MCU Theory: How The Original Black Captain America Changes Everything
Falcon & The Winter Soldier could turn Sam and Bucky against the government.
What if the new Captain America is the real villain of Falcon & The Winter Soldier? What if Steve Rogers' legacy is going to be taken apart just as Iron Man's was in Spider-Man: Far From Home?
And are you ready for Falcon and The Winter Soldier to be at war with their own government (again)?
The key to all of this is a secret buried in the past of Captain America and the super soldier serum programme.
A new news report from Deadline has confirmed that Carl Lumbly has joined the cast of Disney+'s first MCU show and the exciting suggestion is that he will be playing Isaiah Bradley. If the name doesn't mean anything to you, it should - he was the first black character to take on the mantle of Captain America.
He was introduced in 2003 in the Marvel Comics limited series Truth: Red, White & Black and quickly became a tragic fan favourite thanks to the strength of that story. Along with a huge number of black soldiers from World War II, Bradley became a test subject in a government scheme to recreate the super soldier serum that transformed Steve Rogers into Captain America.
His possible inclusion is a huge deal and not merely because he's an important character in Marvel lore, but because of what his involvement will mean for Sam Wilson and his own transformation into Captain America.
4. Project Rebirth
In Steve Rogers' story, becoming Captain America was a noble choice of the subject - he entered it knowing the stakes and the possibility of death. He effectively put himself forward as a sacrifice to help win the war and while he came out of it with some obvious positives, that potential sacrifice matters. He chose to take on the great power that comes with great responsibility and in the MCU, his attitude it precisely what makes him the perfect candidate.
For Isaiah Bradley and the hundreds of other test subjects, it wasn't a matter of such simple choice. They became part of Project Rebirth, a collaboration between US, British and German who came together to replicate the super soldier serum.
In a narrative choice designed to mirror the real life Tuskegee Syphilis Study - in which African American men were told they were getting free healthcare but were in reality infected with syphilis to observe the effects of the disease untreated - the serum's early forms were tested on African American soldiers. That's incredibly dark material, but it's something the MCU will apparently use as an important reference point, and it's important.
It gets darker too. In the comic, only five of the test subjects survive - including Bradley - and then in the name of secrecy the government executed the commanders of the camp they were taken to as well as hundreds of black soldiers at the camp. Their families are told they died in battle.
If Bradley's story is being used in Falcon And The Winter Soldier, it is an incredible, important decision and one that completely reframes Sam's story. It's a brilliant way to bring in a real world issue - well, several, given the focus on eugenics at the moment - that deserves amplification.
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