Captain America: New World Order star Anthony Mackie explains the big reason Sam Wilson is different from Steve Rogers. Chris Evans’ Rogers became the MCU’s Captain America in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger. But now the mantle has passed to a new Captain America in Mackie’s Sam Wilson aka Falcon.

Wilson of course has himself been a fixture of the MCU since his memorable first appearance in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Then in 2021, Wilson got to co-headline his own Disney+ series in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, co-starring Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes. Now Wilson is ready to take on full Captain America responsibilities in the upcoming MCU Phase Five feature film Captain America: New World Order.

Related: Everything We Know About Captain America: New World Order

It’s indeed a big deal for Marvel to hand off the Captain America mantle to a new character after Evans’ memorable turn as Rogers. For his part, Sam Wilson actor Mackie is pointing up not the similarities between his Captain America and Rogers but the differences. Speaking to Men’s Journal, Mackie underlined one big thing that distinguishes Sam Wilson from Steve Rogers:

Mine will be different. What you have to realize about Sam—he’s a superhero who is not really a superhero. There’s no secret serum. There’s no this or that. I just have wings on my suit that I got from the military. So everything that I do, I do as a common man. When you see me, you might think, “Oh, I can be a superhero, too.” Whereas if you look at Hulk or any of those guys, you can’t compete.

Sam Wilson looking in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

What to Expect From Captain America: New World Order

The official title of the fourth Captain America movie was finally revealed earlier this year at Comic-Con 2022. The moment “New World Order” was confirmed to be part of that title, speculation began that the newest Captain America movie will bring back notorious MCU bad guy Red Skull, whose organization in Marvel Comics is indeed called New World Order. Red Skull of course was played in The First Avenger by Hugo Weaving, and remains one of the most memorable of all MCU villains.

Casting the Captain America: New World Order speculation net a little wider, there is also a theory that current Disney+ show She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is setting up Captain America vs. New Hulk. This follows from certain developments on the She-Hulk show that seem to point toward the arrival of Samuel Stearns aka The Leader, who according to this theory then would go on to create New Hulk using blood extracted from She-Hulk. The theory further holds that She-Hulk would then appear in New World Order to fight New Hulk alongside Wilson.

Unfortunately for fans who loved the chemistry between Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson in their Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, all signs point to Barnes being sidelined for Captain America: New World Order outside a potential cameo. Instead of teaming up again with Wilson, Barnes will now join the cast of the upcoming movie Marvel’s Thunderbolts. But the loss of Barnes as a sidekick just means more spotlight for Sam Wilson, whose lack of actual super-powers definitely creates a new dynamic for Captain America: New World Order.

Source: Men’s Journal

Key Release Dates