It's been over a month since Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson took up the mantle of Captain America in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier's season finale. His journey to pick up the shield proved to be less cut and dry than it seemed when Steve passed the torch at the end of Avengers: Endgame.
Director Kari Skogland and writer Malcolm Spellman didn't shy away from diving into racial and social issues in the show. Isaiah Bradley was used to tell a darker side of the Super Soldier story and gave Sam cause to pause. Sam ultimately made up his mind when he said "what would be the point of all the pain and sacrifice if I wasn’t willing to stand up and keep fighting?”
Then, Sam was given the upgrade of a lifetime: a Wakandan-made Captain America suit with wings and a convenient spot to carry the shield on his back.
Many fans have wondered if the suit is from Wakanda, is it also made of vibranium? The answer has seemingly been revealed.
SAM WILSON'S SUIT NOT MADE OF VIBRANIUM
In a previous interview with Stephen Colbert, via ComicBook, Anthony Mackie said his new Captain America suit wings were made out of vibranium but never clarified if the rest of the suit was or not.
Recently, the visual effects supervisor of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Eric Leven, confirmed that "while working on the show, no, the suit was not considered made of vibranium."
Leven further explained in his reply on Twitter that the Wakandans "wanted to keep some fancy tech for themselves:"
Take this with a grain of salt...but while working on the show, no, the suit was not considered made of vibranium (hence Sam being scared when Karli pulled a gun on him). Wakandans made it, but they wanted to keep some fancy tech for themselves...
In another reply, a fan pointed out a picture of Sam Wilson's previous Falcon suit pointing to his chest plate labeled "bulletproof chest armor." Leven responded that the image looked like something from marketing and "How do they know what's bulletproof?"
That artwork looks like something from marketing. How do they know what's bulletproof? 😀 I worked on Starship Troopers decades ago and always thought it was funny that when Rasczak asked to be put out of his misery, Rico shot him right in the (ostensibly) bullet-proof vest.
THE MARVEL LOGIC CONUNDRUM
One of the fundamental flaws in logic that happened when Wakanda appeared in the MCU was why every superhero didn't wear a vibranium suit. Better yet, why doesn't every hero have a nanotech, vibranium-infused suit? The Black Panther suit is practically impenetrable from any ballistic blow, and the metal has proven to be quite versatile. Long gone are the days of Steve Rogers having the only known vibranium in the world.
Seriously, just put Tony Stark (R.I.P.) in a room with Shuri and make 1,000 impenetrable suits that fit in every hero's pocket. The reason Marvel Studios would never do something like this can only be explained in one way: that's no fun.
Every hero being in Iron Man or Black Panther suits would be boring and take away from the characters' actual abilities. This militant formation would lessen the unique traits of our heroes.
In a small dose, the MCU's Peter Parker has basically been in a quasi-Iron Man suit since his debut in Captain America: Civil War. However, the suit doesn't look anything like an Iron Man suit apart from the similarities in the Iron Spider variety.
Similar to that situation, Sam now has a Wakandan suit but not a Black Panther suit. The body of it doesn't appear to be made of vibranium, but the juiced-up wing/shield combo is sure to give fans incredible action sequences in Captain America 4.
