Contents
The Rise of Sam Wilson as Captain America
The final episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier showed not just how Sam finally accepted the mantle and responsibilities of the red, white, and blue, but also how his first public outing was perfectly suited to getting the public to accept him as the new Captain America. Sam’s first full adventure as Cap came in the pages of All-New Captain America by Rick Remender and Stuart Immonen, which saw him face off against Baron Zemo, Baron Blood, Batroc (that’s a whole lot of Bs), and a resurgent Hydra. That’s certainly a colorful enough roster to populate a blockbuster movie.
The MCU’s Zemo (Daniel Bruhl) is, of course, destined to return to bedevil our heroes in thought-provoking ways soon enough. Might he be one of the villains of Captain America 4? Well…that depends…
Captain America vs. the Thunderbolts (or the Dark Avengers)
Between the ongoing machinations of Contessa Valentine Allegra de la Fontaine (and seriously, can you believe that Julia Louis-Dreyfus is now part of the MCU?) and whatever Sharon Carter was up to in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier finale end credits scene, there’s plenty of reason to believe that some folks have an interest in putting together a team of “Dark Avengers” or something like the Marvel Comics team the Thunderbolts. In other words, antiheroes and villains who reform to do some good, despite still being really shady.
It’s likely that we’re going to see this play out in upcoming MCU releases like Loki, Black Widow (that film’s villain, Taskmaster, is a prime candidate for a team like this, and it’s already been confirmed that Val will appear there), and others. Perhaps by the time we get to Captain America 4 it’ll be time for a reckoning between someone who truly understands what it means to be a hero and these pretenders who have stepped in to fill the Avengers void.
Secret Empire
No, no…not the recent Marvel Comics event with that infamous panel of Steve Rogers saying “Hail Hydra,” I mean the ORIGINAL Secret Empire from the 1970s. The one where Steve, Sam, and T’Challa teamed up after discovering that the U.S. government had been taken over by bad guys and…waitasec, this sounds an awful lot like Captain America: The Winter Soldier when I put it that way, but trust me, it’s not the same.
But wait, aren’t we ALSO getting Secret Invasion on Disney+, the story about how the government has been infiltrated by Skrull agents. Well…yes, and I guess that sorta sounds a little similar here, too.