In a series that introduced a new Captain America (no, not the one you’re hoping for), a potential sidekick for Falcon, new super-soldier villains, and more tragic backstory for Bucky, people really latched onto a fairly surprising aspect of the first two episodes of “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”—just how broke these guys are. And according to the head writer of the series, fans weren’t the only ones that were taken aback by the news that Falcon couldn’t get a loan.
Slight spoilers for “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”
In the first episode of Disney+’s “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” we’re shown a scene where Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), aka Falcon, goes to a bank with his sister to attempt to get a loan to save his family’s business. And even though the banker knows Falcon, asks for a selfie, and generally fawns over Sam Wilson’s connection to the Avengers, the hero still gets denied a loan because he has no real income. It’s then revealed that Sam Wilson doesn’t get paid to be an Avenger. Instead, he relies on “goodwill” from others (you know, for saving the universe and whatnot) and the occasional government contract to do some black ops work on the sly.
This idea that the Avengers aren’t getting paid shocked so many fans, who never really thought about that situation before. And according to a recent interview with head writer Malcolm Spellman for ET, it’s a scene that “triggered” some of the bigwigs at Marvel Studios.
“It’s funny because that scene, and that moment, ended up triggering everybody at Marvel,” said Spellman. “We were getting calls from Kevin [Feige], from Lou [D’Esposito], from Victoria [Alonso], from Nate [Moore], like everyone at Marvel wanted input there.”
He continued, “Whatever it is about it, it has resonated with the people that have been interviewing with us, it resonated with everyone working there. So I think the reason you keyed in on it is you got to see a moment where a superhero is truly a regular person, and hopefully, we answered the question to some degree, that it ain’t easy being [a hero]. A lot of superheroes are broke, especially now that Tony Stark is gone.”
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If you stop and think about it, the idea that the Avengers didn’t get paid makes sense. In the ‘Avengers’ films, you see them all living in dorms basically, as Tony Stark funded the whole venture using his billions of dollars. And though Stark is gone and presumably Pepper Potts is running the show, the entire Avengers facility in New York was reduced to a crater thanks to Thanos in ‘Endgame.’
So, maybe in future films, it’ll return and the Avengers can live together once again. But in the meantime, times are tough and Falcon is probably living off of instant noodles. I mean, “goodwill” doesn’t taste nearly as good as the steak that he was probably eating with Stark.
“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” debuts new episodes each Friday on Disney+.