WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDER FINALE!
Although not officially confirmed yet by Marvel Studios, the usually very reliable THR is reporting that a fourth Captain America movie is in development. According to the report, Malcolm Spellman, the creator/showrunner of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is co-writing the script along with Dalan Musson. The latter is a staff writer on TFATWS who penned the crucial fifth episode, “Truth”. No director or cast is attached to the production as of yet, but it’s pretty obvious that this will be the first feature film to boast Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson in his new persona as Captain America.
Mackie debuted in 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier where he would go on to become the superhero Falcon and a close confidant of Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers aka the original Captain America. That relationship would eventually lead to the events of 2019’s Avengers: Endgame where an old Steve Rogers, after hopping through time to live out his life with love Peggy Carter, chose Sam to pick up his shield and continue his superhero legacy.
As we learned in TFATWS though, that wasn’t such an easy transition as Sam had to wrestle with the symbolism of being a black man wearing the red, white, and blue, especially when uncovering in “Truth” how the US government had mistreated and abused Isaiah Bradley, a black man who had been the first true successor to the super-soldier serum that turned Steve Rogers into Captain America. Eventually though, with the help of partner – sorry, co-worker – Bucky Barnes aka Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), Sam came to terms with how he could wield the shield in his own way – giving an impassioned speech about how those in power mistreat those beneath them – and fully took up the mantle of Captain America, just as he did in the comics in 2014. The credits in the finale even rebranded the series as Captain America and the Winter Soldier.
While the show had a few issues, Mackie’s transformation into Cap was handled fantastically and showed that he can be every bit as heroic as his predecessor, but still offer a very different voice in the MCU to Evan’s Steve Rogers. Rumours have been abounding for a while now though that Evans is somehow going to make a comeback in the role, but in what capacity, we don’t know. It could just be an Old Man Cap cameo, and there certainly couldn’t be a more fitting place for that to happen than in the still-untitled next Captain America movie.
Last Updated: April 26, 2021
Original Heretic
April 26, 2021 at 03:12
Loved this show from start to finish.
And man, all the tidbits that could lead to other stuff!
Like, isn’t Isaiah Bradley’s grandson meant to become Patriot?!
And Val. Oh my. There’s a whole new story arc.
I had my doubts about Clarence as Cap, but from what he’s shown so far, he’s going to knock it out the park.
Kervyn Cloete
April 26, 2021 at 04:16
Yeah covering all of this in another article, but yeah the Young Avengers are pretty much confirmed now as we’re just missing two members.
Hyperstorm
April 28, 2021 at 07:12
Three members actually: Hulkling, Hawkeye and Iron Lad.
Although, to be fair, Hawkeye will be in the Hawkeye series so you are 100% correct depending on when this comment is read. 🙂
Ant Visagie
April 26, 2021 at 03:24
What was the point of the show because if you really think about it, at the end of it you’re just back to where it all started. It also just made me hate the Wakandans, which I guess is the point, because even in the comics they’re insufferable tw@ts.
Kervyn Cloete
April 26, 2021 at 04:37
It’s not at all just back to where it started. Both the characters of Sam and Bucky went through some major character growth over the course of the series. And it establishes that this Captain America is a completely different type of hero the former. Not to mention that the show sets up a bunch of stuff going forward in the MCU.
Mandalorian Jim
April 26, 2021 at 10:49
The whole series could have been three lines of exposition in the next avengers movie. Ant is right, the characters end off where they started. There’s almost zero growth, except that we get some modern day politics thrown in. Yay?
Mandalorian Jim
April 26, 2021 at 10:43
It was rather pointless, wasn’t it? It had a few good moments but overall, it’s really one of the worst of the Disney shows so far. I had high hopes though, but… man what horrible writing and characterisation. If Zeno is your best character, and you’re left wanting him to just kill everyone, then you know something is wrong. Also, why is Bucky such a weak sad sack in this show? It’s like ever since End game, the character has just been progressively diminished…
Even Falcon was such a whiny little git. You’re an avenger, pal. Where’s your balls?
BradeLunner
April 26, 2021 at 05:35
Not perfect, but I really enjoyed this show, it was great to see these characters take some time to develop and grow, see what avengers get up to when they are not Avenging, and tackling some real world issues in a comic centric way. My biggest gripe is the quick cuts on the otherwise great action scenes
Skyblue
April 27, 2021 at 14:25
Anthony Mackie ruined Altered Carbon but is better suited to this nonsense. Nobody will ever replace Chris Evans imo. Even more so the true Man of Steel, Henry Cavill. They can all go get buggered. I’m done with comic book trash.
Mandalorian Jim
April 27, 2021 at 16:57
If you had told me after the stellar first season of Altered Carbon, that by the end of the second, I would absolutely hate it. I would have laughed at you and called you a nutcase, and yet… even to this day, I can’t believe how utterly horrendous the second season was. It was a misfire on all fronts, from the dismal writing, to even Anthony Mackie’s performance, and then the whole story arc was just such a disappointment. I rarely agree with Netflix’s decisions to cancel shows, but that second season sealed the deal for me. It had to go.
HvR
April 28, 2021 at 04:38
The series was okay I guess.
What bothered me the whole time is bad writing and plot development. This confidant relationship between Cap and Falcon was hinted at in the movies but was thrown in almost as an afterthought when they realized “o crap Chris Evans is done we need a new Cap and he need to be black” and thought this series would flesh this out more but it didn’t.
The setup with the Falcon “dealing with real world problem” was so forced and unbelievable it just started off the series on a bad foot.
And then the whole Walker character …. ugh…
Mandalorian Jim
April 28, 2021 at 06:45
They could have done so much with Walker, I mean imagine if they actually made him worthy of being Captain America (or even bring in a young Isaiah Bradley). The guy is a war hero, a patriot and then Falcon has to really prove himself. Better yet, let him fail in the process… I mean, the heroes journey still remains a fantastic narrative device.
Instead, we get a series that can be best described as “meh”… I came out of it, wondering why did I even bother watching it.
At least, Wandavision added to the MCU. Falcon and the Winter Soldier was just pointless and idiotic. And you’re right the “real world problem” crap just took away from the show. There’s already a fantastic arc about discrimination that could have been explored, between those that were snapped and those that weren’t. Nope, instead we get some BLM-inspired nonsense, which will not age well. 10 years from now, we’ll look back at these shows and just cringe. If you’re not already cringing, you’ll definitely cringe in a decade’s time.