With Chris Evans’ MCU contract coming to an end, fans went into leaving the title of “Captain America” up for grabs.
Leading up to the movie’s release, fans were debating whether the new Cap would be Bucky Barnes, Rogers’ childhood best friend, or Sam Wilson, Rogers’ new best friend.
In the end, Rogers handed over his shield and his moniker to Sam, who will now be the MCU’s new Captain America. With that in mind, here are 10 Things We Want To See From Sam Wilson’s Captain America.
A flying Captain America
In the comics, when Sam Wilson became Captain America, he didn’t trade in his robotic wings for a Vibranium Shield. He kept the wings; he simply added the shield to his arsenal. So, we had a Captain America who was flying around, flinging his shield at bad guys from up in the skies. It was pretty awesome, and it would be even more awesome to see that translated onto the screen. For eight years now, we’ve seen Steve Rogers running around with his shield, knocking out bad guys and giving people a boost, so the only way to top that action is to add the element of flight.
Getting trained by old Steve Rogers
Ever since Steve Rogers’ fate was revealed in Avengers: Endgame, MCU fans have been trying to figure out what Joe Russo meant when he said that the now out-of-contract Chris Evans “isn’t done” with the role of Rogers.
Maybe it’s because he’ll be back in his old man makeup to train Sam Wilson to use his shield. It’s a tricky thing to use, especially getting the angles right to bounce it from henchman to henchman and then back into your own hands. Before Sam takes the shield out on missions, Rogers will need to train him to use it, so that he doesn’t embarrass himself.
Lording his new identity over Bucky
Over the years, Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes have developed a close friendship where they ultimately love each other, but also enjoy taking the air out of each other’s tires. It’s why they’ve been given a spinoff series as a duo for Disney+. It’s fun to see these two tease each other.
In the months leading up to Avengers: Endgame, fans knew that Chris Evans’ MCU contract was up and Steve Rogers would bequeath the title of Captain America to either Sam or Bucky. In the end, he went with Sam. Bucky seemed cool with it, but it would be fun to see Sam bust his chops and lord it over him.
Getting rejected by the public
In the comics, when Sam Wilson becomes Captain America, he immediately faces pressure from the public to stop going by that name and stop using the shield. They refuse to accept someone else as Captain America. It would make an interesting story arc in his first solo movie or his Disney+ series; to have Sam take up the mantle of Cap and get rejected by the public, who have become endeared to Steve Rogers following his heroic acts in the Battle of Earth, only to win them over after his first solo adventure as Cap, shown in a news montage.
An adaptation of 'Truth: Red, White & Black'
Anthony Mackie said recently that if there’s any Marvel storyline he’d want to adapt for the screen, it’s Truth: Red, White & Black, which revealed that the U.S. government tested the super soldier serum on a regiment of black soldiers who all but one died before The Winter Soldier has shown that government conspiracies in a superhero blockbuster can be a lot of fun.
A team-up with Rick Jones
It’s about time Rick Jones ed the MCU. In the comics, he’s one of the most important characters in the Marvel universe, present at almost every major event storyline in the imprint’s recent history. His existence in the MCU The Incredible Hulk. Sam Wilson’s Cap and Rick Jones (under the alias “Whisperer”) have a partnership in the comics that it would be interesting to see on-screen. It’s likely that Sam will continue his partnership with Bucky in the MCU, but eventually, he’ll have to branch out and build relationships with other heroes to give Bucky some space.
Tensions with S.H.I.E.L.D.
While no one wants Marvel to simply rehash Captain America: The Winter Soldier, it was an impeccable film for one reason: it knew what to do with the Captain America character. This is a guy who stands solely for the ideals of American freedom and the American Dream, so the perfect villain for him to face is his own government. If his government betrays him, his world comes crashing down.
For Steve Rogers, this happened when he found out S.H.I.E.L.D. was controlled by Hydra. For Sam Wilson, in the comics, it happened when Rick Jones leaked S.H.I.E.L.D.’s plans to create their own Cosmic Cube. When S.H.I.E.L.D. tried to bring in Rick for hacking their systems, Sam decided to cut ties with S.H.I.E.L.D. and help Rick instead. That would make an awesome movie.
Diplomatic immunity
When Sam Wilson’s Captain America disavowed his government and became a lone wolf, taking out Hydra cells across the world, he brokered a deal with the government that would grant him diplomatic immunity. Diplomatic immunity can be a powerful dramatic tool, as shown by Doctor Doom (in the comics, not in either of his dreadful portrayals on film) and the bad guy in Lethal Weapon 2, but it’s rarely granted to a hero. This would draw us into the moral gray area that is necessary to any Captain America story arc – for Steve Rogers, it was his litany of war crimes.
Battling Warbringer with Spider-Man
In the comics, when Spider-Man is faced with Warbringer, a powerful villain bent on world domination that he is unequipped to deal with, Sam Wilson’s Cap s his fight. And then when they find that, even together, they can’t defeat Warbringer, they’re ed by Thor, Vision, Nova, and Ms. Marvel. the new Avengers line-up – which brings us to our next point...
Leading the Avengers
The Avengers might have disbanded at the end of let’s face it, they’ll be back. Those team-up movies make too much money, and they’re also important for the story.
There will be threats that no single superhero can handle on their own that they will all have to team up to face, and when that happens, Nick Fury will dust off the old “Avengers Initiative” files and go around recruiting people. When that happens, Sam Wilson’s Cap should be called upon to lead the team. With Steve Rogers gone, it’ll be the new Cap’s responsibility to give rousing pep talks.
