Move over Chris Evans, there’s a new Captain America in town, or at least in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Yesterday was a huge 24 hours for the franchise’s star-spangled superhero, with Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson suiting up and carrying the shield into The Falcon and the Winter Soldier‘s finale, followed by the news that the show’s executive producer and lead writer Malcolm Spellman was developing a brand new feature film alongside Dalan Musson, who scripted fifth installment “Truth,” which is widely regarded as the series’ best episode.
Kevin Feige had always refused to be drawn into the speculation that the MCU’s sophomore streaming show could get a second season, and now we probably know why. The title card read Captain America and the Winter Soldier before it faded to black for the last time, and the finale left plenty of options on the table in terms of where the narrative might be headed.
John Walker’s U.S. Agent is in the mix alongside Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, who returned for another brief cameo to tease that she was the one pulling the strings behind Zemo blowing up the remaining Flag Smashers despite the villain being imprisoned on The Raft, so the Thunderbolts could be set up as the next major adversaries for Sam’s Captain America.
In any case, Anthony Mackie took to social media last night to celebrate his MCU character finally inheriting the shield and mantle bestowed to him by Steve Rogers at the end of Avengers: Endgame, as you can see below.
What a Friday it has been… thank you to everyone who’s seen The Falcon and The Winter Soldier!#SamWilsonIsCaptainAmerica #FalconAndWinterSoldierFinale pic.twitter.com/wzSKZFnRUX
— Anthony Mackie (@AnthonyMackie) April 24, 2021
There’s also Sharon Carter to contend with, of course, now that the Power Broker is set to become entrenched in the highest levels of government, but given the sheer volume of projects on the docket over the next several years, it could be a while before we see Mackie headlining his own Captain America blockbuster.