The Shocking Future of Falcon After Avengers: Endgame Breakdown
Captain Steve Rogers is no more. He’s not dead or anything dramatic like that but he is very, very old, and he’s not up for doing the whole super soldier stick. Still, just because Steve’s done with the life doesn’t mean that Captain America is. The superhero lives on as a mantle, one that Steve has decide to pass down to someone knew through the giving of his iconic shield. He had the option of two different yet solid choices: Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes, better known as Falcon and the Winter Soldier respectively. Falcon just happened to be lucky recipient.
Now that Sam has the shield a world of possibilities seems to have opened for him. He’s no longer Cap’s wingman but the star of his own show now. With the shield, Falcon has the opportunity to put himself in the forefront of the action. But how exactly does Falcon getting the shield effect the rest of the MCU as well? What are some of the exact possibilities that are in store for Falcon now that Captain America has recognized him as his successor?
Captain Falcon and Old Man America
Steve Rodger may not be Captain America anymore but he is still most certainly a super soldier. While he may not be in his prime, the idea that Steve Rodgers can’t still throw down when he needs to is a hard one to believe. Certainly, the Super Soldier Serum doesn’t wear off when one reaches old age (then again General Philips foolishly decided not to test the limits of the only Super Soldier he had so who knows). In other words, Steve should still be able to play a supporting role to Falcon in his upcoming adventures. It should be even more exciting to see Steve beating up people as an old man alongside his old partner in crime.
Still, even if Steve can’t fight at all for some reason that doesn’t diminish his supporting role. His experiences as Captain America are still valuable. He can use them to give Falcon advice on carrying the mantle should he need it. It’s also just fun to think about how it's very possible that Chris Evans can still guest star as Steve whenever he wants.
Captain Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Steve and Bucky’s relationship progressed something like this: they’re best friends, they’re dangerous enemies, and then they’re best friends again. The moment Steve became Cap and Bucky became the Winter Soldier the two of them became somewhat equal. They both became highly-trained and superpowered individuals. They can both handle any situation that the other can.
Falcon and Bucky are not the same in this regard. Their relationship differs completely. Falcon is Bucky’s friend because Bucky is Steve’s friend, and Bucky is Falcon’s friend because Falcon is Steve’s friend. They don’t have any history with each other, nor are they even in same weight class. This is good though. It means Falcon brings something new to the table.
Steve and Bucky had little to no differences, they were each capable of doing the same things to some extent. Their partnership had no versatility, and while that’s not necessarily a bad thing it is nice to know that Flacon will bring something new to the table as Captain Falcon. Captain Falcon may not be as strong as Bucky, but his wings and gadgets allow him to do things Bucky can’t so when the two of them do eventually go on missions together, they will have to be more reliant on another than Bucky was with Cap.
It’s also good to know that Bucky’s differing personality from Steve’s will keep the relationship between him and Falcon from becoming something like Falcon’s and Steve’s. It will be fresh rather than copied. Falcon will have a whole new partner in Bucky, and the circumstances mentioned before will pretty much force the two of them to adapt in different ways, meaning Falcon, along with a new title, will have a new partner to get used to.
Captain Falcon Takes Captain America’s Place?
It should be noted what Falcon’s responsibilities will be now that he’s the new Captain America. Steve Rodgers had the responsibility of leading the Avengers, and training new recruits. But Steve only had this position because he was the most leveled headed member of the group (whenever he didn’t let his past get in the way), and because he was a member of the original six Avengers. In other words, Steve didn’t have the lead the Avengers because he was Captain America, which means Falcon won’t be getting that role. He’s still an Avenger but he’s not commanding the whole team anytime soon. That job will either be given to Doctor Strange or Black Panther, more than likely the latter, considering he’s the chairman of the latest Avengers team in the comics.
Still the shield should give Falcon some new commanding authority. The new members that that Steve was training (Scarlet Witch, Vision, and Falcon himself) should become Falcon’s responsibility, especially since Black Widow (Steve’s partner in crime when it came to training new recruits) happens to be very, very dead. We think it’s pretty safe to assume that Bucky is a new recruit to the Avengers team, and as such, should be counted among the group. He would take Falcon’s old place more or less while Falcon takes Steve. Like Black Widow, Vision also happens to be very, very dead, but is still slated to get a television show along Scarlet Witch titled “WandaVision,” so it’s also possible that he will be coming back. With that said. Since Falcon and Bucky will also be appearing in their own joint television series, it’s only natural the two shows crossover, and whenever they do, Falcon will more than likely take up the role as leader of both teams whenever they get together.
Captain Falcon New TV Possibilities
Yes, Falcon will more than likely take the role as the new leader of the Avengers new recruits. Both of the old leaders are gone now, and it’s clear that one of them trusts Falcon tremendously, having given Falcon his legacy and whatnot. However, we’ve also established that Falcon has far too little street cred to be the head of the whole Avengers team -- the one who organizes their daily operations and rescue missions the way that Steve did. While we do think that T’challa has the best chance of leading the Avengers, we only think it’ll be when it pertains to big battles -- so say if someone like Ultron shows up again and the situation demands that all if not most of Earth's heroes unite to stop it. Otherwise, we don’t think T’Challa is going to be running the day-to-day, he is, after all, a king and has his own country to look after. Doctor Strange would be too busy monitoring the rest of reality for external threats. Captain Marvel doesn’t spend nearly enough time on Earth to be leading anybody, and Spider-Man, finally is way too young to be leading anyone at the moment.
That leaves two possible people that would be higher up on the food chain to Falcon: Steve Rodgers and Nick Fury. Both have the capacity to run the day-to-day Avengers, but as Steve has given up the shield and thus seems set on retiring to a nice peaceful life, Nick Fury seems like the better candidate (then again, Peggy is also very,very dead, so maybe Steve wants to assume the position of operations commander). For one thing, the Avengers Initiative as a whole was his idea, and if it weren’t for him, Earth’s heroes wouldn’t have come together at all. He also has experience leading an earthwide protection force in S.H.I.E.L.D, even if it did turn out to be Hydra in disguise.
Now that the Avengers have cleaned up the situation with Thanos and restored the world, the government should have no hold over them. They definitely wouldn’t have the backing of the public anymore if they tried, so Nick, Falcon, Bucky, and everyone else who were in hiding shouldn’t need to do so anymore, giving the new Avengers the opportunity to reassemble giving Nick the ability to step in as head if he wants, and if Steve’s seems alright with it. (Tony, sadly, no longer has a voice in these matters). It would be interesting to see either or both of the upcoming TV shows -- Falcon’s and Wanda’s revolve around this dynamic.
Captain Falcon MCU Movies?
Now for the big question: will Captain America’s trilogy be extended with Captain Falcon at the helm? Steve has given Falcon his shield, which official makes him the new Captain America. Still, we don’t think it’s likely that we’ll be seeing Falcon as the star of his own solo movie anytime soon. For one thing, once again, he doesn’t have that kind of popularity behind him, for another, he already has a joint TV show in the works with Bucky. There’s no reason to continue the Captain America films with Falcon.
If by some miracle Falcon did end up on the big screen in his own movie, it probably wouldn’t be in a new Captain America entry, but as another joint venture between Falcon and Bucky, or even as a small Avengers film focused on the new team, but both of those possibilities can be more simply handled on the TV screen through crossovers. Just look at the Arrowverse. Ever since Supergirl premiered, they’ve had crossovers featuring all three main shows every year, and they’ve done so with respectable success.
Falcon, Bucky, Vision, and Wanda have already made a name for themselves on the big screen, so they would probably be able to pull it off even better than the Arrowverse. Not to mention, Marvel superhero TV shows have a history of already being good. If the New Avengers under Falcon can corner the market on the television, then Disney and Marvel have the best of both worlds through TV and Film. Why risk wasting money on a solo Falcon outing when they can make guaranteed profits with him on their streaming services?
Wrap Up
Falcon has taken a major step up and in a really big way. Being granted Cap’s shield puts him in a whole new spotlight. He has all sorts of new responsibilities that he has to uphold. For one thing, he has to uphold Steve’s legacy. Steve has been a legend for over 70 years. He’s been a generational hero. If he chose Falcon to take up that mantle, people are, obviously, going to be expecting a lot of great things from him.
With Steve out of the picture as Captain America, and with Black Widow dead, it’s also up to Falcon to be oversee the new Avengers team out in the field. He’s the new leader because Steve all but said so. How Falcon differs from Steve in handling the team will be something to look forward to.
On the action side of things, Falcon has his own style of fighting. He’s different from Steve and Bucky in the fact that he has no superhuman advantages he can rely on. That means he’ll have to think outside of the box when using his new shield. Steve could just use his sheer to strength to ricochet the shield off of people and walls and even off of his own punches and kicks, but Falcon being able to do that with the same accuracy as Steve doesn’t seem very possible, at least not without him getting creative. Considering the other gadgets he has it’ll be interesting to see how he puts the shield to use.
How Falcon’s partnership with Bucky develops is one of the highlights of him taking the shield. It was fun to watch the few interactions that the two shared when the met in Civil War. Now that Falcon has been made Captain Falcon, Bucky has redeemed himself, and we’re getting a show starring the two, we’ll definitely be seeing how the grow as a team.
