Why Is Anthony Mackie Being Replaced as Falcon in the MCU?
Marvel Cinematic Universe introduced us to a lot of great characters in its run in the last ten years, and with great characters, great actors came in to portray them. One of them is Anthony Mackie, the superhero Falcon, who is one of the longest-standing actors in the MCU. A few months ago, there were rumors of a new actor getting cast as a new Falcon and some people got confused. In this article, we will discuss why is Anthony Mackie being replaced as Falcon in the MCU.
For a simple reason – Anthony Mackie is the new Captain America in the MCU and will be taking over the mantle from Steve Rogers and Chris Evans. The first hint of “passing down a torch” happened in the Avengers: Endgame where Steve gives Sam Wilson his shield, and confirms him as worthy successor. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier TV show revolved around Wilson’s transformation into Captain America and finally accepting the mantle from his hero. Mackie is also filming Captain America: New World Order movie that will be released in 2024.
We will discuss this topic further by mentioning the new character taking over as Falcon, and Anthony Mackie’s future in the MCU. If you are interested in this topic, stay with us until the end of the article.
Why is Anthony Mackie being replaced as Falcon in MCU?
Falcon is one of the most notable Captain America’s allies, that went from being a sidekick to the full-blown Avenger. Sam Wilson was always an important part of Captain America’s stories in Marvel comics, which translated to the MCU pretty quickly. The movie from 2014, Captain America: The Winter Soldier was the first appearance of this notable character, portrayed by Anthony Mackie, and since then has been a crucial part of the Avengers and overall MCU stories.
Falcon’s character went through a lot, and the end of the Avengers: Endgame, and the TV show The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, put Falcon in the center of the story. In Endgame, Chris Evans, and his Steve Rogers, decided to leave MCU and conclude his story in the best possible way – by going back to his first love Peggy Carter, and leaving his shield in the trusty hands of his friend, and ally Sam Wilson.
Since then, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier provided us with the aftermath of that scene, and boy did Sam Wilson struggle. In the TV show, Sam is seen struggling to comprehend that he can become a new Captain America and take over from Steve Rogers, America’s hero, and idol. Besides him being a soldier as well, Sam Wilson also struggled with racial bias and racism from some American people.
The problem of racism in America was shown a lot in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but after proving to everyone and himself that he can do it despite facing the judgment of people every day, Sam Wilson was officially confirmed as a new Captain America in the last episode of Disney+ TV show. He saved the day in his new Captain America suit and revealed that he finally accepted Steve Rogers’s wishes.
After The Falcon and The Winter Soldier TV show, Anthony Mackie was confirmed by Kevin Feige of being Captain America in the future phases of the MCU and confirmed a new Captain America movie coming out in 2024, this time starring Sam Wilson. Now, what would Captain America be without his Falcon?
In recent news, Marvel fans could see that a new actor and character have been cast as the new Falcon in MCU – Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres. Anthony Mackie is not leaving the MCU, and has a lot of projects queued up for future projects in MCU, including Season Two of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and already mentioned Captain America 4.
So, who is the new Falcon in the MCU? Let’s find out.
Who is portraying Falcon in the future of MCU?
Now, we already mentioned the name of Danny Ramirez, an actor who is going to take over as the new Falcon in the MCU. Besides being cast as a new Falcon in the Captain America movie, Ramirez played Wes in Fox’s TV show 2017 Gifted. Joaquin Torres’ character appeared in five episodes of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier TV show as a member of the U.S. Air Force, who investigates the Flag Smashers, and is a close friend of Sam Wilson.
Ramirez is quite a young actor, and Julius Onah, the director of Captain America: The World Order, praised both Mackie and Ramirez and their friendship in the new movie, and how their bond “helps to form emotional core”. Ramirez did a few projects that are quite solid, but the portrayal of Joaquin Torres in MCU, especially as a new Captain America ally, Falcon, will kickstart his career even more.
Who is Joaquin Torres in the Marvel Comics?
Now, before we conclude this topic, let’s talk about Joaquin Torres a bit. Torres is a Mexican teenager who came to the United States with his mother and sister. The boy grew up with his family in Sonoita, Arizona, and was a model student with great grades. Joaquin Torres is really supportive and loyal to his fellow Mexicans, especially the ones that migrate to America, and would often go to the border and leave food and drinks for his fellow compatriots.
Of course, being in Marvel Universe, nowhere is safe, and already exhausted and unfortunate migrants, had to deal with Sons of Serpent, a team of supervillains and questionable morals. They kidnapped migrants and used them for experimentation. Of course, poor Joaquin Torres was kidnapped and eventually saved by no other than Sam Wilson, under the mantle of Captain America.
Unfortunately, Cap was too late, and Karl Malus already experimented on the boy by turning him into a falcon/human hybrid, taking the DNA of Sam Wilson’s loyal animal companion Redwing.
The Marvel’s version of Man-Bat, Cap decided to take care of Torres and help him recover. Joaquin Torres used his new powers to help Captain America in defeating the Serpent Society and really quickly proved his worth. It did help that Torres now has a psychic connection to Redwing, and his powers helped Cap massively.
After Joaquin Torres helped Cap beat the Serpent Society, a teenager decided to officially take over the mantle of Falcon and become Captain America’s sidekick. Another interesting fact about this character is that he is pretty close to the superhero group called Champions, where he is pretty close to Ironheart and Wast. With that said, there is a possibility that Torres will appear in the Ironheart web series released in late 2023, but we will hold onto that.
In the end, Joaquin Torres will definitely appear as the new Falcon in future MCU projects, and until then, we will wait for updates.
