‘Falcon & Winter Soldier’ Writer Malcolm Spellman Considered A Spider-Man Cameo, But It Was Quickly Quashed

Many of us enjoyed “Falcon & Winter Soldier,” but according to head writer Malcolm Spellman, a major superhero cameo was nixed by Marvel brass. The series had many things going on between social commentary of being black in America and exploring the exploitation of black citizens at the hands of the American government, highlighted directly with Isaiah Bradley, the black Captain America that the government hid from the public.

READ MORE: ‘Captain America 4’ Movie In The Works With ‘Falcon & Winter Soldier’ Showrunner Malcolm Spellman

Spellman spoke with Inverse in a new interview detailing his desire to include Tom Holland‘s Spider-Man in the finale that took place in New York City, Peter Parker’s backyard. On its own, it would make sense given the location alongside the playful nature of Peter, Sam, and Bucky’s interactions in “Captain America: Civil War,” which was partly the reason Marvel decided to pair the two characters in their Disney+ series, to begin with. 

READ MORE: Tom Holland Says ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Completes His Marvel Studios Contract

Malcolm explained why they decided against it, “Then Kevin Feige tells you, ‘No. Stop it.’ Listen, when you first show up to these projects, in your mind, you think you’re gonna get to use everybody in the MCU. But Marvel always asks, ‘Does this person belong in this story? You cannot just geek out and put all of our characters in your project because you like them. They have to occur organically.’ So Spider-Man did not make it.”

READ MORE: Chris Evans Expected To Reprise Captain America Role In Future Marvel Projects

The subject of Steve Rogers was also brought up in the interview.

The Disney+ series clearly didn’t explain where the kid from Brooklyn ended up after giving Sam Wilson the shield. Malcolm Spellman is in the dark and concerning the status of Steve Rogers because Marvel wasn’t sharing that intel with him. 

“I’ve got to tell you the truth, my friend. Marvel won’t tell me what happened to Steve, so we were able to write whatever we wanted because we don’t know. We’re wondering if Steve’s on the moon, too, you know what I’m saying? That’s as good a guess as anything because they won’t tell me,” the Marvel writer revealed to Inverse.

There had been a recent report from Deadline that Chris Evans would be returning as Steve Rogers to the MCU in some capacity, but both Chris Evans and Marvel’s Kevin Feige have downplayed that news. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if he’ll show up in “Secret Invasion” as a Skrull or in some other project. While you’re here, also check out this good Malcolm Spellman interview on “The Watch” podcast that doesn’t yield much news but is still a great listen.