Is Falcon Gay, Bisexual or Straight? What Is Marvel Canon?

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Throughout the history of comics, superheroes always had partners or sidekicks they brought with them in action to protect people in need. Batman had Robin, Daredevil Foggy Nelson, and Captain America always had Falcon. A sidekick that quickly became part of the Avengers, Falcon was always an important part of Marvel. Sam Wilson’s first appearance in 1969 marked the first Black American superhero of Marvel Comics. In recent years Anthony Mackie portrayed Falcon in MCU and popularized the character even more among Marvel fans, propelling discussions about the superhero’s sexuality. This article will examine whether Falcon is gay, bisexual, or straight and what Marvel is canon.

Falcon, as far as we know, is straight according to comics and Marvel Cinematic Universe. The only “real” relationships Sam Wilson had in the comics are those with Leila Taylor and Misty Knight, the former N.Y.P.D. and S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. In the MCU, Sam Wilson is seen being friendly with Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov, and Bucky Barnes, and some fans picked up the Falcon’s chemistry with Winter Soldier. The speculation of Falcon’s and Winter Soldier’s sexualities started, but the actor Anthony Mackie denied those rumors.

We will discuss this topic more by looking into Falcon’s sexuality and love interests in the comics and Marvel Cinematic Universe and provide you with our conclusion of the discussion. If you are interested in this topic, stay with us until the end of the article.

Falcon’s relationship in MCU and Marvel comics

The most notable and the original Falcon, portrayed by Sam Wilson, brought something new when he first appeared in 1969 in the Marvel comics. Falcon was the first Black American superhero in the Marvel Universe, and his character was a step in a new direction for those times’ mainstream comic book genre. 

The Year 1969 marked the end of the Silver Age of Comics, and the new, different, and fresh “Bronze Age” started dishing out new characters that the comic book audience did not see until that point. The delinquents of the Silver Age were no more, and the Bronze Age characters marked the darker and more realistic storylines of the characters that many people could easily relate to.

One of them was Sam Wilson, an ordinary man who grew up in New York‘s Harlem, where crime, drugs, and other “real” problems of the working and near-poverty society were dealt with daily.

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Sam’s hard life did not stop him from helping people in need

Despite all his problems as a growing boy in the dangerous world, Sam Wilson had a good childhood. His parents gave him a lot of freedom, and a young boy even started training pigeons, but the racism left him jaded from a young age. Wilson refused to go to church; surprisingly, his parents did not force him to go, which was strange since his father, Samuel, was a prominent minister in their neighborhood.

Is Falcon Gay, Bisexual or Straight? What Is Marvel Canon?

Sam educated himself with many other religions and cultures, and his life looked promising. Still, his life changed massively when his parents died – the criminals of the Harlem district shot both to death after trying to help out individuals in trouble.

However, even though his life changed, Sam decided to continue in his efforts to help fellow citizens of Harlem and became a respected community volunteer. Eventually, Sam Wilson meets Captain America and his loyal companion Redwing on Exile Island, becoming Falcon.

Leila Taylor was Sam Wilson’s long-lasting love in the comics

Surprisingly, his cheerful personality as the new superhero and ally of Captain America did not attract many romantic interests in the comics. However, in one comic book story, Sam Wilson and Steve Rogers meet Leila Taylor, a journalist, and activist for Americans’ equality regardless of skin color.

Leila Taylor was a long-time romantic interest of Sam Wilson, and she was one of the first people in Wilson’s life who knew about the Falcon identity. She even accompanied Falcon going to Wakanda, where he, with Black Panther, designed new wings for his Falcon suit. Leila was kidnapped but eventually rescued by Falcon and Black Panther. The couple eventually broke up once, and Taylor still works as a reporter exposing illegal drug smuggling in the United States of America.

Is Falcon Gay, Bisexual or Straight? What Is Marvel Canon?

Misty Knight supported Sam Wilson in his hardest years as a superhero

They were a strong couple, but their love eventually ended. This next woman might be controversial for this article, but Sam Wilson, during her Captain America stint, is still relevant. After Sam Wilson took over from Steve Rogers as the new Captain America, the 2014 All-New Captain America storyline brought some new people into his life.

Sam Wilson gets his own Falcon sidekick, which we will discuss later, and a new love interest – a former NYPD officer and S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Misty Knight. She is a supporting character to Sam in that storyline, and the two get close. When Sam still questioned if he deserved to be a new Captain America, Misty was his biggest supporter and always motivated him to continue America’s Hero legacy, especially when Steve Rogers returned to reclaim his Captain America mantle.

New Falcon’s sexuality was not discussed in the comics yet

They were close and in a relationship whose status, at least to me, is unknown for now. However, they were good for each other, and if I have to speculate, the pair probably broke up since both of them went their way after their All-New, All-Different Marvel initiative. After Sam Wilson, we have another version of Falcon, and his character already appeared in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier TV show – Joaquin Torres.

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Is Captain America Gay, Bisexual or Straight? What Is Marvel Canon?

He first appeared in 2015 as a Mexican teenager who helped people crossing the United States border. He was kidnapped by the Sons of Serpent and experimented on by Karl Malus, who mixed Torres’s and Redwing’s DNA. The teenager became a human/falcon hybrid, and after saving Captain America, the boy became Sam Wilson’s sidekick. Joaquin Torres is still a relatively new character whose sexuality was not discussed in the comics – we will probably know more after Captain America 4 movie.

Is Falcon Gay, Bisexual or Straight? What Is Marvel Canon?
We still don’t know anything about Torres’s sexuality, both in Marvel comics and the MCU.

Marvel Cinematic Universe presented the character of Sam Wilson in the Captain America: Winter Soldier movie, where Anthony Mackie portrayed him. The character became a fan favorite, and Wilson’s journey of becoming Falcon and his cool personality was welcomed with open arms by the MCU fans.

Sam Wilson did not have romantic relationships since he first appeared in MCU in 2014 but subtly expressed attraction to Black Widow, Sharon Carter, and others.

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Why Is Anthony Mackie Being Replaced as Falcon in the MCU?

Nothing came from those instances, and Sam Wilson was like a young brother to the members of the Avengers. However, some fans realized the chemistry Falcon had with Captain America. Later, especially in the Captain America: Civil War movie, Bucky Barnes, became his reluctant partner in the MCU.

The show, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, emphasizes their relationship more, and the fans start “shipping” Bucky and Sam to the point of the media asking for actors’ and showrunners’ opinions. The duo has chemistry, and the fans picked up on something that seems more than a friendship.

Is Falcon gay, bisexual or straight?

Falcon, under any mantle, seems to be canonically straight, at least for now. Why am I vague? You can never know with the comics and the fact that we recently got a new Falcon in Joaquin Torres; we still do not know his preferences, and he did join the group of young superheroes, Champions.

We will hear from the young Falcon more. When it comes to Sam Wilson, he is straight and had two notable relationships with women in his life, with evidence of admiring other women in the comics. However, you can never know with the comics, and maybe Sam Wilson starts getting interested in other genders.

Is Falcon Gay, Bisexual or Straight? What Is Marvel Canon?
Bucky and Sam have a lot of chemistry in the MCU.

In the MCU, Sam Wilson is straight, despite having enormous chemistry and a close relationship with Bucky Barnes. When asked about the possibility of a gay Falcon, actor Anthony Mackie criticized the media and some fans for romanticizing Sam and Bucky’s friendship and the inability to have a proper friendly relationship without putting and labeling every single relation as romantic, especially in the 21st century. 

The actor mentioned the exploitation of homosexuality by turning everything romantic between two men, and some fans did not like that statement. On the other hand, when asked about his character’s sexuality, Sebastian Stan welcomed the possibility of gay or bi Bucky Barnes, which fans loved.

Still, speculation of Sam’s and Bucky’s possible romantic relationship persisted. In the end, in any version, Sam Wilson or Falcon is straight, but that could easily change in the future, and most of the fans won’t mind.

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