes he deserves the right, he’s earned the right of Captain America and that has nothing to do with his race or his background.”
However, towards the end of the episode he refers to Sam Wilson as the black Captain America.
Mackie stated, “With everything that’s been going on with COVID and the murders of Breona and the murder of George Floyd, and the riots, and the activism going on with the young generation now, and, you know, the Black Lives Matter movement; it’s been jarring to me and surprising how timely this series is.”
He added, “My truth has changed and evolved so much. As far as me being a father, as far as me being a man, and as far as me being an American. And a lot of that has come out of this role and this series. So, it’s been humbling in a real sense. But also inspiring to think that my sons will be able to turn on the TV and see a black Captain America.”
Not only did Mackie claim Marvel Studios and Disney are trying to change the way society looks at itself, but director Kari Skogland also made some interesting comments about the show and specifically about heroes.
She stated, “It was very important to me, and I think to everybody to explore what it means to be a hero in today’s world. If in in the past in the MCU, being a hero was very much related to being a soldier, and being a warrior. The new hero is not that. The new hero is really a first responder, and so it was embedded in our journey for both characters.”
Pretty sure the people who defeated Thanos in Avengers: Endgame were all soldiers. So, I have really no idea what this even means. It looks like it’s trying to be smart, but in reality is just gibberish.
Skogland and Mackie weren’t the only ones who had interesting things to say. Showrunner Malcolm Spellman also discussed the thought process behind Mackie’s Sam Wilson becoming Captain America.
He stated, “I’d felt like we would be dishonest to the fans and dishonest to, just on a human level, if we had this black man just accept this symbol without having real ambivalence about it. And we knew that was gonna be crucial to Sam’s burden.”
Producer Nate Moore would follow that up saying, “As a black man in America, to take on the stars and stripes, and wear that proudly, that’s not something that Sam Wilson would do out of the box. The notion of exploring what blackness means in America was kind of the hypothesis of the show. And the notion of legacy was something that both Sam and Bucky explore.”
Nate Moore must not have watched any of the Iron Man films at all. There are plenty of black soldiers in the uniform of the United States of America. The most prominent one is one of Tony Stark’s best friends, Colonel James Rhodes.
In fact, Rhodes actually wears an American flag-themed Stark-designed suit called the Iron Patriot in Iron Man 3.
Aside from Rhodes, a black man, having no problems taking up the stars and stripes, Wilson had taken up the stars and stripes before he picked up the shield as well.
When his character was introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, it’s revealed he’s a veteran. He previously served in the United States Air Force as a pararescue airman.
Wilson had already picked up the stars and stripes and served his country. So it’s bizarre Moore would claim he wouldn’t do it out of the box when in fact he’d already done it.
Marvel Studios ASSEMBLED definitely gives you a behind-the-scenes look at The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and shows just how disorganized the storytelling was. But maybe more importantly it showed just how obsessed the show was with race.