Who’s Joaquín Torres on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier?
Attention Marvel Blog True Believers! It’s time for even more spoilers about The Falcon and the Winter Soldier!
That means you’ll want to soar away from this page right now if you haven’t had a chance to see episode one of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, released for streaming on Disney+ on Friday, March 19, 2021, and you want to avoid spoilers! Perhaps you’d like to check out Marvel Blog’s review of Captain Marvel: Marvels Snapshots #1!
Who’s Joaquín Torres?
In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Joaquín Torres (Danny Ramirez) is the First Lieutenant who is assisting Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) with the situation in Tunisia, tracking the online chatter surrounding Flag-Smashers – a group that believes the world was better during the blip.
Photo: Marvel Studios
Those who have closely followed Wilson’s story in Marvel will already recognize the name “Joaquín Torres,” but his origin in the comics is somewhat different than what we’ve seen so far on screen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe!
What’s Joaquín Torres’s Story in Marvel Comics?
Torres technically first appeared in Sam Wilson: Captain America #1 (2015) by Nick Spencer, Daniel Acuña, and Joe Caramagna, when Wilson is contacted by Joaquín’s grandmother, who shows a picture of her grandson over a video feed.
Photo: Marvel Comics
She tells Wilson that although seventeen-year-old Joaquín is called a coyote by some, he is a good samaritan, leaving food, water, and other supplies for those crossing the border between Mexico and the United States. However, Joaquín’s grandmother tells Wilson that her grandson recently disappeared.
Photo: Marvel Comics
Torres makes his first full appearance in Sam Wilson: Captain America #3 (2015) by Spencer, Acuña, Mike Choi, and Caramagna.
Photo: Marvel Comics
In that issue, Wilson discovers that the villainous Doctor Malus (say it out loud) has been creating human-animal hybrids… and young Torres has been captured and subjected to experimentation using Wilson’s avian sidekick, the vampire-bird hybrid Redwing (that’s right, he’s not a drone in the comics).
Sam Wilson: Captain American #5. Photo: Marvel Comics
As a result of the experiment, Torres’s arms have been partially transformed into wings (and he has quite the healing factor, as well).
Photo: Marvel Comics
In Sam Wilson: Captain America #5 (2015) by Spencer, Paul Renaud, Romulo Fajardo, and Caramagna, Torres makes his debut as the All-New, All-Different Falcon, claiming the title vacated by Wilson, who had stepped up to become Captain America.
Photo: Marvel Comics
Remember, True Believers, these issues (and the rest of the Sam Wilson: Captain America run) are available to read right now on Marvel Unlimited if you want to conduct your own field research!
Did We Just Meet the All-New, All-Different Falcon?
Will we see more of Torres, possibly stepping into his own set of wings and becoming the new Falcon? And does this more or less confirm our hope that Wilson will be the next Captain America? Let Marvel Blog know what you think in the comment section!
