Warnings: Spoilers for episodes 1 and 2 of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier 

Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes are taking the Marvel fandom by storm in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and this week’s episode didn’t put out the blaze; instead, it can be accurately concluded that as a Marvel fan, this episode turned my little flame into a raging wildfire, and not just because of Captain America’s infamous shield. What Marvel decided to do in this episode is incorporate the real world into its made-up one, and it’s about time this happened.

Since its birth, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been revolving around androids, aliens, and wizards, tackling everything from robots with minds of their own to invasive extraterrestrial species. But the latest episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier dives deeper into the characters’ personal fights after doing a phenomenal job in the show’s premiere, relaying an issue that is all too familiar for many people in the real world: race. 

I have been a Marvel fan since the release of Avengers: Infinity War and did most of my homework when it came to all the fights the Avengers had to put up with. But even in my knowledge of the movies and some comics, I would have never thought that race would be a topic I would ever see come up in any story. For me, a Muslim teenager in this divided world, Marvel represented an image of coexistence, the hope that maybe there will one day be a reality where people are classified by their personalities and not the color of their skin. Now, four years later as I watched “The Star-Spangled Man”, the whole picture I had painted of the MCU and real-world issues inside my head was turned around, and I came to realize that there is such a thing as racism and bigotry, even in fantasy worlds. And not enough people are talking about this. 

As I scrolled through different social media platforms in the few days after the release of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s latest episode, I realized the stark difference in people’s views of the episode. Most of my friends who aren’t politically inclined and choose, as a person, to ignore the problems that we face in society weren’t as moved by the scenes involving Isaiah Bradley and the police, in comparison to my friends who are more aware and passionate about problems surrounding race and discrimination around the country. One of my closest friends did not realize the racism that Sam experiences throughout the two episodes at all, instead supporting Bucky during the incident with the police, as well as during Sam and Bucky’s couples therapy scene. Another one of my friends tried to convince me that racism wasn’t an issue in the show, and furthermore not an important topic in society. Straying farther away from my group of friends, I realized that most of the people who noticed and discussed the obvious racism that is relayed so far were creators, artists, writers and bloggers of color; these people kept a balance between the humor and the seriousness of the last episode, talking about the silly banter as well as Bucky and his growth as a character, but not missing out on how racism is becoming one of the main villains of this show. Many of the creators, artists, writers and bloggers who were not of color did not discuss the discrimination that Sam and Isaiah faced, or the ways that racism and degradation in general has been implied throughout the series as a whole so far. 

And this isn’t just happening on social media, but on the internet as a whole. As an avid reader, I like to scroll through and read articles online; I did exactly this after watching “The Star-Spangled Man,” as the episode had, quite obviously, left an unsettling impression on me when it came to racism and discrimination. What prompted me, as a writer, to open my laptop and begin writing about my thoughts on the unfolding events of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was the lack of acknowledgement on Marvel’s shift from fighting “The Big Three”, as Sam Wilson puts it, to combating the other, more common, and more realistic fight. Many of the articles published on Friday, after the release of the second episode, were focused on the symbolism of the shield and what could happen next concerning John Walker and the legacy of Captain America. That night, I was unsuccessful in finding a single article keen on discussing the blatant racial struggles that Sam faces in this show so far. 

As a person of color in this country, it really brought to light how little people who are kept safe from racism and bigotry know about the struggles that minorities face in America, and not only how harmfully impactful it is, but also how common it is. Almost every person of color I know has experienced racism in some way, whether it be at work, at school or simply walking down the street. Most of us have learned to brush off the negativity and not take the comments too seriously - we know that the hatred is not going to cease anytime soon, but we learn to carry on with our daily lives. Sometimes, I don’t even tell my parents if someone yells a slur at me or tries to stop me in the middle of the street, because it’s something I’ve become accustomed to; as a 17-year old in this country, I shouldn’t have to be. I’m not the only teenager who’s put up with racial intolerance, and many others have experienced much worse than what I have. The problem is, not enough people are aware. The only people who seem to know when they encounter a racist situation are the victims, and this was shown perfectly in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. 

For the first time, Marvel made the choice to embrace reality without sugarcoating anything. When a black man let his emotions get the best of him while confronting his white friend, the police pulled up and ensured the safety of the white man. Had Bucky not taken a stand and informed them of who Sam was, Sam could have been arrested. How do I know this? Because it’s happened, because it’s all over the news. 

The incident with the police in “The Star-Spangled Man” was a wake-up call for the audience, one that many chose to ignore. This call was revived during the therapy session scene, and once again, ignored. Both Sam and Bucky delivered heartwrenching lines, but more people seemed to notice Bucky’s delivery over Sam’s. When questioning Sam’s reason for giving up the shield and disregarding Steve’s confidence in him, Bucky loses his temper and snaps, “If he was wrong about you, then he was wrong about me!” This line really tugged at my heartstrings; Bucky sounded angry and defeated, almost as if everything he’d been redeeming himself for was worth nothing. And scrolling through social media, I am constantly reminded of his emotions during that scene and his personal fights as a character in general. Very few times, I’d come across someone discussing Sam’s response, his calm yet striking reply to Bucky’s lashing out: “Maybe this is something you or Steve will never understand. But can you understand I did what I thought was right?” To me, this represented more than just Sam’s inability to accept the symbolism that Steve was, but his hesitance. Only a few hours before, he had been stopped by the police, and a few minutes before that, discovered that there had been a black Super Soldier, a hero, who was kept secret because of his race. Sam’s decision to not accept the title of Captain America wasn’t just about the shield feeling like “it belonged to someone else”, but because of his race, a factor that holds many people back from achieving greater things in the real world as well. More people need to realize this and give Sam’s struggles just as much importance as Bucky’s struggles. 

Marvel has expanded its borders by now incorporating a real-world struggle into its storyline, one that is key for the protagonists of this show as well as relatable for the audience watching it. We, as viewers, who reign over what we spread on the internet and trend on social media platforms, have the ability to balance the content we are given. We now have a widely-viewed show bringing to light one of the problems we face in reality, and as important as it may be to create content surrounding the humorous aspects, it is just as crucial to create content on the more serious, more relatable details.