Samuel Wilson

Samuel Wilson
Alias(es)	Sam Wilson Falcon Captain America
Status	Alive
Appeared in	Captain America: The Winter Soldier Avengers: Age of Ultron Ant-Man Captain America: Civil War Avengers: Infinity War Avengers: Endgame The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Captain America: Brave New World
Actor	Anthony Mackie

"I'm a black man carrying the stars and stripes. What don't I understand? Every time I pick this thing up, I know there are millions of people who are gonna hate me for it. Even now, here... I feel it. The stares, the judgment. And there's nothin' I can do to change it. Yet, I'm still here. No super serum, no blond hair, or blue eyes. The only power I have is that I believe we can do better."

―Captain America

Samuel "Sam" Thomas Wilson is a former United States Air Force pararescue airman and a close friend of Steve Rogers. Sam aided Steve and Natasha Romanoff when they took down a compromised S.H.I.E.L.D., Sam is now a member of the Avengers under the codename Falcon.

However, while Sam and his allies managed to kill off all of Thanos's forces, Thanos came to Wakanda. The Mad Titan completely overpowered Sam and the heroes and retrieved the Mind Stone, completing the Infinity Gauntlet. Sam disintegrated into ashes alongside Wanda Maximoff, T'Challa, Bucky Barnes and Groot when Thanos wiped out half of every civilization in the universe with the completed Infinity Gauntlet.

Five years later, Sam was resurrected by Bruce Banner via the Infinity Stones and helped to combat Thanos' army and save the Earth.

Biography

Early life

Sam joined the United States Air Force and became a Pararescueman. He was a test pilot for the EXO-7 Falcon, developed by Stark Industries, along with his friend and wingman, Riley, Riley was killed in action. After Riley's death, Sam found serving difficult and eventually became a counselor to veterans with PTSD in Washington, D.C..

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Sam was an ex-military pararescueman who worked with veterans in Washington, D.C. Secretly trained by the military in aerial combat using a specially designed wing pack, code named Falcon. One day, his partner was killed by an RPG and not long after he retired. While running one day, he met Steve Rogers. He was immediately impressed as after one lap he was tired and sweaty, whereas after thirteen laps, Steve was hardly affected. Afterwards, Steve and Natasha came to his place to hide low from S.H.I.E.L.D.. While there, he told them of his suit and they retrieved it. He then helped them spy on, kidnap, and interrogate Jasper Sitwell. After finding out what S.H.I.E.L.D. was planning to do, they decided to drive to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters to stop them, however, the Winter Soldier stopped them from reaching the headquarters.

As they were on the way to their executions, Maria Hill rescued them and got them to Nick Fury. They then formed a plan to shut down the Insight Helicarriers. Sam, Steve, and Hill arrived at The Triskelion and hacked into the loudspeaker, saying that HYDRA had secretly taken over and that they should rebel against them. Many S.H.I.E.L.D. agents did rebel but it was short lived as most of the HYDRA agents had better weaponry and outnumbered the agents. Falcon then flew to a Helicarrier and, after a dogfight, replaced a chip from the Helicarrier's computer and replaced it with one that allowed Maria to control it.

Sam then flew to Steve and got him to the last Helicarrier, there they were attacked by the Winter Soldier and his suit was destroyed and he had to parachute away after being kicked out of the jet, he then briefly fought with Brock Rumlow before the Helicarrier crashed into the building and he had to jump out, only to be rescued by Romanoff and Fury. Later they visited a Cemetery and he and Steve decided to begin looking for Bucky.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Sam was invited to Tony Stark's party where he told Steve Rogers that all of his leads to find Bucky were cold. Sam also asked about Rogers' recent mission with the Avengers and if he planned to find an apartment in New York, while also making it clear he had no interest in joining the Avengers.

After Ultron is defeated, Sam, suited up, assembled with the other new recruits at the new Avengers facility; James Rhodes, Wanda Maximoff, Vision, Natasha Romanoff, and lead by his friend, Steve.

Ant-Man

"It's really important to me that Cap doesn't find this out."

―Sam Wilson

Sam went to investigate an intruder at the New Avengers Facility when he detected him on radar through his advanced goggles. The perpetrator was kitted out in a colourful costume and introduced himself as Scott Lang, aka Ant-Man and requested to borrow some tech being housed at the facility. Sam, unsure of Scott's intentions, engaged him in battle and found it somewhat challenging as Ant-Man proved formidable as he fought him both in regular size and miniature size. As the battle continued to rage on Ant-Man entered the compartment of Falcon's exo suit flight wings and disabled the wiring inside causing it to malfunction, allowing Scott to escape freely with the device in toe. Sam radioed Black Widow and requested that Cap didn't need to know about this little incident.

Later Sam sent out a message to one of Ant-Man's associates that he was looking for him by spreading the word around the underground network.

Captain America: Civil War

"I just want to make sure we consider all our options. Because people that shoot at you ususally end up shooting at me too."

―Sam Wilson

Sam's Falcon, now a full-fledged Avenger, joins Steve, Natasha, and Wanda on a mission in Lagos to stop a terrorist group lead by Rumlow, now going by Crossbones. Sam provides surveillance and assist in the fight, taking out several mercenaries and saving Natasha. However, the mission goes south after Crossbones makes a suicide bombing, destroying a building and killing many people. This, along with other events the Avengers have taken part of, prompts the United Nations to draft the Sokovia Accords and send Thaddeus Ross to explain to the Avengers that once the accords are passed, they will have to either sign them or face legal penalties. Sam, believing that they shouldn't sign, argues with Rhodey, who believes they should sign, who is supported by Natasha, Vision, and Tony, all of which do eventually sign the accords.

After a bombing in Vienna, Steve and Sam track Bucky down to Romania. Sam again provides surveillance on the German special forces while Steve tries to reason with Bucky; however, they are interupted by the Black Panther. In the end, Romanian police, German special forces, and War Machine arrest them and send them away. During Bucky's interrogation, the psychiatrist, Baron Zemo, breaks out Bucky. While Steve, Tony, T'Challa, Natasha, and Sharon try to subdue Bucky, Sam tries to follow Zemo, but fails. He later meets up with Steve, who has captured Bucky. Bucky reveals to them that Zemo may attempt to unveil a squad of super-soldiers and unleash them to the world. Knowing that Stark and Ross won't listen to them until it's too late, they realize they need some help. Steve calls up Clint Barton and Wanda, while Sam calls in Scott.

The group arrives at the air port and knowing that they'd disable Clint's helicopter, Sam sends his drone to find their Quinjet while Steve distracts Tony's Avengers. Once they find it, Sam and Bucky run towards the jet but are intercepted by Spider-Man, who nearly captures them by webbing them up, but he's able to tag him and throw him out of the building. They meet up with the others and make a v-line for the Quinjet but are stopped by Vision and blocked by the other Avengers. They decide to fight. At first Sam and Rhodey engage in the air, knocking him off balance, only to then be chased by him across the airfield. At some point he loses Rhodey, but is perused by Tony. Clint fires an arrow with Scott riding one of them and infiltrates his suit, disabling some of Tony's weaponry. Sam decides that only that Steve and Bucky could make it out while he and the rest of the team stay and keep them busy, particularly distracting the flyers.

Rhodey again starts perusing Sam, but Scott provides a diversion by turning into Giant-Man and seizing Rhodey. Falcon then kicks Stark before he can attack Scott. This starts a scramble, but Scott tries to hit him with a wing of a jumbo-jet and Sam directly hits Tony with his drone. Bucky and Steve make it to the jet, but are followed by Tony and Rhodey, so Sam tries to shoot at them, Vision aims at Sam and fires, however he misses and hits Rhodey's suit in the chest, disabling the suit and causes it to fall out of the sky and crashes into the ground, nearly killing him. Sam follows in an attempt to save him but couldn't. Feeling a lot of guilt, likely due to the loss of his wingman years ago, Sam tries to apologize but Tony knocks him out.

Sam and the rest of his team, minus Bucky and Steve, are arrested. Tony, realizing his mistake, convinces Sam to tell him where Barnes and Rogers went, on the condition he went as a friend. Later on, Sam and Wanda are broken out by Steve while Clint and Scott make a deal with the government in order to protect their families.

Captain Marvel Prelude

To be added

Avengers: Infinity War Prelude

To be added

Avengers: Infinity War

"Well yeah, the hotels weren't exactly 5-star."

―Sam Wilson

After getting a call from Bruce Banner about Thanos coming for Vision and his stone and seeing that Tony Stark had disappeared, Steve, Natasha, and Falcon team up and attempt to save Vision in Scotland. They arrive to find Vision mortally wounded and Wanda trying to fend off Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive. Falcon takes out Proxima by kicking her through a window. He then fires and Glaive, distracting him from Natasha, who stabs him. During a duel between Proxima, Steve, and Natasha, he again kicks her down and aims his guns at her. The aliens are transported to their ship and Sam helps Vision to his feat. They get to the Quinjet and Steve orders him to fly them "home."

The Secret Avengers arrive at the New Avengers Facility in New York to defend Earth and Rhodey is ordered by Ross to arrest them but he instead decides to help them. In a debate as to what to do with the stone, Steve decides to take Vision to Wakanda and try to remove the stone there.

The Avengers fly to Wakanda in the morning and land. There they meet T'Challa, Okoye, and Ayo. He stays behind at the helipad while Steve takes Vision to get his stone removed. Soon Proxima Midnight and Cull Obsidian arrive with an army of Outriders. The Avengers and Wakanda's forces arrive at the front of the ships. The Outriders attack but are stopped by Wakanda's shield. However, some are able to force their way through, causing the Wakandans to open fire on them. Sam attampts to attack a few but he notices their sharp teeth and keeps his distance. Rhodey then bombs the area. Realizing that the Outriders could go around the shield, Steve and T'Challa decide to open a portion of the shield in order to keep them in front of them. The shield is opened and the fight begins. They're able to hold their ground after Thor Odinson arrives with Groot and Rocket as reinforcements. In response, the Outriders send out spiked wheels running over the battlefield. Rhodey and Falcon start to target the wheels, but eventually Sam sees Vision being attacked and alerts the others but Sam is knocked out of the air before he can help.

Eventually, the battle is seemingly won, with the Black Order killed and the Outriders in full retreat. Vision alerts Steve Thanos is coming after being warned by the Mind Stone. Steve orders everyone on his position and they wait until Thanos arrives. Sam shoots at him from the air, but is knocked out of the sky. Thanos ends up snapping his fingers, with half of all life going away. Sam is dusted away as Rhodey endlessly searches for him.

Avengers: Endgame

After five years of being wiped from existence, Sam, along with those killed by Thanos, was restored to life by Bruce Banner snapping his fingers with a makeshift Infinity Gauntlet. With his resurrection, he reunited with all of his allies, informing Captain America, before arriving with his friends in Wakanda through a conjured portal, along with resurrected Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and other heroes killed by Thanos, emerging from other portals conjured by Doctor Strange, Wong, and the Masters of the Mystic Arts, standing against Thanos and his armies.

Falcon stood alongside Captain America, as he led the charge against Thanos' army, flying towards his opposition, inflicting aerial offenses with his guns. He then killed a Chitauri Gorilla after Clint Barton carrying the Infinity Gauntlet, stabbing it with his wings. As the battle continued, Thanos, to avoid being killed by Scarlet Witch, ordered a blitz from his warship, Sanctuary II, Falcon went up in the air to avoid death, while the ground forces were shielded by Tao Mandalas. Suddenly, the attack moved upwards, which had Sam question the change, which turned out to be Captain Marvel, who destroyed the warship. Falcon continued to engage Thanos' forces until they all vanished, due to Iron Man snapping the Infinity Stones, killing all enemy soldiers, and Thanos himself. Falcon and everyone present gathered to kneel to the hero who saved the universe.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

"New World Order"

To be added

"The Star-Spangled Man"

To be added

"Power Broker"

To be added

"The Whole World Is Watching"

To be added

"Truth"

To be added

"One World, One People"

To be added

Captain America: Brave New World

To be added

Character traits

Sam was selected to be the test pilot of the EXO-7 Falcon. Sam was a United States Air Force Pararescue, with his wingman, Riley. When Riley was KIA, Sam left the Air Force. After returning home, he joined the V.A. helping veterans. When Sam met Steve they develop a strong bond with one another, both being soldiers. When Steve and Natasha went to Sam for refuge, he helped hide them. Sam offered to help them fight against HYDRA that has infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D., Sam retrieve his EXO-7 Falcon jet pack. After, they destroy HYDRA's Insight Helicarriers for Project Insight, Sam agreed to help Steve in his search for Bucky.

Sam is a level-headed individual, he engages regular exercises, like Steve Rogers, he has a sense of duty and is willing to fight for what he believe in, Sam also provides Steve with wise counsel, even if Steve doesn't agree. He also has a sense of humor.

In Captain America: Civil War, despite being a former soldier of the United States and although Sam is loyal to his country, he does not trust the world's governments in general, as he is aware of the corruption, as well as the hidden agendas in the government itself, as it is one of the main reasons why he did not sign or support the Sokovia Accords, like Steve, he puts his morals and honor first, and logic second.

Sam is very loyal to his comrades and friends, as he joined Steve's cause in the Avengers Civil War, he has no regrets for helping Steve despite knowing that he could get arrested. When he was imprisoned in the Raft, Sam adamantly refused to reveal where Steve and Bucky Barnes were going despite knowing how he could be interrogated extensively for it, however, he proves to have a more reasonable side when dealing with Tony Stark and James Rhodes than most of his friends, as he was genuinely remorseful for how Rhodes nearly died chasing him and sincerely apologized to Tony. Although refusing blatantly at first when Tony asked him where Steve is, Sam displays no actual offensive behavior towards his former friend and was able to trust him with where Steve is and believe (correctly) that Tony truly wanted to amend his mistakes.

Although after Sam was freed from the Raft by Steve, he likely learns from the latter (off-screen) that Tony tried to kill Bucky because he discovered he was responsible for the death of his parents (completely disregarding the fact that Bucky was under the influence of HYDRA at the time and was not in control of his actions) it would appear that he took whatever feelings of disapproval he had over it to a lesser extent, as he didn't question Steve regarding his decision to trust Tony with the phone that could allow Tony to find them while being the only Avenger at first still working with him as the rest briefly retired and wasn't against Steve's praise of Tony being the world's greatest defender. At the very least, Sam does not resent James Rhodes, as he calmly leveled with him regarding the difficulty of living while being a criminal or Vision, as he is quick to lend a hand on him after forcing Midnight and Glaive to retreat.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Falcon - Fight Moves & Flight Compilation HD

• Falcon Suit: When wearing the Falcon/Captain America suit, Sam is capable of some superhuman feats.
  • Flight: A combination of the thrusters and the wings on the suit give Sam the ability to fly at amazing speeds and at high altitudes.
  • Advanced Vision: Falcon's combat goggles give him the ability to see at vast distances.

Abilities

• Peak of Human Physical Condition: Through extensive training, Sam is in top physical condition for a man of his age.
• Expert Tactician: Sam is a highly skilled tactician. He is capable of planning special operations and was able to help Captain America and his team strategize the plan to destroy the Insight Helicarriers and unmask HYDRA. He was able to react and respond to Ant-Man's unexpected appearance and was able to perfectly counter his unique attacks after only viewing them momentarily.
• Expert Engineer: Sam is a highly skilled engineer and regularly performs maintenance on his jet pack and recalibrates Redwing's sensors in-between missions.
• Master Hand-To-Hand Combatant/Martial Artist: Through his military training, Sam is a highly skilled hand-to-hand combatant and martial artist. His combat style is comprised of firearm improvisation, flight maneuvers; such as swooping and aerial grappling, and modern army combatives. Falcon was able to take down several HYDRA agents and briefly went head-to-head against Brock Rumlow. With Falcon's wings and armor, he can hit hard enough to send enemies flying, especially while in flight. After becoming a member of the Avengers, Falcon's combat skills improved overtime to the point that he was able to best several members of LAF with little to no effort at all, he was also able to stand his ground against several members of the Flag Smashers and the Dora Milaje, despite the their superior strength and superior combat skills respectively.
• Expert Marksman: Through his United States Armed Forces training, Sam is a highly skilled marksman. During the Battle of Wakanda, he was able to shoot down several Outriders from mid-air.
• Master Knife-Fighter: Sam is a highly skilled knife-fighter.
• Master Pilot: Through his training as a pararescue man and experience with the EXO-7 Falcon, Sam is a highly skilled pilot. He displays the utmost skill when flying with his wings and can perform many advanced and complicated maneuvers while in mid-air. Sam is an extraordinary aerialist due to his time as military pararescue. Falcon was able to dodge multiple long range dorsal and ventral guns and cannons fire, from Insight Helicarriers and multiple missiles from a armed Quinjet. He can also pilot aircraft such as a Quinjet.
• Bilingual: Sam's native tongue is English and he can speak fluent Arabic.

Equipment

• Captain America's Shield: After, the Avengers defeated Thanos, Steve Rogers gave Sam the shield, choosing him to be his successor as Captain America.
• Falcon Suit: The suit that Sam wears as Falcon that was designed for use with the EXO-7 Falcon jet pack.
  • Falcon's Twin Guns: Sam carries two machine pistols in the holsters of his Falcon suit.
• Redwing: A robotic drone armed with machine guns, multiple types of scanners and is strong enough to be used as a battering ram or a ride for Captain America. The first was destroyed by Karli Morgenthau but he got more when he received the Captain America suit from the Wakandans.

Former Equipment

• EXO-7 Falcon: Sam's personal military winged jet pack. It was destroyed by John Walker.
  • Tactical Parachute: Sam had a parachute built into his jet pack, Sam only uses it in emergencies; when his jet pack is damage, malfunctioning or in some cases disabled by his opponents like Scott Lang/Ant-Man.
• Arm-Mounted Collapsable Machine Pistols: Sam carries two of these machine pistols in the holsters of his EXO-7 suit.

Relationships

• Avengers
  • Steve Rogers/Captain America - Ally, close friend and team leader.
  • Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow - Ally, friend and teammate; deceased.
  • Tony Stark/Iron Man - Ally and teammate turned enemy, turned ally and teammate again; deceased.
  • James Rhodes/War Machine - Ally and teammate turned enemy, turned ally and teammate again.
  • Peter Parker/Spider-Man - Ally, teammate, and temporary enemy.
  • Vision - Ally, teammate, and temporary enemy.
  • Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch - Ally and teammate; deceased.
  • Clint Barton/Hawkeye - Ally and teammate.
  • Bruce Banner/Hulk - Friend, ally, teammate and ressurector.
  • Scott Lang/Ant-Man - Ally and teammate.
  • Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier - Unwilling enemy turned ally, friend and partner.
  • Thor Odinson - Ally and teammate.
  • T'Challa/Black Panther - Enemy turned ally and teammate.
• S.H.I.E.L.D.
  • Nick Fury - Ally.
  • Maria Hill - Ally; deceased.
  • Sharon Carter - Ally.
• Joaquín Torres - Ally.
• HYDRA
  • Brock Rumlow/Crossbones - Enemy and attempted killer; deceased.
  • Alexander Pierce - Enemy; deceased.
  • Jasper Sitwell - Enemy; deceased.
  • Jack Rollins - Enemy.
• Thaddeus Ross - Enemy.
• Helmut Zemo - Enemy turned ally.
• LAF
  • Georges Batroc - Enemy; deceased.
  • Louie - Enemy; deceased.
• Flag Smashers
  • Karli Morgenthau - Enemy; deceased.
  • Dovich - Enemy; deceased.
  • Gigi - Enemy; deceased.
  • DeeDee - Enemy; deceased.
  • Lennox - Enemy; deceased.
  • Nico - Enemy; deceased.
  • Diego - Enemy; deceased.
  • Matias - Enemy; deceased.
• Black Order
  • Proxima Midnight - Enemy; deceased.
  • Corvus Glaive - Enemy; deceased.
• Thanos - Enemy and killer; deceased.
• Thanos (2014 version) - Enemy; deceased.

Appearances/Actors

• Marvel Cinematic Universe (8 films)
  • Captain America: The Winter Soldier (First appearance) - Anthony Mackie
  • Avengers: Age of Ultron - Anthony Mackie
  • Ant-Man - Anthony Mackie
  • Captain America: Civil War - Anthony Mackie
  • Avengers: Infinity War - Anthony Mackie
  • Avengers: Endgame - Anthony Mackie
  • Black Widow (Mentioned only)
  • Captain America: Brave New World - Anthony Mackie
• Marvel Cinematic Universe (1 series)
  • The Falcon and the Winter Soldier - Anthony Mackie
    • "New World Order"
    • "The Star-Spangled Man"
    • "Power Broker"
    • "The Whole World Is Watching"
    • "Truth"
    • "One World, One People"
• Marvel Cinematic Universe (3 comics)
  • Avengers: Age of Ultron Prelude - This Scepter'd Isle
  • Avengers: Infinity War Prelude
  • Captain Marvel Prelude
  • Black Widow Prelude

Behind the scenes

• Michael B. Jordan read for the part.
• Mackie was unhappy with the modern take on his costume as Falcon. He wanted the red spandex look from the comics.
• The filmmakers were interested in adding more of a tactical design to the Falcon costume than was represented in the comic books. Accordingly, they incorporated a lot of real-world webbing, straps and gear. The final result was a costume that retained the iconic parts of the Falcon costume but stripped away the more comic book elements that would not work in the modern day. The Falcon costume takes actor Anthony Mackie 25 minutes to put on.
• Trailers, behind the scenes pictures, and promotional art showed Sam in a long sleeve flight suit during the battle on the Insight Helicarriers, whereas in the film the uniform was short sleeved.
• Anthony Mackie did quite a bit of wirework flying as Falcon. The stunt coordinators would fly him 70 feet up in the air and land him precisely on a little tape mark so he could walk right out of the wires and into the scene. Luckily for all involved, Mackie is athletic and highly coordinated, which made everyone’s job easier.
• Anthony Mackie, whose excitement and energy for his character was infectious, liked to say ‘cut the check!’ whenever something had gone right or a scene had been completed. It became a contagious phrase that caught on and before long everyone on set was saying it.

Trivia

• In the comics, Sam is the uncle of Jim Wilson.
• In the comics, Sam Wilson is a social worker who help vets with PTSD, in real life, Mackie helps vets with PTSD.
• The look of Sam Wilson is based on the version of the character from the Ultimate Universe.
• Sam's screen time in Captain America: Civil War is 10:30.

Gallery

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Concept art.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier poster featuring Falcon.

Promotional Poster.

Concept art for Falcon.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Filming

Anthony Mackie on set in Norwich, UK

Ant-Man

Captain America: Civil War

Promotion

International Poster 04.jpg

Avengers: Infinity War

Promotion, Concept Art and Filming

Avengers: Endgame

Promotion, Filming and Concept Art

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

"New World Order"

"The Star-Spangled Man"

"Power Broker"

"The Whole World Is Watching"

"Truth"

"One World, One People"

Promotion, Filming and Concept Art

Captain America: Brave New World

To be added

Videos

Falcon Throughout The Marvel Cinematic Universe

Marvel Studios' The Falcon and the Winter Soldier - What's Up, Disney+ - Episode 20

See Also

• Falcon
• Captain America