Don't Expect To See Falcon Become Cap In 'Captain America 3'

When Marvel Comics announced that Sam Wilson, typically known as the Falcon, would take up the mantle of Captain America in an upcoming comics storyline, fans assumed that the film franchise featuring the same characters might quickly follow suit. Marvel Studios will soon need to negotiate new contracts for its primary Avengers stars, after all, and there's every reason to expect that guys like Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth will eventually want to lay down their costumes and weapons. So will Sam Wilson, played by Anthony Mackie on film, become Captain America? Not in the next movie, say the Captain America 3 screenwriters. 

Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely are returning to write Captain America 3, having also penned the recent blockbuster The Winter Solider, in which Falcon was introduced on film. But they're not jumping to give the guy a new heroic identity just yet.

Speaking to SFX, McFeely was asked about the Falcon becoming Captain America on film. He said,  "We tend to stay on the sidelines when it comes to the comics. We wait and see what we'll steal from in three or four years from now!"

In other words, it could happen, but not for a while.

Markus elaborated,

I think the movies can accommodate almost anything, if there's a need. I think there is a much greater need to shake things up in the comics because that's a narrative that's been going on for 60 or 70 years, so you're going to wind up having to do things to it. Ours has only been off the ground for five or so. So it's not quite time to start changing things up yet.

The two were also asked what sort of general tone we can expect from the next movie — closer to The First Avenger, or something more modern, in the vein of The Winter Soldier? Playing it safe, Markus said, "we are working on something that I think is an amalgalm."

McFeely added,

When we hit upon the Brubaker run of the comic book, we all said that, with certain exceptions, that's the tone of Cap's modern franchise. And you can imagine that with us back, with the Russos back, then if you like Winter Soldier you'll hopefully like the third one, if we do it right!

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Captain America 3 is set for release on May 6, 2016. Captain America: The Winter Soldier hits Blu-ray in the US on September 9.