The Falcon will be in the next Captain America movie!

[Underseer]

The Falcon was not the first African-American superhero, but he was the first African-American superhero that I ever saw as a child in the 1970s. As a kid, I thought it was just the coolest thing ever to finally see an African-American hero in the comic books (although to my discredit, it did not occur to me to question why there weren't more black superheroes sooner, but hey I was a stupid kid).

Anyway, which minor comic book characters make it to the big screen has been something of a haphazard crap-shoot up until now, and I'm pretty stoked about seeing a minor character that is personally important to me show up in a big budget movie.

So I guess the questions are:

1. Do you care one way or the other about the upcoming Captain America movie?
2. Do you have any opinions about this specific character (Falcon)?
3. Are there any other minority superheroes that hold a special place in your heart for opening your eyes to the presentation of minorities in the popular media?

 

[Mumbles]

1: Given how wrapped I currently am in Agents of SHIELD, definitely.

2: Actually, not really. At this point, it's a minor issue to me.

3: Black Panther, no doubt. I'm going to admit right here that what I know of superheroes, I know from movies and cartoons. I never managed to get into comics as a kid - mostly because I had nowhere to buy them on a regular basis until I was in high school, at which point I had too much to do to get into anything else. So I mostly know this character from his own cartoon series, as well as one of the recent Avengers cartoons. He strikes me as the Batman equivalent of the Avengers, although of course not a 1:1 match. And yeah, like many black superheroes of his time, he has "black" in his name - you know, just to make it clear to everyone.

I could go for the John Stewart version of Green Lantern (since that needs a reboot anyway), and the Miles Morales Spiderman would make certain people set themselves on fire, which is always amusing. And I'm happy to see J. August Richards playing Deathlok, although that's more about J. August Richards being a great tv actor, than me having any idea who Deathlok is.

But...yeah, Black Panther is the first superhero that comes to mind.

 

[Underseer]

T'Challa is indeed a badass.

 

[Unbeatable]

1. I'm neither eagerly anticipating it or dreading it. I won't bother watching it until it comes out on DVD, but it doesn't look bad, as far as action movies go. I'm just not very interested in the parts of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that don't star Robert Downey Jr. If I watch this movie, it'll probably be because of Scarlett Johansson.

2. I find his gimmick ridiculous. Next to using some kind of blimp, I find winged flight to be the lamest form of flight a character can have, much like I find Hawkeye's crossbow to be a lame weapon. I don't tend to like the "non-powered human with a gimmick" types of superheroes(Yes, I know Falcon was later given the power of bird-telepathy), particularly when they're shown effortlessly pulling their weight in the same battles as people with superpowers, or even humans with much more powerful gimmicks(e.g. Iron Man).

3. Apollo and Midnighter of The Authority, I guess.

As far as ethnic minority superheroes go, they were never a new phenomenon to me, since I started reading superhero comics in the 90s. I'm pretty sure the first comic I ever read was X-Men #1, which had Storm, Psylocke, and Forge. But my favorite characters were Gambit and Beast, because cool powers were what mattered the most to me. I liked Mjnari from that one episode of the 90s X-Men cartoon because I found super-speed cool.

 

[Underseer]

[...]

I find his gimmick ridiculous. Next to using some kind of blimp, I find winged flight to be the lamest form of flight a character can have, much like I find Hawkeye's crossbow to be a lame weapon. I don't tend to like the "non-powered human with a gimmick" types of superheroes(Yes, I know Falcon was later given the power of bird-telepathy), particularly when they're shown effortlessly pulling their weight in the same battles as people with superpowers, or even humans with much more powerful gimmicks(e.g. Iron Man).

[...]

After something like that, I think mention of Squirrel Girl is obligatory.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squirrel_Girl

For those not interested in following the link, Squirrel Girl is a gag character. She has the lamest imaginable superpower (she can talk to squirrels), yet has defeated some of the most powerful villains in the Marvel universe.

I agree with you that Falcon's powers are less than impressive, but I'm still going to get all gooshy about him for reasons I already stated.

 

[dockeen]

As a tangent on the Hawkeye observation, a long time ago in the comic books, Hawkeye got depressed about how his powers were dwarfed by the other Avengers, and he took up the "Goliath" identity that Henry Pym had had to drop because of the growth process causing him issues. Hawkeye ran into the same issues that Pym did with the growth process, and dropped back to being Hawkeye.

 

[Atheos]

After something like that, I think mention of Squirrel Girl is obligatory.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squirrel_Girl

For those not interested in following the link, Squirrel Girl is a gag character. She has the lamest imaginable superpower (she can talk to squirrels), yet has defeated some of the most powerful villains in the Marvel universe.

I agree with you that Falcon's powers are less than impressive, but I'm still going to get all gooshy about him for reasons I already stated.

I followed the link. I'd never heard of Squirrel Girl before, but according to the Wiki article she has many other powers other than the ability to talk to squirrels. However it sounds like the preponderance of her abilities evolved in later appearances. By the time they were done with her she was practically a cute, furry version of Wolverine with buck teeth and knuckle spikes only about 3" long.

I'm definitely looking forward to the new Captain America. I always look forward to superhero movies, but there really have been some stinkers over the years. I didn't even bother finishing the last Spiderman.

 

[Underseer]

I followed the link. I'd never heard of Squirrel Girl before, but according to the Wiki article she has many other powers other than the ability to talk to squirrels. However it sounds like the preponderance of her abilities evolved in later appearances. By the time they were done with her she was practically a cute, furry version of Wolverine with buck teeth and knuckle spikes only about 3" long.

I'm definitely looking forward to the new Captain America. I always look forward to superhero movies, but there really have been some stinkers over the years. I didn't even bother finishing the last Spiderman.

Marvel doesn't own the rights to all its own characters because of deals it worked out with other companies.

Sony owns the rights to Spider-Man (and probably a few others). Based on the deal they worked out, Sony has to make Spider-Man movies every X years or the rights revert back to Marvel. The last Spider-Man was a crappy thing slapped together at the last minute for the sole purpose of holding on to the rights, as you can probably tell from the quality of the movie.

What's funny is that X-Men: First Class was basically in the same boat for FOX, but for some inexplicable reason that movie turned out pretty darned good.

 

[KeepTalking]

So I guess the questions are:

1. Do you care one way or the other about the upcoming Captain America movie?
2. Do you have any opinions about this specific character (Falcon)?
3. Are there any other minority superheroes that hold a special place in your heart for opening your eyes to the presentation of minorities in the popular media?

1. Yes, I plan to see it on the opening weekend. I really liked the first Cap movie, as well as his role in the Avengers. I am actually more excited for this than the new Avengers movie at this point (though Guardians of the Galaxy is the one I am really excited for this year). The Winter Soldier story line is one that really set Captain America apart from other comics of the era, and it looks like they are going to do it justice.
2. Not really, he has only ever been a peripheral character for me, but as the first black superhero (in the Marvel universe, anyway), I can see how he can be an inspiration.
3. Spawn! I know he's not Marvel, and something of an anti-hero, but Spawn holds a special place in my heart because of the pure awesomeness of Todd MacFarlane's work on that comic.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

1. Yes. I love what they've done with Captain America in the MCU. They took the cheesiest character possible and made him great superhero. It looks like a lot of the movie is going to do with Cap's idealistic view of the world coming into conflict with SHIELD's realpolitik and it will delve into some of the current issues about government agencies overstepping their authority and moral duty in the name of security. Also, it's going to have Scarlett Johanssen running around in a tight leather outfit.
2. Don't really give a rat's ass about the token black sidekick they threw in to counter the cries about how the Avengers were pretty much just a group of white guys.
3. IIRC, back in the 80s, Alpha Force had the first gay superhero and I thought that was cool.

 

[Underseer]

1. Yes. I love what they've done with Captain America in the MCU. They took the cheesiest character possible and made him great superhero. It looks like a lot of the movie is going to do with Cap's idealistic view of the world coming into conflict with SHIELD's realpolitik and it will delve into some of the current issues about government agencies overstepping their authority and moral duty in the name of security. [...]

Have to agree with you. I wasn't exactly a Captain America fan back when I was collecting comics, but what makes Cap heroic is not that he punches bad guys, but that he stands up to authority, even if doing so costs him big. It looks very much like the next Captain America movie is going to be like one of those comic books. I look forward to it.

2. Don't really give a rat's ass about the token black sidekick they threw in to counter the cries about how the Avengers were pretty much just a group of white guys.

To be honest, that's probably why the comic book character was created in the first place, but when I was a kid I wasn't terribly sophisticated about such things. I just thought it was cool that there was an African-American superhero at all. Oh, and if all they were doing was ticking a demographic box, then the most sensible thing would have been to get Rhodey from the Iron Man movies involved in this movie. Movie audiences have already reacted positively to the character, so why bother introducing a new one? And if they were going to introduce a new character just to tick a demographic box, why not a more popular African hero like T'Challa?

3. IIRC, back in the 80s, Alpha Force had the first gay superhero and I thought that was cool.

I think the writers "made him gay" to tick a demographic box, but good on them for doing so. Frankly, what I find interesting about Northstar is that he's kind of a jerk, which causes conflicts with other characters, which keeps things interesting/entertaining.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

To be honest, that's probably why the comic book character was created in the first place, but when I was a kid I wasn't terribly sophisticated about such things. I just thought it was cool that there was an African-American superhero at all. Oh, and if all they were doing was ticking a demographic box, then the most sensible thing would have been to get Rhodey from the Iron Man movies involved in this movie. Movie audiences have already reacted positively to the character, so why bother introducing a new one? And if they were going to introduce a new character just to tick a demographic box, why not a more popular African hero like T'Challa?

Yes, it is good that they're making an effort, even if it is a transparent effort. By the sounds of things, they have pre-existing plans for Black Panther and he fits into the storylines of the upcoming films in a different way. Falcon was a Captain America sidekick or something for a while and he fits into the SHIELD storyline better than some African warlord does. Also, he flies which is kind of cool and there's less chance of Disney getting sued by Warner Brothers for ripping off their Batman character just before they reintroduce him in the next Superman movie.

 

[Underseer]

Yes, it is good that they're making an effort, even if it is a transparent effort. By the sounds of things, they have pre-existing plans for Black Panther and he fits into the storylines of the upcoming films in a different way. Falcon was a Captain America sidekick or something for a while and he fits into the SHIELD storyline better than some African warlord does. Also, he flies which is kind of cool and there's less chance of Disney getting sued by Warner Brothers for ripping off their Batman character just before they reintroduce him in the next Superman movie.

Is anyone going to really get confused between Batman and Black Panther?

T'Challa is a crown prince and then a monarch. Batman is slightly crazy and on a vengeance kick from watching his parents get killed as a child, whereas Black Panther is fairly level-headed. T'Challa has actual superpowers and alien tech. Batman has a bad habit of breaking child endangerment laws. Batman is a recluse living in an outgoing country, T'Challa is an outgoing person from a reclusive country. Batman is more or less a detective at heart. Despite his macho act, deep down Batman is a softie who spends millions trying to psychologically rehabilitate his enemies because he desperately believes in redemption. Batman pretends to be a decadent party dude in his alter ego, T'Challa doesn't bother with the alter ego thing.

I mean, other than the fact that they're both rich, extremely intelligent, intimidating, gadget-happy, and wear black costumes, what do they really have in common? Neither one of them is the only rich, intelligent, gadget-happy superhero in their respective universes.

 

[dockeen]

There is a less known Marvel Character called NightHawk who also has significant....echoes of Bruce Wayne.