The MCU Just Reversed The Dark Knight Rises Ending | Screen Rant
The revelation that Sam Wilson gave up Captain America's shield in the first episode of The Falcon & The Winter Soldier is an interesting flip of the ending of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy. In both cases, the idea of symbolism is hugely important, with both Steve Rogers' shield and the iconography of the Batman playing key parts in how the respective stories view heroism. And while Christian Bale's Batman recognized the symbol's power, no matter whose hands it was in, Sam Wilson disagreed.
Sam's rejection of the role of the second Captain America came as something of a shock after Steve Rogers had bestowed the shield upon him at the end of Avengers: Endgame. In doing so, Rogers identified Sam as a good man, the key characteristic for becoming Captain America, as Dr Abraham Erskine has told him decades earlier. Sam handing the shield back to the US government to be preserved in the Smithsonian exhibition dedicated to Cap suggested that he simply did not believe that he was up to the task. As the show goes on, his internal conflict may come into it more, because Falcon has never seemed the type of man or hero to doubt himself before.
More intriguing than Sam's own conflict is the idea of heroic symbolism as a whole. Phase 4 will explore several so-called legacy heroes, from She-Hulk to Ms Marvel and Jane Foster's Thor, having already seen Captain Marvel's other potential second, Monica Rambeau, getting her powers in WandaVision, and the idea of passing on a role is tied into symbols very heavily. Is it Iron Man's suit that is worshipped, or Tony Stark's deeds? Could anyone pull on Spider-Man's suit and be as impactful? Sam's rejection of the idea - and the firm belief that the shield was nothing without the man behind it - throws all of that into doubt and reverses Batman's ending in The Dark Knight Rises where he comes to realize that the symbol transcends even him. If Sam is to accept the role of Captain America, he may have to follow in the footsteps of DC's caped crusader.
Batman's revelation comes at the end of an arduous journey to the heart of himself, addressing his traumas and his addiction to being Gotham's protector despite the damage it's doing to himself. He must come to realize that the Bat symbol is the true protector of Gotham and that he can step away from it, as long as he has an heir (Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Blake) unless he wants to pay the ultimate price. Intriguingly, this issue didn't come up for Captain America, because Iron Man took that sort of obsessive heroic role in the MCU and Cap was pushed away from the sanctity of the symbol by Hydra's infiltration of S.H.I.E.LD. and the mistreatment of Bucky in Civil War. That is precisely why Sam Wilson believes that the power of Steve Rogers was always more powerful than the power of Captain America.
The intriguing set up for The Falcon & The Winter Soldier, of course, is that the US government are following the same mentality as Bruce Wayne in The Dark Knight Rises. They believe that the symbol can be passed on and that Rogers' legacy is not tied into it, because the fundamental belief is that Captain America was always a military tool - whether as propaganda or as an actual weapon. While Steve Rogers' arc progressed him away from believing the iconography of his governmental role as Cap, the government and those behind the rumored continued attempts to recreate the super soldier serum never experienced that revelation, because they weren't forced to. The symbol carries more weight because of a wrong assumption, which John Walker will presumably, tragically prove, and Sam's belief in the idea of the man matter as much as the costume will also come back into play. Just not in the way he probably believes, since it will finally confirm to him that he is the best Captain America possible.
from ScreenRant - Feed
Join Our Email Newsletter Now!
Join over 1,897 people who get free and fresh content delivered automatically each time we publish.
