Earlier this year Avengers Endgame made cinematic history. It held so many viewers, including me, at the edge of their seats for nearly three hours as the action-packed film unfolded a superhero masterpiece like no one but Marvel can do. What captured me most wasn’t the fight scenes, easter eggs, or Marvel-style humor that laced the entire film. What captured me most was the final few minutes of the film.
Spoiler alert... Please do not read if you do not want the ending of the film to be ruined. I’m not sure where you’ve been hiding if you haven’t seen Endgame yet, but I guess we all fall short. Anyway, you have been warned.
By the last minutes of the film, Captain America has spent his life and career for the common good. He is ready to retire. Most of us who frequent superhero movies suspect what may be coming next: Cap will likely retire and pass the mantle of Captain America on to the next hero. He will turn over his famous, symbolic red, white, and blue shield to someone else.
Why does that matter? Who cares who becomes the new Captain America? Well, Captain America is more than just a hero. He’s not another guy with powers or tech. He is a symbol. He is the picture of the American ideal and the protector of the American dream. He is the embodiment of truth, justice, and the American way. He is the American man that every American boy wants to be like. He is action figure, celebrity, hero, cultural icon, and everything in between. He is the defender of America, and in some ways, he is America. So who is going to be that next? Who else can fill that role? Who will take up the mantle of creating and protecting what America will become for the next generation?
First up is the sharp-shooting, high-flying, quick-witted black man straight from Harlem, New York: Sam Wilson. Sam is known as the Falcon and is remembered for assisting Cap in various battles. Sam is quick-witted, tenacious, and equipped with his state-of-the-art super suit. The second contender to be the new Captain America is Indiana-born Bucky Barnes, also known as the Winter Soldier. Bucky was Captain America’s childhood friend. At one point he fought toe to toe with Cap and held his ground. He has a similar fighting style to Cap, and he even has a similar build. In theory, if Bucky is selected and puts on the Captain America mask, people may not even realize that Bucky is not the original Cap.
The last minutes of the film draw close. We see an aged Captain America sitting on a park bench looking pensively at a lake, seemingly reflecting over the past and considering what is ahead for the future. Behind him stand his fellow, younger heroes Bucky and Sam, quietly watching and waiting to approach Captain America. As they waited, I waited, my heart racing, longing to find out how Bucky, the obvious choice, would transition into the next Captain America, and how Sam would support him. Yet in a turn of events (since I don’t read comics), Bucky looks at Sam, grins, and quietly says to Sam, “Go ahead.”
I. WAS. SHOOK.
My heart pounded as the musical score intensified. What would Cap say? Would Sam really be Cap’s choice too? Would Sam accept the opportunity? Would Sam even get the opportunity to wear the red, white, and blue? And let’s just be real about the question we are all thinking: How are we gonna go from a white Captain America to a Black Captain America!?... Is that too honest to ask?
Sam walks to Cap and stands silent for a moment. Cap pulls his American shield out of its case, and says three simple words, “Try it on.”
Sam, shocked, turns around to look at Bucky who is standing in the background, watching this all unfold. Bucky gently nods back at Sam with a look. The look is more than a look of permission; it is a look of approval, support, and praise.
“How does it feel?” Cap asks the stunned Sam.
“Like it’s someone else’s,” Sam responds.
“It isn’t,” Cap gently and sternly replies.
And again… SHOOKETH.
The fact that we are going to have a black Captain America means so much. Why? Well, because racism is still active in America today. Now before you tune me out, just read on a little further. Issues around racism are, in their most distilled form, about the interactions of power, prejudice, and privilege on an institutional and systemic level… I don’t have the time to get into the weeds explaining that in this post. If you want to learn more, I gave a teaching and wrote a paper on it.
Racism is bad. Even though most would agree with that, dismantling racism is tricky and a huge fight ahead for us in America. A major villain in fighting against and dismantling racism are the intricacies of power and privilege that work themselves out in systems handed down from generation to generation. Racism is a villain with a lot of weapons and even more endurance. Racism is so tiring to fight because it is a societal framework that plays itself out on the micro and macro over the course of generations. And this is why Captain America’s choice of Sam was not only meaningful but absolutely moving.
Captain America is an embodiment of America. His very title is the captain of America. America was getting handed off to a new generation and needed a new leader. The most natural choice would be to give America to the guy who looks and fights like Cap. It should go to the guy who, by the standards of the narrative so far, is next in line. It should go to the guy who is going to have the easiest transition. It should go to the guy who Cap was already good friends with, yet instead it went to the black man. A black man as the new captain of America? A black man as the leader, pioneer, and defender of America? If that is not a statement enough, here’s a little more. How does the current captain of America empower a black man to become the new captain of America?
[1] The black man becomes the captain of America as the young and upcoming generation of America (Bucky) who is next in line for power and privilege foregoes his power and privilege to the black man (Sam). It happens when Bucky, the next generation in line, tells Sam, the black man, to “Go ahead” and nods in approval of what is happening. [2] The black man becomes the captain of America as the older generation of America (Captain America) passes on the shield to the black man. It happens when the captain of America asks the hard questions like “How does it feel?”. It happens when the captain of America carefully listens to the response. And it happens when the captain of America stays long enough to assure Sam that America “Isn’t someone else’s” but rather that America also belongs to the black man.
My eyes almost welled up with tears in that movie theatre on a Saturday morning. I resonate so much with Sam’s knee-jerk reaction: this feels “like it’s someone else’s.” Oh boy, do I understand that. But Cap assures Sam, and in that he preaches a message to Bucky who is listening behind. Even though America feels like it is someone else’s, “It isn’t.” I felt like a little boy on a Saturday morning, eyes glued to the TV waiting to see how today’s superhero exploits would unfold. I spent my life seeing so many great superheroes, who rarely looked like me, win the day and be a shining picture of America. Today was different. I felt like the captain of America who I saw fight evil so many times, somehow saw me, and the captain of America was fighting for me. The captain of America saw my villain as his villain. The captain of America was fighting my for me. The captain of America was fighting not just for America as it has always been, but was fighting for America as it should be.
We need more captains to steer America in that direction. It’s difficult. It’s actually way more difficult and complex than a Marvel film or a blog post can convey. The waters are choppy. Unexpected storms always arise. Yet that’s what captains do. They set sail because the destination is worth it, even if it’s not easy. And isn’t that what makes a powerful person a superhero? It’s not so much the powers that makes a powerful person a superhero, but rather the resolve to fight the villain regardless of how many weapons it has or how long it takes. Maybe we need more captains of America like that today.