After five episodes, “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” finally introduced the MCU’s new Captain America (no not you John Walker) when Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) came flying through a window in a New York City skyscraper at the beginning of the Disney+ show’s finale.
That scene alone demonstrated just how different Wilson’s version of the Star-Spangled Man will differ from his predecessor Steve Rogers. “Falcon and the Winter Soldier” director told TheWrap it was key Sam’s debut in the Stars and Stripes showed off his very unique skillset.
“We wanted to show him as having a skill set that was different from Steve, because Steve was a super soldier. He had the strength behind it to back up how he fought, right?” Kari Skogland said. “Sam has to use a different skill set, which is what we see him do with the way you can throw the shield, which is different. The way you can even do the some of the acrobatics that you can do to avoid to avoid fighting. We wanted to see a Cap who could do stuff that was sort of off a new set of rules.”
The main difference, other than being a regular non-powered up guy, is that Sam of course has wings attached to his Captain America suit, which was a suped up version of his Falcon attire thanks to the Wakandans.
“The location played a big part in that as well, because we looked at different ways of him coming into the room. And that particular location just lent itself to us bring him in, because he could throw the shield and show us the majesty of that image, that wonderful silhouette. And then do a roll and tumble stand up like the man that he had become,” Skogland continued.
She recalled a conversation she had while working on a prior project with a colleague about the difference between a character entering through a door or a window. You can guess where she landed on that argument.
“A character coming in through a window has a whole different context to it.”
The entire “Falcon and the Winter Soldier” series really rested on getting Sam from the moment Steve hands him his shield and asks him to take up his mantle — something he initially refused — to the point where he finally dons the new uniform. Skogland said the biggest thing for her and head writer Malcom Spellman was that it couldn’t be because Steve asked him to be Captain America. It had to be Sam’s own decision.
“It’s totally his choice, the way it had to come down, because he was considering so many different sides to this coin,” she said. “Even his own community is not necessarily going support it if he does.”
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