He arrived as a small character within Captain America and the Winter Soldier and as the string of new releases grew, he gained strength until starring in his own series within Disney + (it premiered in March 2021). The so-called phase 4 had begun, the one that takes us to a threatened world in which we will not have the help of classics like Iron Man or Captain America, who have given way to other superheroes.
Sam Wilson’s is the story of the typical superhero who cannot trust the supernatural power of radiation that made him immortal or invulnerable to bullets. His value is found in a magical relationship with his Redwing that reaches the skies with the same grace of other characters that abound in comics. And that, at least according to what they tell us in his series, he had the opportunity to transform thanks to the same compound that turned Steve Rogers into the first avenger.
Be that as it may, here we bring you everything you need to know about Falcon , one of the characters that will have the most influence throughout the new phase that opens in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and that, in addition to a series of the who is a co-star, has become the heir to the glories of one of the main referents of the first three phases of the UCM. So let’s go there…
The Falcon Key Comics
If you want to delve into Falcon and, above all, his journey in recent years as the protagonist of that MCU, then we are going to recommend some comics to learn about the background and circumstances surrounding the character. As for example, the Falcon and the winter soldier of the year 2020, made by Derek Landy and Federico Vicentini that brings us closer to what is the true relationship between the two protagonists of the Disney + series. Here both Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes will face off against the new boss of HYDRA , one of Falcon’s classic foes.
But there is more. For example Thunderbolts presents: Zemo – Born Better , from 2007 and created by Fabian Nicieza and Tom Grummett. In this volume the famous Baron Zemo (who joins Falcon and the Winter Soldier himself in the series) takes command of all the action and reveals a lot about what the mind of one of our hero’s villains is like. If this comic isn’t enough for you, try reading the 2012 Winter Soldier by Ed Brubaker, Butch Guice, and Michael Lark. Here you will meet a somewhat unknown facet of Bucky Barnes as heir to his old friend Steve Rogers, the best-known Captain America.
Finally, it would not hurt to review the Falcon comic, from 2017 by Rodney Barnes and Joshua Cassara in which Sam Wilson returns the role of Captain America to Steve Rogers to return to his role as Falcon. A kind of step back that will help you dive a little deeper into the mind of one of the heroes best valued by Marvel fans.
life before falcon
It goes without saying that Falcon’s name is Sam Wilson. A character who had a special fondness for birds since he was a child and who began to train them very early. Unfortunately, his passage through adolescence was punctuated by episodes of racism, which he had to face and that would mark his personality. Like many heroes, in his origins there is a family misfortune as his father dies after trying to stop a street fight.
As if the problems were not few for this kid accustomed to the harshness of Harlem, two years later his mother will be killed by an assailant and he will fall into a deep depression and pain that will lead him to be “angry at the world”. That will lead him to a path of perdition where his old jobs will be forgotten by the community and, after moving to Los Angeles, he will become Snap Wilson, a dangerous professional criminal and member of a dangerous gang.
How was Falcon born?
As you can see, we are facing a hero with really turbulent beginnings, almost at the height of Batman, Spider-Man and others who have experienced family misfortunes. Of course, he will not have a portfolio with a checkbook too deep , which will lead him to have to move through other less glamorous paths. Even so, the key to the creation of Falcon is in the hands of a villain that, at least in the MCU, we barely saw at the beginning of the Captain America movies. Specifically Red Skull.
It will be him who, thanks to the Cosmic Cube, will modify the reality of the character, mentally merging Sam Wilson with Redwing, which will cause a link that will allow him to control time and concentration, which gives him almost infinite power to manage and give orders to any bird on the planet. Together with Steve Rogers, Falcon will take shape with the characteristic red and silver suit and will learn the essential defense and attack movements that characterize him, accompanying Captain America in many of his adventures as his faithful companion. Although it will not be until much later that he really acquires the power to fly, thanks to the intercession of a Black Panther who will provide him with a special harness that will equip him with wings with which he will be able to cross the skies.
The Age of Avengers
Although the story in the movies is substantially different from the original storylines, Falcon joins the Avengers in the comics to fight the Scorpion menace. It will be there that Sam Wilson discovers his telepathic power to communicate with Redwing and the rest of the birds, with which he will be able to see through his eyes.
It is during these times that Scarlet Witch acts to destabilize the Avengers and Falcon suffers a setback that takes him back to his time as Snap Wilson, committing some misdeeds that will have consequences. One of them will be to face Captain America and end up separated from him. Still, it will be in the House of M and Civil War comics that Falcon shows the strength of his commitment to Steve Rogers by refusing to submit to the Superhuman Registration Act. Incapacitated Cap, it will be Sam Wilson and his Falcon who will become the new Captain America, leading the so-called group of Secret Avengers.
Falcon Powers
As we have already told you, the main power of Falcon has to do with its ability to act in sync with Redwing and, almost by extension, with any other bird that crosses its path. It is a symbiosis that allows you to always have an aerial map of the field of operations, which makes it easier for you to act where it is necessary without being compromised by enemies.
Professor X has to do with that empathic bond , who will confirm these abilities of Sam Wilson , which he even said hurt “like hell; It hurts to be mentally fused with that falcon and to be able to see through his eyes.” This power doesn’t just work on specimens that are close to him, but can hit anyone flying (almost) over the world. This allows him to have, in his words, “more than six billion pairs of eyes in the United States” that can report any event that is taking place and, if necessary, invoke many of them to fight at his side. .
Even so, almost everyone believes that one of Falcon’s powers is that of flight. Actually, as Buzz Lightyear would say, he goes down in style thanks to a Black Panther-issued harness that was made in Wakanda. The place where some of the most incredible and powerful weapons in the entire Marvel universe are developed.
Falcon’s enemies
The list of Sam Wilson’s enemies is not short, but among all of them, surely we can highlight some names that are known to all fans. Red Skull is, by far, the most decisive in his life because it is thanks to him that he has that telepathic power with birds. Still, we also have Helmut Zemo, or Baron Zemo, who appears in the Falcon and the Winter Soldier series as a timely ally in their battle against the Bannerless.
The Sinister Six are another of Falcon’s enemies, although many identify them more with Spider-Man due to the presence of the Vulture, Lizard, Electro, Doctor Octopuss, etc. They also have a prominent role as supervillains of Sam Wilson, Mysterio himself, or Arnim Zola, the HYDRA scientist that we met in Captain America the First Avenger , also in The Winter Soldier and even in some episodes of that What If…? that you have available on Disney +.
Finally, we have to remember two names that many of you will know very well, such as Doctor Doom, the main villain of The Fantastic 4, or Taskmaster (yes, the same as Black Widow ), and that Thanos who by work and grace of the MCU is now one of the best known for a planet that held its breath when in Avengers Infinity War it made half of the living beings in the galaxy disappear with a simple snap.
His partners
Although we have Falcon as a taciturn character, lonely and with his head always on the verge of falling to the dark side, he has actually had time to enjoy a couple that is well known by most fans of the character. Or do you not recognize it?
Exactly! This is María Hill, former director of the planetary defense and intelligence service, better known by its acronym in English SHIELD Surely you remember her from her appearances alongside Nick Fury, although it was in the year 2000 when the great She was discovered by the public thanks to the Civil War and Secret Invasion comics .
Captain America returns
Although in the comics the story of Sam Wilson is an accumulation of comings and goings and arguments that tell us about the link that unites Falcon with Captain America, the last thing we can cling to has to do with the series that stars in Disney + next to the Winter Soldier. In it, far from watching how Cap’s legacy is trampled on by John Walker (the future US Agent), he will decide to adopt the role that practically everyone asks him to play.
And that is none other than becoming the new Captain America after the events of Avengers Endgame where old Steve Rogers hands over the baton to whom he believes to be his most faithful squire. We will see the importance that he adopts in phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and how the threats will evolve that, right now, do not seem as clear as in previous stages where Thanos already appeared from the beginning. Surely, with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness , we will begin to know more about that plot arc that Disney is preparing for us in the coming years.
