The finale of “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” finally gave the people what they want: Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) confirmed as the new Captain America. And we know a lot of fans are (understandably) finding the whole thing extremely heartwarming.
But even more heartwarming is the time 7 years ago, when the comic book version of Sam Wilson became Captain America, and Mackie celebrated the milestone even though he apparently believed it was never going to happen for him.
So quick recap: In the final episode, which we need to just say out loud wrapped up the Flag Smashers and John Walker stuff really uh, uncomfortably quick, Sam debuted the hybrid Falcon/Captain America suit we definitely knew the Wakandans made for him last week.
More importantly, while he was very clearly acting on his own and without the sanction of the US Government, by the end he’s been completely accepted as the new Captain America. Even by Isaiah Bradley, who has extremely good reasons (he’s a victim of systemic racism) to reject the whole premise, and the creepy Ted Cruz-esque senator played by Alphie Hyorth, who has bad reasons (he’s a perpetrator of systemic racism).
Back in 2014 we were still years away from the MCU’s Sam Wilson becoming Captain America in the MCU. But in July of that year Marvel comics announced on “The Colbert Report” that Sam would be taking over as he new cap starting in 2015. And Mackie, who at that point had appeared as Sam just one time, in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” was ecstatic.
“Dreams do come true!!! It’s only the ComicBook, but it’s still amazing!” he tweeted the next day. Here’s that tweet, which includes a very heartwarming photo.
Fortunately for Mackie, and legions of *very* happy Marvel fans, in the end it wasn’t only the comic book. Thanks to “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” Mackie is, we presume, the MCU’s official Captain America for the foreseeable future. And hell yes to that.
In the meantime, we don’t know everything there is to know about the MCU’s version of Sam’s new suit yet — is it made of vibranium? Does it include strength enhancing stuff? But we do know it’s extremely close to the suit designed by comics artist Daniel Acuña for the first issue of “Captain America: Sam Wilson” and we’re down.