Sam Wilson Remains One of Marvels Most Interesting Characters Heading into Phase Five
With the ambitious Phase Four reimagining the entirety of the MCU, and the abundance of heroes and villains finding their footing, Sam Wilson remains one of Marvel’s most interesting characters moving forward.
Marvel’s Phase Four has remained possibly the most ambitious and creative era that Marvel Studios has ever ushered forth.
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With an emphasis on the multiverse and the commitment to explorative and challenging narratives that deconstruct what fans have come to understand as the Marvel Mold, the MCU has reached the height of its metamorphosis in the midst of the studio’s fourth phase.
Spider-Man: No Way Home seemed to be the tipping point, but with the equally as speculated upon Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on the horizon, and the MCU reboot of the Fantastic Four franchise looming, we are far from finished with what Phase Four has to offer us.
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Yet, with every Disney+ series and multiversal adventure film, Sam Wilson remains one of Marvel’s most interesting, and dare I say vital, characters of the MCU moving forward.
What makes Wilson, and his recent transformation into the current inheritor of the Captain America mantle so interesting? It’s simple; he has come to define that very metamorphosis in himself.
Falcon/Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) in Marvel Studios’ THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
Sam Wilson found his footing in the MCU as the co-star in many of the Captain America titles; he was the best friend and partner in heroism to Steve Rogers during his most trying times.
Wilson was present when the Avengers as an entity were at their highest, and at their lowest, and he has been present long enough to know the MCU before superheroes, to the MCU facing intergalactic threats annually.
Falcon and Redwing in Captain America: Civil War. Photo: Marvel Studios
But perhaps what makes him even more interesting than his status as the bridge between the MCU of Marvel’s First Phase and its Fourth, is that Wilson is still just a man amidst a world of superhumans.
Wilson inherited the mantle of Captain America without the gift of science that made Steve Rogers a larger-than-life entity.
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When Falcon and the Winter Soldier saw him fight off leagues of people taking the serum to become super-powered individuals, it was Wilson who accepted his humanity and believed in himself enough to win a fight, not with strength, but with empathy and understanding.
Wilson is the most exposed hero of the new MCU- his very life is threatened with every encounter against evil- but he is as important as ever; with the very tenements of Captain America, and what makes that symbol so important, as necessary as ever during the changing tide of the MCU.
Source: Marvel Studios
Sam Wilson, forced to navigate the ever-changing world with only a shield, some wings, and the ideology that made Captain America such a revered entity, remains one of Marvel’s most interesting characters moving forward.
