Marvel's The Falcon and the Winter Soldier head writer/showrunner Malcolm Spellman has defended the decision to kill Lemar Hoskins AKA Battlestar on the series.
Portrayed by Clé Bennett, the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Lemar is a U.S. Army sergeant major who's close friends with the U.S. government's newly-appointed Captain America, John Walker, and partners with him on his hunt to capture the Flag Smashers. Speaking on the Fade to Black podcast, Spellman explained why he and the series' other writers felt that, in order to get Walker to the place they wanted, emotionally speaking, they needed to have one of the Flag Smashers accidentally kill Lemar in the heat of battle.
“From the movies I saw all from the beginning of the [1980s] all the way through now, the purpose of the Black character was either [to be the] magical negro whose job is to service a white character, and once that white character has gone on their journey, the magical negro disappears,” Spellman said. “Or, the Black guy or girl, but 99% of the time, guy, who’s there to get killed somewhere near the end of act two.”
Ultimately, Spellman felt it was okay for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier to kill Lemar because "we earned it by telling all these other stories with heart.”
He went on to defend the decision to avoid using the terms "racism" and "racist" on the show, citing the subplot involving Isaiah Bradley, a Black super-soldier whom the U.S. government imprisoned and experimented on for thirty years in the hopes of recreating the Super Soldier Serum.
“It was because you’d have to be a fool not to see what we were talking about,” Spellman explained. “I mean, Isaiah’s a wreck, you know what I’m saying? He’s a wreck and he’s scarred. Wouldn’t we be diminishing it with words when he lifts up his shirt, if you have any sense of history, you know what images come to mind when he lifts up that shirt? What could we put into words that would trump that?”
Directed by Kari Skogland, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier stars Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Emily VanCamp, Wyatt Russell, Noah Mills, Carl Lumbly and Daniel Brühl. The entire first season is available to stream on Disney+.
Source: Fade to Black podcast, via i09