The Marvel Cinematic Universe has dominated the film industry for close to two decades and has evolved so much. For years, “Captain America” was synonymous with the fictional character Steve Rogers, a white, blond-haired soldier; he eventually became the first Avenger. Although his character has now passed on, according to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, his presence in the Avengers, both on and off the screen, is long-lasting. So, it makes it difficult to fill his shoes. However, they can and have been filled, and it’s time people accept that.
For so long in the film industry, racism, subtle or not, has played a huge role. From killing off the only black character first in horror films to the lack of diverse casting, little and large things have contributed to holding back actors of color. Marvel is no exception to this. Iron Man, the first Marvel Universe movie, was released in 2008. After this, it took Marvel 10 years and 12 movies to cast a main character who was not white. The Avengers consist of multiple superheroes, yet all of them had to be white? That doesn’t sit right with me. But it did for many people, and society got comfortable with Marvel continuously having white heroes through their films, which leads to the newest Marvel movie and the controversy that has come from it.
Captain America: Brave New World released this past Valentine’s Day in theaters. The movie follows Sam Wilson, who was also the Falcon superhero, played by Anthony Mackie, before he took up the role of Captain America following the events of “Avengers: Endgame.” Like I mentioned, Steve Rogers was a white man. Sam Wilson is not — he is a black man, and that in itself has received so much backlash in and out of the movie. In the trailer, Wilson is told, “You will never be Steve Rogers”. To me, this symbolized the barrier Wilson will always have to face because he isn’t white. Although you can argue that this was said to emphasize how difficult it would be to fill Roger’s shoes, I don’t think that’s what that meant. I think this line symbolizes that he is unwelcome as both a character in this universe and to the audience. Wilson struggled to have officials in the movie take him seriously because he isn’t Steve Rogers, and didn’t treat him like he was Captain America, even though he is now. This mirrors racism that is still present in today’s day in age and the racism his character is experiencing in the film. Sure, Steve Rogers was very impactful in the universe, but Falcon was right by his side the entire time. Wilson was qualified to be Captain America, but didn’t receive the respect he deserved, and I feel like that is because he’s not white. I also feel this applies to the audience because of the public backlash this movie has collected over the past couple of weeks.
All over TikTok, Instagram, Facebook – wherever you get your digital media – you can find masses of hateful conversations and discourse around this movie. Similar to the line in the trailer, the comment I see often online is, “he will never be my Captain America.” This shows that society is mirroring exactly the message behind the “You will never be Steve Rogers” scene, bringing down Wilson for trying to be someone he’s not. His character isn’t trying to be Steve Rogers —-he’s trying to be Captain America, which he is. Even if you don’t agree with that, this change is accurate to the storylines in the comics. People criticizing the film solely based on not liking having Sam Wilson be the new Captain America seems like a disguise for underlying racism. Anthony Mackie was never going to be welcome as the new Captain America because he isn’t white. And all the negative discourse about him proves that exactly. It is one thing to criticize the movie for how its quality, plot, etc., but to criticize who is playing the role, not based on skill, talent or experience (because Mackie holds all those traits), shows to me that there’s a more hateful stigma and reaction coming from the audience that is based on racist bias.