Sam's Captain America Makes Spider-Man The New Iron Man

Sam Wilson becoming Captain America in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier can explain why the public was expecting Spider-Man to be the new Iron Man in Spider-Man: Far From Home. After Avengers: Endgame, the second Jon Watts film for the MCU functioned as an epilogue to the Infinity Saga, revealing the state of the world after Thanos' defeat. The events of Far From Home take place several months after the reverse snap, but now Marvel Studios is tackling stories that happened immediately right after it in projects like The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

The MCU typically has linear storytelling to make it so much easier to follow, although it has the occasional period pieces like Captain America: The First Avenger and Captain Marvel. But now, it's more actively filling narrative gaps in between Endgame and Far From Home allowing them to make a more cohesive arc. That includes a potential explanation while the public was seemingly convinced that with Tony Stark gone, Peter Parker would automatically shed his Spider-Man persona and become the new Iron Man in the web-slinging hero's second standalone film.

After initially turning down the opportunity to become Captain America resulting in the government handing the shield to John Walker, Sam ultimately decided to embrace the star and stripes in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier finale. Since his first outing as the hero was during a commotion at the GRC summit in the middle of New York, much of what happened during his and Bucky's attempt to stop the Flag-Smashers was covered by the media. His speech at the end of the crisis was also televised nationwide, further legitimizing his new role in the Avengers. Considering that he was publicly known as Steve Rogers' frequent partner, it caused many to assume that Peter will also eventually assume the role of Iron Man, since he and Tony were practically a mini-team like the former and new Captain Americas, although the former had more of a mentor and mentee relationship.

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Considering what happened to Walker's stint as Captain America, the public would understandably be more hopeful that existing heroes who have proved themselves in prior situations will simply get promoted to a leadership position in the Avengers. This would be a safer way of birthing a new team instead of having someone who's totally new at the job take over vacant superhero mantles like Captain America and Iron Man. In hindsight, this perception turned out to be detrimental to Peter's overall mental health. As he admitted to Happy in Far From Home, not only did he have to grieve Tony's death, he's also subjected to the immense pressure of potentially replacing him. It's part of the reason why he just simply wanted to get away from his superhero responsibilities and enjoy the school European trip.

Going through his experience in Spider-Man: Far From Home, Peter appears to have decided that he doesn't have to be the new Iron Man, he can just be the friendly-neighborhood hero that he is. Unlike Sam who was specifically chosen by Steve as the next Captain America resulting in his final decision to carry the shield in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Tony never wanted Peter to be the next Iron Man. Instead, the genius, billionaire Avenger just wanted his protege to be a better hero than he was.

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