New Captain America Sam Wilson Almost Received An Awkwardly Awesome Ability In The Falcon And The Winter Soldier

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Marvel’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was filled with massive moments, many of which will have major ramifications on the Marvel Cinematic Universe moving forward. The biggest, however, was arguably the reveal of Sam Wilson as the new Captain America. Wilson finally donned his suit (courtesy of Wakanda) in the show’s finale and cemented himself as the new Sentinel of Liberty. While his new outfit is already impressive, it turns out it almost came with another ability that’s both awesome and a bit awkward.

Sam Wilson’s Captain America outfit is a sight to behold, and it even comes complete with red, white and blue wings. Before Wilson officially took on the mantle of Cap, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier had already established that his wings were a lot more dynamic than they were in his previous appearances. However, series VFX supervisor Eric Leven revealed that he and his team considered giving the wings other abilities, which involved Cap’s iconic shield:

But there were a lot of other ideas, like, "What if he could do this? What if he saves this? What if he does that?" So, there were little bits of exploratory things. Early on, we were trying to figure out how to use the wings and the shield together. So, we had a lot of really cool ways, like maybe the wings actually catch the shield and it comes back - or the wings can actually throw the shield.

In his interview with Screen Rant, Eric Leven revealed that he and his collaborators almost gave the wings the ability to catch and throw the shield. In all honesty, it sounds like a pretty cool idea and would be a nice way to combine Sam’s skills as the Falcon with his abilities as Captain America. But to me, actually seeing the wings throw the shield may have been a bit awkward or cartoony. Citing something as being unrealistic in the MCU admittedly sounds a bit hypocritical but, hey, there has to be some kind of line… right?

It sounds like Eric Leven looked at a number of different ways to elevate Sam Wilson’s combat style as Captain America. While a number of things weren’t featured on the show, Leven doesn’t totally shut down the idea of the concepts being used sometime down the line:

There were explorations like that. It just happened that for this show, we didn't have the chance to use that stuff. Maybe that stuff gets used in the future, or maybe not.

Despite some of the ideas not making it into The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Sam Wilson still got to show off plenty of new skills, especially when it came to wielding the shield. You can check out Wilson’s new look and abilities by streaming the show on Disney+, which you can sign up for using this link.

Only time will tell how Sam Wilson continues to develop in his role as Captain America, but he’s off to a nice start. And who knows, maybe his wings will get those new capabilities in the recently reported Captain America 4. And if it does happen, let’s hope Marvel Studios can pull it off in a way that doesn’t look awkward visually.

Erik Swann
Senior Content Producer

Erik Swann is a Senior Content Producer at CinemaBlend. He began working with the publication in 2020 when he was hired as Weekend Editor. Today, he continues to write, edit and handle social media responsibilities over the weekend. On weekdays, he also writes TV and movie-related news and helps out with editing and social media as needed. He graduated from the University of Maryland, where he received a degree in Broadcast Journalism. After shifting into multi-platform journalism, he started working as a freelance writer and editor before joining CB. Covers superheroes, sci-fi, comedy, and almost anything else in film and TV. He eats more pizza than the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.