Chris Evans and Wyatt Russell as Captain America
All eyes were on Captain America's shield as Marvel Cinematic Universe's latest offering 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' debuted on Disney+ Hotstar. Marvel's original Cap, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) handed over the mantel to Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie) in Avengers: Endgame and fans were on the edge to see how he uses the iconic shield to protect the world from anomalies. However, things didn't go as Rogers and the fans speculated.
(You are being warned. The following contains spoilers for the latest released episode of The Falcon and The Winter Soilder)
In the first episode of "The Falcon and The Winter Solider", we see Sam offering Captain America's shield to the US government, which later announces that John Walker, has replaced Steve Rogers as the new Captain America. Naturally, fans were upset. It was hard for them to see someone else in the star-spangled uniform with the iconic shield that Evans wielded for years. Soon after the episode premiered, social media timelines saw #NotMyCap trending on top with fans expressing utter disappointment.
Now, Wyatt Russell, who plays the new Captain America has reacted to the severe backlash he's facing on social media. "People are probably going to hate it, and some people are going to love it,” USA Today quoted Russell as saying.
“Movies and TV shows are there to make people feel emotions, and I'm hoping that that's what this show can do for people. Hopefully, they don't hate me too much," he adds. But “it would be an honour, I guess, to be disliked in the Marvel universe,” he added.
Here's how fans had reacted to John Walker replacing Steve Rogers as the new Captain America:
Russell has a lot of respect for what Evans did for most of a decade.
Taking up Evans' character' Russell says the former's Captain America was very different and nobody can take his place. “He did have an unreal, unbelievable job. That was a really different version of Captain America, with far less problems. He was fighting Nazis and he had less internal issues to deal with because everyone thought he was perfect. That's just so hard to play, and he did such a great job of actually bringing some conflict with the character.
“He’s perfect. Who else can play Captain America like Chris Evans? Nobody. And what's good about this show is that it takes that in hand, where it's like, ‘Well, who else is going to (expletive) play Captain America? This guy?'"
Earlier during a virtual press conference, for "The Falcon And The Winter Soldier", Anthony Mackie revealed why his character hasn't taken up Captain America's shield, despite being offered by Steve Rodgers, or Captain America himself, at the end of the film "Avengers: Endgame".
"Sam doesn't want the Cap to go," he said adding, "Sam's whole journey (in the MCU) has been with Captain America. So, for him it's just that pain that he is not there. I mean Sam is like all of you guys. He wants him (Steve Rodgers or Captain America) there. He was Sam's Captain America as well. So, I am not sure if Sam feels it's the right time to pick it yet."
The six-episode limited series centres around Mackie's Sam Wilson or the Falcon and Sebastian Stan's Winter Soldier and is streaming on Disney+Hotstar.
