Anthony Mackie’s character Sam Wilson, who used to be the Falcon, became Captain America in the series finale of ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’. Wilson struggled with what it meant to be Captain America as a black man, throughout the six-episode series.

He eventually accepted the shield and took on his new persona, but only on his own terms. According to what Mackie revealed in an interview,  his Captain America has a superpower, which fans have previously seen.

Mackie and Air Force Chief of Staff General Charles Q. Brown Jr. recently spoke with Variety on the significance of black heroes, both fictional and real. Many people in his life have served in the military, Mackie said in the interview. As a result, portraying soldiers “in a respectful human light” is extremely essential to him, he added.

“Sometimes I meet people like General Brown, and I’m like, ‘That guy’s not a human being, he’s a rock star,’ and you forget they’re actual humans and place them in a light where they’re not allowed to be,” Mackie explained to Variety. “So that’s something that’s always been important to me — bringing humanity to the aspect of being a soldier.”

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Mackie felt that Wilson’s monologue in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s finale came to establish what his iteration of Captain America is all about now that his character has taken over the reins from Steve Rogers (Chris Evans).

“This is the moment where he becomes Captain America, so what’s his Captain America going to stand for?” Mackie explains. “Because he was a soldier, he was a caretaker of soldiers, a counselor.”

The closing scene’s dramatic speech served to emphasise the gravity of Wilson’s choice to take up the shield and adopt his new persona. It was vital to show Wilson wasn’t “a guy who’s going to bust his way through problems” when he became Captain America, according to Mackie.

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During the interview with Mackie, General Brown mentioned that being a black man in a high-ranking post carried a lot of power and responsibility. When young people see someone who looks like them in important jobs, he asserted, they realise there is potential. They recognise that “anyone can fill in any one of these roles.”

The most essential element of portraying Captain America, according to Mackie, is for youngsters to “see you’re real.” He did add, though, that youngsters don’t need to see it in just the movies to understand it. They also require encounters with people such as General Brown in the real world.

‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ is available for streaming on Disney+.