Hero Profile: Falcon

Sam Wilson is a character that’s gotten a lot of buzz in the last few years. He’s one of Captain America’s oldest buddies, and is now one of the successors to the title of Captain America. He’s fought against both criminals, and racism over his long career. I wonder if he and Winter Soldier have ever had a fight over who is Cap’s Best Friend. That would be a fight to remember. But enough of speculation, let’s get to the character.

High flying adventure.

Samuel Wilson’s life was peaceful to start. His father was a prominent minister in Harlem. He had an affinity for birds from an early age. He raised pigeons from when he was about seven, and by sixteen, he had the largest coop in Harlem. He lost interest, however, as he grew more and more jaded by the obvious racism that he was forced to face on a daily basis. He refused to join his family’s church, and even went so far to claim his parents were ignorant about the “real world.” Rather than do the cliché thing and try and force Sam to fall in line with their way of thinking, they got him some books about different faiths. Apparently, Minister Paul Wilson and his wife Darlene were interested in their son having faith than having their faith. Unfortunately, the very next night, Paul was murdered when trying to break up a neighborhood fights, and within two years, his mother was killed by a mugger.

Feeling…upset, Sam decided to abandon everything his family held dear, and moved LA to live as a professional criminal. He went by “Snap” Wilson. Pretty stupid alias, not going to lie. He lived like this for a while, until he took a fateful flight to Rio. He went to land a big score, but his plane crashed onto Exile Island. This was a peaceful island, until a group known as the Exiles took over. They were the B-squad of world conquerors. They’d collaborated with the Red Skull back in the 40s, but had been betrayed and left on the island. They enslaved the local populace and kept plotting. While on the island he formed a strong bond with a falcon which he named Redwing.

Sam and his two best friends
A bird and a guy from the 40s.
strangest friends ever.

This is a part that gets a little confusing. So, the Red Skull developed a plan to kill Captain America, using Sam. He used the Cosmic Cube, an immensely powerful object that was capable alter reality, on Sam. First, he uses the cube to create an immensely powerful link to Redwing. This allowed Sam to communicate with his feathered friend via telepathy, and gradually developed the same connection with all birds. He then used the Cosmic Cube to alter reality. Or possibly altered Sam’s memories of the past. The articles are a little unclear on the subject.  In this new history, or new memory of history, Sam was an upstanding citizen that had been lured to Exile Island. He meets Captain America there, and the two whip the natives into a full scale rebellion. They create Sam’s persona of The Falcon, to inspire the natives. Sam received personal training from Cap, and the two became fast friends. They led the rebellion, and later returned to New York together. Sam became a frequent partner of the Captain. He essentially becomes the Robin to Cap’s Batman. He even wore the Captain America Costume briefly when Steve was believed to have died. He partnered with Black Panther for a bit, too. T’Challa is the one that developed the special flight harness that let’s Sam soar like a bird.

He mentored a young man named Roscoe, who attempted to take up the Captain America mantel after Steve quit to become Nomad. Roscoe is murdered by the Red Skull, which drives Steve to become Captain America again, and he and Sam sought vengeance. When they confronted Skull, he revealed Sam’s possibly “true,” possibly “original,” past. He seemed to think that Sam realizing that he was a former gangster would cause the young hero to turn on Captain America. Yeah, it’s a pretty bad plan. Sam and Cap defeat the Skull, and Sam is then named head of the Super-Agent division of SHIELD. They’re the Agents that get costumes. He is also appointed to the Avengers. Which is good. But to fill a federal mandated racial quota for the Avengers. Not as good… He quit at the firsts opportunity, refusing to be the “token” on the team. He’d eventually get a job on the Avengers again, but this time, the right way. Falcon eventually was offered the identity of Captain America, when Steve Rogers was no longer able to continue being an active hero. But I’ll get back to that another time.

Sam Wilson doesn’t have “natural” superhuman powers. I realize that that is an oxymoron. But’s the best way to explain this one. The Red Skull used his Comic Cube to forcibly create a mental link between Sam and his partner bird, Redwing. After some training and intense concentration, Sam has learned to connect his mind with any bird in a given area. This helps make Sam an exceptional spy, as he has a million eyes flying around a given area. Sam is an exceptional martial artist and gymnast. Trained by Steven Rogers himself. He is a gifted bird trainer, even before he got his power over avian lifeforms.

Really love his movie costume.

He has a specialized set of artificial wings that help him fly. His original wing, and the later replacement, were both developed by super genius T’Challa aka Black Panther.  His original costume was comprised of sturdy, light weight titanium wings. The wings were covered in thin solar power receptors that power the high-speed turbines in his uniform and boots. This original harness was destroyed, but was quickly replaced. The new wings were made with a special emitter that created holographic “hard light” wings. Same rules as the Green Lantern Corps hard light rings, they’re made of energy but are solid. Comic book logic. He has something called a “magnetic drive” in the wings that give him the thrust necessary to stay airborne.

Despite being one of the original African American Superheroes, Sam’s appearances outside the comics has been limited until very recently.

He was a recurring character in The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. He appeared in “Nightmare in Red” and “Code Red.” In both, he was a covert agent working on corrupt politician Dell Rusk’s Code Red. “Code Red” revealed that he, Doc Samson, and Winter Soldier were all being mind-controlled by Rusk, who was really Red Skull in disguise. He returned in “Avengers Assemble,” where he helps the Avengers battle Galactus.

He’s a major character in Avengers Assemble. Which is a little confusing. Several episodes have implied that this is a sequel show to Avengers: EMH, and yet Falcon is completely different. Very little is revealed about the Falcon from Avengers: EMH, but he’s very clearly a grown man. In Avengers Assemble he’s a seventeen-year-old SHIELD operative that’s given his tech by Tony Stark. While he doesn’t have Redwing in this version, his wing pack can detach and fly around on its own in “Redwing Mode.” Show is just okay, give it a watch if, like me, you occasionally need an Avengers hit. This version of Falcon also appears in Ultimate Spider-Man, which shares continuity.

Sam Wilson made his cinematic debut in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. He’s portrayed by Anthony Mackie. This version of Sam is a former pararescuer for the US Air Force. He was part of a specialized unit that used experimental wing packs to fly. He uses a pair of submachine guns as his primary weapon. He helps Captain America and his team stop the HYDRA corrupted SHIELD. He reprises his role in Avengers: Age of Ultron, where he attends the Avengers victory party for defeating HYDRA. He has a minor role in Ant-Man, where he and Scott Lang battle at SHIELDs new headquarters, where Scott was trying to steal a specialized item that Hank Pym invented years ago. He also had one of the best lines in the movie. After fighting, and being beaten, by Scott, he over the radio tells the operator that “Cap can NEVER hear about this.” Mackie will reprise his role in Captain America: Civil War, and assumedly future Marvel movies. This version doesn’t have his strange psychic connection to birds, but apparently a robot drone version of Redwing will appear in Civil War.

Sam is an okay character.  His powers are rather unique, albeit a little strange. He is one of the original African American superheroes, and is one of Captain America’s oldest friends. Which earn him a number of points. I really like his movie version, which is both confident and yet slightly insecure when working with Captain America. It must be rough, having a best friend that is also a living legend. I hope to see him in a few more movies, if nothing else. He’s the fiercely loyal, high flying, Falcon. Next time, another kind of flying predator, the Vulture. 

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_America_and_the_Falcon#/media/File:CapFalcon10.jpg

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