Hero Spotlight: The Falcon

Deanpool felt like taking a break from so much reading in Weekly Pick-Ups, and remembered that he said he'd do at least one Spotlight to commemorate this month being Black History Month. And who better than one many attribute to being the first mainstream African-American superhero. It also plays nicely into getting ready for his appearance in the upcoming Captain America: Winter Soldier movie.

Let's first dive into a little history lesson. 

Gabe Jones' character debuted back in 1963 as apart of Nick Fury's Howling Commandos. Not necessarily Marvel's first black character, but a notable non-superpowered character from the Marvel U. 

Then Black Panther was introduced in Fantastic Four #52 in 1966. T'Challa goes on to join the Avengers and all that good stuff, and even today is still a very prominent character for Marvel, mainly in the New Avengers comics. But Black Panther was African in origin, he's from the very technologically advanced nation of Wakanda. Again, another strong statement being made back in 60's that this hero from Africa can hold his own. He's not a second string character, he's one of Marvel's most dignified and brilliant leaders. Also, fun fact, the infamous Black Panther Party of Self-Defense founded in Oakland actually came after Marvel's Black Panther was created. Fun little tidbit. Anyways, Deanpool will more than likely do a Spotlight on Black Panther in the near future because he's one of Deanpool's favorites. And there are whispers of a future Black Panther movie in Marvel's phase three? 

Back to the history lesson, Joseph "Robbie" Robertson was a minor character from Amazing Spider-Man (first appearance Amazing Spider-Man #51 1967) that, but still made his mark as an African-American regular supporting character. Whether you read comics or watched the 90's animated show from, you may remember Robbie as one of the only adult characters that Peter could confide in.

Y'all remember Robbie right?

Samuel Wilson aka Falcon (the star of this spotight) made his way into the Marvel Universe back in Captain America #117 in 1969. Again, first African-American superhero. It's also nice to have a name without the word "black" in it. As if readers, can't see the skin tone under the mask. But it was a different time back then. Regardless he was the first of many to come soon after him. 

Jon Stewart, the second Green Lantern, came two years after Falcon in DC comics.. 

Luke Cage came three years later, being Marvel's first African-American hero to star in his own series.

Ororo aka Storm came about six years later, Marvel's first black female hero.

Blade, the British vampire hunter, was introduced about four years after.

And just out of curiosity, Deanpool learned that the first African-American starring in his own comic series came from Dell Comics. An old western style gunfighter named Lobo back in 1965. Not to be confused with DC's alien bounty hunter Lobo.

And so ends our brief history lesson. Let's go more into the spotlight on The Falcon!

One last pic because Deanpool didn't know where
to put this one but it's pretty awesome.

Samuel Wilson was born in Harlem, had a happy childhood, two loving and supporting parents. Naturally, you'd figure a guy who takes up the name Falcon would either have an interest in birds and/or flying. Well it's the former, he trained pigeons. Things all go wrong when his parents are murdered: father killed trying to break up a fight, mother shot by a mugger. Sam becomes filled with rage and grief and eventually moves to Los Angeles to reinvent himself as "Snap" Wilson, a professional criminal, gang member, and pimp. On his way to a big score in Rio de Janeiro, his plane crashes on Exile Island. The island is run by the Exiles, a group of world conquerors that once had an alliance with Red Skull during WWII. Actually, Red Skull's betrayal to them is the cause of them having to remain in hiding on the island, where they enslaved the natives. This is also the place where Sam meets and befriends a falcon named Redwing. As if that isn't a big foreshadowing. 

Before Falcon, he was Snap Wilson.

Falcon and Redwing

While on the island, Red Skull uses the Cosmic Cube, a weapon that can alter reality, to mentally fuse Sam Wilson with Redwing. This mental link, with practice and concentration, gave Wilson abilities and powers over all birds. Skull also uses the Cosmic Cube to wipe Sam's brief history as Snap Wilson, recreating a new history where Sam is an honest and merrier (compared to the angry Snap) social worker who wants to help the natives fight for their freedom on Exile Island. Why would Red Skull do something like this? Beats Deanpool. It's supposed to be a plot against Captain America. A plot that starts with giving him a sidekick?  Steve Rogers meets Sam on the island and tells him to adopt a persona that could help motivate and inspire the natives in their rebellion. And then The Falcon is born. The two heroes train together before taking the fight to the Exiles and Red Skull, and so begins the Captain America-Falcon crime-fighting tandem. Falcon also goes on to eventually join the Avengers. Sam Wilson even takes on the Captain America persona for a while when Steve Rogers is believed to be dead.

His ability to fly as Falcon comes courtesy to Black Panther. Black Panther creates a harness for Wilson that allows him to fly. Later in comics, Red Skull reveals Wilson's true past to him as Snap Wilson. Red Skull again tries to manipulate Falcon using the Cosmic Cube to get him to kill Captain America, unsuccessfully though. Despite learning his past, Falcon still remains determined to continue being a hero. Another interesting thing to note from Falcon's history, at one point Falcon was recruited to be on the Avengers to fill a mandated racial quota. He was supposedly one of the only active black heroes at the time, but he still quit at the first opportunity resenting being considered a "token" on the team. You go Falcon.

POWERS & ABILITIES

Let's get this part right so no one who reads this is under the assumption he's just some black dude who could fly. You can bet Marvel is going to make him look a lot cooler than that in Winter Soldier.

For one thing, his mental link with Redwing allowed him to extend this ability to be able to see through the eyes of over 6 billion birds across the world. Good for spying purposes, or to quickly survey an area. He can also access memories from birds, being able to see what they have seen in the past. There's also been evidence that he has the ability to control birds and have them attack a target or telepathically summon them to come to his aid. Pretty cool trick.

Most of his abilities come from his uniform and harness. The original wing harness had a detachable jet-powered glider wings that had solar power receptors that could convert sunlight into electricity. This could be used to power high-speed turbine fans in his uniform and boots. After this original harness was destroyed, Black Panther supplied Falcon with a new one. The new costume and wings connected with Falcon through a cybernetic link. With this link, Falcon could configure the wings into various formations. The costume itself was built to resist firearm damage, which should be required by all heroes shouldn't it? The costume's visor also equips him with capabilities like infrared lenses, magnification capabilities, and remote imaging sensors. Again, the uniform provided him most of his abilities outside of the mental link to Redwing and other birds.

Also, he was trained in gymnastics and hand-to-hand combat by Captain America. And Redwing is a highly trained hunting falcon that responds to Falcon's commands in battle.

Deanpool mostly read Falcon in big crossover events when he was apart of the Avengers like in House of M, Civil War, and Avengers vs. X-Men, or more recently, Infinity. Though he doesn't exactly take center stage in any of these like Cap, Iron Man, Thor, or Reed Richards, but is always portrayed as the loyal, faithful team member ready and willing to fight for the team. More recently, Falcon can be seen as a regular in Marvel NOW's Avengers series.
As far as recommended reading for Falcon, Deanpool would suggest any of the Captain America & The Falcon issues/TPB from the '70s when they gave Falcon equal billing with Cap. It was a unique relationship as Marvel didn't focus so much on a hero/sidekick relationship, but an equal partnership and friendship between the two.

Falcon became his own man and a hero in his own right as his character steadily progressed and improved his arsenal. Just another thing to note that shows Falcon's importance in comic history, he was the first superhero of color to have his own action figure in the 1970's. So props to Samuel Wilson aka The Falcon. Not only was he one of the first African American heroes, he  also progressed into one of greatest comic heroes and was apart of one of the greatest crime-fighting duos alongside the legendary Captain America.

Winter Soldier
If you're interested in seeing Falcon live in a movie, check out Captain America: Winter Soldier. He'll be played by Anthony Mackie. Not exactly the red outfit we're used to in the comics, but a nice sleeker look for the big screen. Not sure how much of his origin will be brought over either. Sam Wilson will likely have more of a military background for the movie universe, which is probably how he eventually found his way on SHIELD's radar. But it'd be cool if he still had that Snap Wilson history that sort of shapes how/why he wants to become The Falcon. And if they bring the Snap story into play, it may bring up the death of his parents too. All speculation. Mackie seems like a good choice for the role of Falcon. Only movie Deanpool can recall with him recently is Pain & Gain, and it's not exactly a good example of an acting showcase. But the look is definitely there as someone to work alongside Steve Rogers. Mackie underwent a serious diet and workout regimen to get into shape for the role, so expect him to showcase some athleticism in his action scenes. Though Deanpool is more excited to see how they get him to fly. He also wonders if Redwing will make an appearance at all. Or if that "mental link to birds" power will be apart of his character. Wouldn't it be cool if Marvel just flipped the script and named him Redwing instead? Actually, that'd be cooler in any sense than just Falcon.

It's a bad sign that there's no Redwing in this poster.

Well there's the little brief overview on black history in comics. If Deanpool had more time an energy, maybe he could've made it two different posts. But no doubt you can't look into Falcon's history without taking a step back and looking at the impact he made in the time period he appeared in. A lot of African-American actors have taken some big roles in this Marvel movie universe: Don Cheadle as Rhodey in Iron Man 2 & 3, Idris Elba as Heimdall in the Thor movies, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury in Avengers and will also appear in Winter Soldier. Mackie has a chance to build a name for himself if he can portray Samuel Wilson and The Falcon well. Reminding both old and new audiences of a great hero in comic history, in more ways than one.