The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is the first of several series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe coming to Disney+, and it looks really good. Anthony Mackie returns as the Falcon, Sebastian Stan is back at the Winter Soldier, and together they’re on the run from the government after the events of Captain America: Civil War. The original Captain America, Steve Rogers, is nowhere to be found after the events of Avengers: Endgame, but the government is fronting a new version: the enigmatic U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell). All of this seems to be setting up a rich series about the line between patriotism and extremism, the past and the present, responsibility and destiny.
Basically, I’m psyched, and the news just keeps getting better. Deadline reports that actor Carl Lumbly has joined the cast in an unnamed role, although the internet already has ideas about who he might play. Doesn’t it always?
Fans are wondering if Lumbly is playing Isaiah Bradley, aka the “black Captain America.” Introduced in the Marvel Comics limited series Truth: Red, White & Black back in 2003, Bradley’s superpowers are the product of World War II-era secret experiments on African American soldiers, with imagery that evoked the real-world Tuskegee syphilis experiments conducted by the United States Public Health Service between 1932 and 1972.
Bringing this character in has the potential to make The Falcon and the Winter Soldier even knottier and more interesting than before. Of course I’m a little nervous about a superhero show tackling sensitive topics like historic government mistreatment of minority groups, but usually, when Marvel makes up its mind to do something right, it succeeds, so I’ll wait and see.
As for Lumbly, he’s more than up for this or any job. The guy’s been working since the late ’70s, when he appeared alongside Clint Eastwood in Escape from Alcatraz. Other notable roles include voicing the Martian Manhunter in DC’s popular Justice League series, headlining the short-lived sci-fi superhero show M.A.N.T.I.S. in the ’90s, and playing Dick Hallorann in last year’s Doctor Sleep.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier comes out this August!
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