8 Reasons Why Secret Empire Didn't Work
5. It Messed Up Its Own Symbolism
Secret Empire's main symbol of hope spent over half the event petulantly not wanting to take part.
A lot more attention and focus seemed to be paid to Hydra Captain America, not only to strongly show him as a fascist dictator, but also to seemingly show how he was having a hard time with his new status as Hydra Supreme Leader, and the fact his closest allies (gasp!) couldn't get passed it.
However, by the final issue, we are meant to believe that the character that was meant to be the series' main symbol of hope was in fact Sam Wilson, the former Falcon and also a current Captain America.
The only problem with that is Sam Wilson had quit being Captain America because there was backlash to his role as the hero within the Marvel universe itself. When Secret Empire begins, Wilson has decided he doesn't want to be part of the fight against Hydra at all, and is content with helping facilitate people passing across the border into Canada.
When the Underground Avengers come to get him, Wilson wants nothing to do with them or the fight, but gets dragged into it. He eventually dons the Captain America costume again, but by the end, he didn't really do a great deal. The other heroes may have rallied around him, but it was kind of tough to see why.
Moreover, in the final issue, he doesn't do much, but then, neither do any of the heroes beyond a copy of Steve Rogers created out of the memory of what he was like before Kobrik got involved (yes, it's confusing, we'll get to that).
When Marvel Legacy starts, Sam Wilson will be ditching the Captain America mantle yet again, this time to once again become the Falcon. So if he was the symbol of hope we were all supposed to rally around, why did he come across as being so whiney? That, and why is he not continuing that legacy going forward? He's clearly a better candidate than Steve at this point...