Sam Wilson has a long history in the comics of fighting at Captain America’s side. He’s taken on the mantle of Captain America twice. He’s helped and supported almost everyone in Cap’s circle and he’s regularly been the voice of reason in Steve Roger’s ear.
When Anthony Mackie brought Falcon to life on the big screen, many of those traits were honored and remained firmly in place. But there are a few places where the MCU took some liberties with Sam’s story. Some of the things that are wrong, in comparison to the comics, are welcome changes to canon that is outdated or offensive. Here are 5 things that the MCU's Falcon got right and 5 more things it got wrong - for better or worse.
10 WRONG: Redwing
When Captain America: Civil War came out, fans got a glimpse of a red and silver drone named Redwing that was attached to Sam’s wings. While it was a nice nod to the comics, many fans missed Sam’s traditionally feathered friend.
The comics' Redwing - which is an actual bird - has been the focus of arcs and has, despite some disagreements, been Sam’s eyes and ears through the years . A drone can’t bring quite as much personality as the original Redwing, and it’s a shame fans didn’t get a chance to enjoy that.
9 RIGHT: His Position on the Superhero Registration Act
It’s easy to say that Sam just followed Steve’s lead in Civil War, both the movie and the comics, but he is shown consistently standing up for what he believes is right.
He voices his concerns both to his fellow Avengers and to Steve once they’ve stepped away from the registering heroes. He knows there will be sacrifices. He knows it’s not going to be easy, but he does it anyway, because it’s important. Not just because Steve Rogers says so, but because Sam Wilson says so.
8 WRONG: Sam's Superpower
Tied into Redwing is Sam’s ability to communicate with birds. Redwing isn’t the only one he can talk to either. In the comics, Sam can communicate with all sorts of birds, giving him access to all kinds of information.
While this power would have been hard to work into Captain America: The Winter Soldier and its politically charged and conspiracy driven vibe, it could have come up as the MCU expanded to include more and more outrageous creatures, concepts, and powers. It may still come up, but the relatively grounded Falcon and the Winter Soldier series doesn’t look promising for this bit of comics flare.
7 RIGHT: His Social Work
In the comics, Sam worked with at risk youth in Harlem. While his MCU version took a different approach, the work he does in support of his community is the same.
He shows compassion, not only for his fellow soldiers in the therapy group he runs, but for Steve when he shows signs of needing help. Whatever the setting, Sam Wilson is there to help people not just as a superhero punches supervillains in the face but as a person.
6 WRONG: Sam's Backstory
This isn’t necessarily a loss, but it’s definitely something that has changed from the comics, and with good reason. Not only is some of Falcon’s history muddled in ways that only characters that have been around for over 50 years can be, but it’s got some truly horrible stuff mixed in as well. This is a rare case of canon cherry picking doing the live-action adaptation a lot of good.
Originally, Sam was a formerly idealistic kid who grew up to become a notorious Harlem hustler and pimp known as “Snap” Wilson. It was revealed this was actually a fake identity created by the Red Skull, who engaged in some convoluted machinations using the reality-warping Cosmic Cube to discredit Sam by giving him a criminal past. Ignoring this was a favor to comics and MCU fans alike. None of these original stories represent the character in the majority of his appearances, and bringing it back would be a serious misstep.
5 RIGHT: His Relationship With Steve
Both Sam and Steve know that, in a pinch, they will have each other’s backs. Even when they don’t agree or see eye-to-eye on everything, the respect between the two men is clear, both on screen and on the page.
Steve trusts Sam with the shield, with the truth about Bucky, and with his own uncertainty in his position. In return, Sam trusts Steve’s judgement about Bucky — even if he’s not totally sold on his rehabilitation — and trusts that Steve will do the right thing when he risks his life and freedom to ensure Steve and Bucky’s escape. Their relationship is solid, the trust is there, regardless of the universe.
4 WRONG: Sam's Other Relationships
Cap’s allies are a group of individuals who, because of what they do in the world and their ties to Captain America, go through a lot of emotional, psychological and physical crap. This has brought many of them closer even when Steve Rogers is not there to unite the group.
During Ed Brubaker’s Death of Captain America, Sam’s relationships with Bucky Barnes and Sharon Carter were key to all of their character arcs. While there hasn’t been a lot of time given to Sam’s personal connections to these characters on screen, hopefully Falcon and the Winter Soldier will dive deeper into that, and give us some great interactions.
3 RIGHT: His Pragmatism
Sam isn’t the sort of person to take things as they are just because someone says so... even if that someone is Captain America. He always questions what’s going on around him and acts accordingly. This tends to help his allies see past their own views on a subject or options they weren’t aware of or hadn’t considered.
Sam reaching out to Scott Lang during Captain America: Civil War is a prime example of this in the MCU. While it can be difficult to keep from getting starry-eyed around the big name superheroes he’s allied with, Sam is consistently a voice of reason.
2 WRONG: The Costume
Okay, sure; the skin tight, red and wing with the plunging V-neck might look a little silly on screen. Everyone can admit to that. However, some kind of nod to the more outrageous outfits Sam has donned over the years would be a good things to see. Anthony Mackie himself said he’d be more than willing to wear the tights.
This seems like a missed opportunity, even if the darker, less flashy, more practical gear Sam has sported in the movies makes more sense in the somewhat grounded MCU.
1 RIGHT: Becoming Captain America
In the comics, Sam wielded the shield briefly in 1999, but his official step into the role of Captain America happened in 2014. The MCU followed suit, and, at the end of Avengers: Endgame, Steve Rogers handed the shield over to Sam Wilson. Sam handed the mantle of Captain America back to Steve Rogers in the comics, but the MCU could make this change stick for longer.
That will likely be dealt with in Falcon and the Winter Soldier series on Disney+ but in the comics, Sam has shown that he will not bow to government officials on how Captain America should be presented, or who he should be fighting. Hopefully, they continue in that thread and with USAgent on the horizon, it seems likely the MCU will take that arc and run with it.