Welcome to comic book movie fandom, where must Captain America be an overseer of white America?! Does that bother you to read? Are you uncomfortable seeing that term?
Join the club because this has been a raging argument with #FilmTwitter over the past few days. It all started with a Borys Kit story (of THR fame) that Julius Onah will be directing Captain America 4. Onah, known for helming The Cloverfield Paradox, brings head writer from Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Malcolm Spellman, with him to make a paradigm shift behind the shield.
That should carry great news among CBM and Marvel Studios fans! However, it didn’t quite happen in the way it should have. You see, Chris Evans embodied Steve Rogers in The Avengers. He was absolutely perfect casting for that role. For years, he was Captain America. Then, a climactic end to his character happened in Avengers: Endgame when old Steve Rogers appeared on a park bench.
You know the scene. Grab a tissue.
That is a marvelous scene of a torch being passed–teacher and student, mentor to mentee, Steve to Sam! And now, it’s like that comic book magic never happened, thanks to what THR did next.
Sam, who?
Kevin Feige and the cerebral powers at Marvel Studios have been preparing us for the moment of Sam Wilson to be Captain America on the big screen for a couple of years. One of the most popular spinoffs Disney+ has aired is Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Sam Wilson kept his Falconer mystique while carrying the mantle of America’s Avenger.
We enjoyed the series and celebrated the partnership with Bucky and Sam. It was great, they looked good, and Steve Rogers went off to the horizon with the honey in his biscuits, Peggy Carter. So, when THR posted this tweet, it was a surprise (to some) what happened in its wake.
Of course, Anthony Mackie will be back as Sam Wilson. That went without saying but as the heir apparent. Well, some dolts had a problem with that. Never mind the series or that touching scene at the end of Endgame–some toxic fans had a problem with Sam as the lead in Captain America 4: The Quest for Whitewashing Superheroes. (Not an official subtitle.)
But look at that gingerly typed tweet and ask yourself, “How come THR didn’t just say that Anthony Mackie will be reprising his role as Captain America?” That wasn’t journalism; it looked like a subtweet of bigoted subterfuge. The social media manager might have been guilty of at least one of these things:
- Wasn’t a huge fan of the Chris Evans to Anthony Mackie hand-off
- Was ignorant of the subject matter and subtext
- Or, just wants to whitewash the Avengers
At the most, this was racism run-amok. At the very least, it was irresponsible and ignorant journalism. Regardless, THR, your @$$ was showing.
Captain America to the Rescue
Another memorable scene during the Avengers saga was when Steve Rogers was lapping Sam Wilson and said, “On your left.” Well, once a hero, always a hero. For two days, superhero bigotry’s toxicity spread throughout Twitter like Vecna’s slimy tentacles.
It was embarrassing how these “fans” were bickering because of how “unclear” it was if Chris Evans was “reprising his role.” Again, think about that crippling tweet. How hard was it to say, “Anthony Mackie is Captain America?!”
After a day of lunacy, the real fans started to stand up and raise the level of small talk about this issue to a healthy medium.
So, since that was getting old, let a hero do what he should- save the day.
Done. The story is over. The fat lady sang. The period is on the sentence. And the closet racism has been put out to pasture. Chris Evans shut all that ish down!
Twitter had a real problem, but it had nothing to do with Steve Rogers or Sam Wilson. This was Chris Evans versus Anthony Mackie. Marvel told the story, not those toxic fans or the ignorant asshat who used to work at THR. Everyone with half a woke brain knew it. Chris Evans knew it. And then, THR finally got it.
Well, kinda.
Now that the paint brushes have been thrown away, let’s just stop with this mess. Follow the canon that legends like Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Grant Morrison, Steve Ditko, Chris Claremont, John Romita, Brian Michael Bendis, and George Perez created. If that’s what they wanted, that’s what we deserve to get.
And as you can see below, we did.
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