The concept art of Sam Wilson’s Captain America costume is very different from the final version shown in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. In the second MCU series released for Disney+, Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) team up to hunt down and stop an anti-patriotic anarchist group known as the Flag Smashers. Led by Carly Morgenthau (Eria Kelliman), the group seeks to reopen national borders in an attempt to bring peace back to a time akin to the five-year explosion.
The action takes place six months after the events of “Avengers: Finale”. Wilson, in the role of the Falcon, renounces the mantle of Captain America and hands over his shield to the US government for display in a museum. This angers Barnes, who sees it as a betrayal of Rogers’ wishes, especially when the US government gives him to the new Captain America, John Walker. After battling the Flag Crushers, fighting Walker, and having his integrity challenged both his government and Morgenthau, Wilson finally accepts the shield and becomes Captain America. His outfit is very similar to his costume from the original Marvel comics version, as it combines elements of his Falcon wings with the style of the classic Captain America costume.
Marvel’s art book “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: The Art of the Series” featured concept art (via CBR) featuring various versions of Wilson’s superhero Captain America costume. Although the basic design of the torso, legs and hood of the suit remained basically the same, the wings were very different from the final design. Take a look at the images below.
The final design, presented in the finales of “Falcon” and “Winter Soldier”, had blue folding wings, similar in style to the wings of his Falcon, although in a different color. The designers of the series seem to have played with many designs that varied greatly in each version. They tried the monochrome wings of each of the colors of the US flag without segmented sections, however, the designers settled on blue wings instead of red, which are usually displayed in its original comic book version.
The concept artists were given the unique task of developing a character based on the previous version of the comic, while trying to stay true to both the design of the Falcon MCU and the design of Captain America MCU. Although the series received mixed reviews, the final costume design was widely praised for remaining faithful to the original design while adapting the MCU aesthetic. Although Wilson’s Captain America was only featured in one episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, the costume will be in the spotlight again when Wilson returns in Captain America 4.
