The newest Captain America: Brave New World trailer recently dropped and many people are surprisingly pleased. There’s a very cool, spy-like vibe to it and tons of action. Red Hulk emerges from Harrison Ford leaving fiery debris in his place, Sam throws his shield through several flying missiles over the body of Tiamut, and the red, white, and blue wings look cooler and meaner than ever. Then there’s a scene which is perfectly seasoned with just the right amount of Marvel cheese where Sam slams downward from the sky, perfectly executing a superhero landing, says, “wait for it”, and a gust of wind follows him down, blowing back his enemies. That made me nod my head, grin, and think, “nice”.
The trailer is undoubtedly awesome, but there’s a question burning in the heads of me and other Marvel fans: does Sam have powers now?
Let’s back up. We know that Sam Wilson was introduced in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Did he have powers then? No, but he was able to perform expert level hand to hand combat feats including fighting the Winter Soldier. It was very believable as Bucky beat him without too much effort. Fast forward to Ant-Man where Sam fights the titular character, and he doesn’t do anything outlandish. Ant-Man even wins the fight. Then, in Captain America: Civil War, he still doesn’t do anything that a very well trained human being in a comic book universe couldn’t do. Then, in Infinity War, the line is pushed a bit when he’s fighting the Chitari and doing just as well as Steve Rogers and Black Panther, but it’s still pretty believable as he does no damage to Thanos whatsoever. In his final cinematic appearance in Endgame, his time is brief, but also believable. Finally, in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Disney+ series, Sam is arguably the most realistic he’s ever been, other than being able to throw the shield with nearly as much force as Steve Rogers.
So, how is he able to perform super heroic acts without any super powers?
Sam is a regular person. He’s a normal dude just like you and me. Yes, he’s an expert in hand to hand combat and he has an advanced wingsuit to assist him. He has fought alongside Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, and other Marvel heroes, but he doesn’t have super soldier serum running through his veins, he has very minimal armor, and he’s not a god.
There’s several scenes in the trailer in which Sam should have realistically died or been permanently injured. The first that comes to mind is the superhero landing scene that made me think, “nice”. It also made me think, “How are his shins and knees not in pieces?” The second is when Sam throws his shield through the missiles. It’s a classic Captain America move, but how is Sam, with no powers, able to throw a shield through rocket powered missiles fired from a moving jet? When he’s hit directly with a missile moments later, I buy that one, as he’s holding the shield, his wings are wrapped in front of him, and his jets were providing him with propulsion. The last one that comes to mind is not actually from the trailer but from an official poster in which Sam is using the shield to block a punch from Red Hulk. I don’t believe that for a second. I know the shield has energy and force dispersion capabilities, but in Civil War, Steve was hit with a grenade directly on the shield and it sent him flying. I imagine Red Hulk can punch much harder than the force a grenade explodes with.
I can think of three explanations for this, and I only like one of them.
The first and most likely explanation is that we are suspending belief because this is a comic book movie. Honestly, that doesn’t bother me too much. As long as there aren’t too many times where I think Sam should have died, I’ll take it. If I can watch a movie where blue medicine turns people ripped, I can take a bit of unrealistic action if it's cool enough, but I’d rather it be explained.
The second explanation is that Sam has taken the super soldier serum. I think this is pretty unlikely as part of his character arc is not being Steve Rogers. Everyone loves to remind him that he’s not the Cap they knew. If Sam were to take the super soldier serum, it would be a step backwards in his journey to prove that he is Captain America just as he is.
The third option I like the most, but find fairly unlikely. Maybe Sam’s new suit and wings were made with one of Marvel’s notorious metals. Maybe he’s received some Wakandan assistance and there’s vibranium within his suit. Maybe it’s even laced with adamantium, making it the first time the material has appeared in the main universe of the MCU.
Who knows! If you think you do, let me know in the comments!