Falcon and the Winter Soldier Crew Member Says “We’re Getting a Black Captain America This Year”

With almost 120,000 Americans dead as a result of a pandemic that has cratered the economy, and civil unrest shaking major cities in the wake of the latest police killing of an unarmed Black man, 2020 is…not great. That’s even before you get to the murder hornets, on-again/off-again fears of World War III and an American Presidential election. But Latoya Henderson, a makeup artist on Falcon and the Winter Soldier, is encouraging fans to keep their heads up. In an Instagram post, she seemingly implied that the series will still make its way to Disney+ in 2020, in spite of production delays.

Like almost every other big production, Falcon and the Winter Soldier halted filming in March as the novel coronavirus pandemic made its way to the United States. Even productions that had been filming abroad, where the virus had been active earlier, were closed down as American corporations reacted to the pandemic and worked to limit their employees’ exposure to the fast-spreading virus. It is not clear how close to completion the project was when it wrapped, and so there has been a lot of question among fans as to whether the show, which spins out of the events of Avengers: Endgame, would see the light of day before the end of the year.

Henderson’s post, screenshotted and posted to Reddit, says “We’re getting a Black Captain America this year, so let’s not cancel 2020 just yet.”

Of course, from Henderson’s perspective, even if the series does not air until 2021, once Mackie officially dons the costume in-series, she would have seen it in 2020. She is also likely speaking generally, and not making any declaration of policy. But the internet being what it is, the post has caught on like wildfire, and Marvel fans are excited by the prospect of maybe getting new content on Disney+ this year after all.

As ComicBook.com’s Brandon Davis explained it earlier this week, Falcon and The Winter Soldier was originally planned for an August release. Unconfirmed rumors on social media suggest a portion of the series may be reshot as the story called for the heroes preventing a virus from being unleashed. Whether or not those rumors are true, an August release for the Marvel series seems unlikely.

Another factor to consider is the release of Black Widow. The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is set after the events of Avengers: Endgame and Black Widow is set years prior to that film’s events but in the Marvel Cinematic Universe small connections can always be interspersed. As Black Widow was originally slated for release prior to The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, its delay to November might become a factor in the decision on how and when Marvel Studios drops the series with Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes.