Hawkeye Secretly Proved Sam Wilson Can Win His Hardest Captain America Test
One of the funniest things in Hawkeye proves something big for Sam Wilson in his new role as Captain America. Here's what it is.
One of the most interesting and funny details in Hawkeye ended up proving that Sam Wilson won’t have to fight much to convince people that he can carry the mantle of Captain America – and here’s what it is. The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase 4 is doing things different from previous phases as it’s covering not only movies but also TV shows that are directly linked to the movies, further expanding this connected universe. Its most recent TV show is Hawkeye, which finally put Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) in the spotlight after being left somewhat aside in all Avengers movies.
Set a year after the events of Avengers: Endgame, Hawkeye reunited viewers with Clint Barton and introduced Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), a young archer who looks up to him and who ended up getting involved in a major conflict with her favorite Avenger as he confronted his past as Ronin, all while trying to get back to his family in time for Christmas. Hawkeye offered another look at a post-Endgame world, showing how people have been dealing with the snaps and how they view the Avengers now, which turned out to be a slightly distorted view of past events.
One of the funniest and most eye-catching things in Hawkeye was Rogers: The Musical, a Broadway musical based on the life of Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans). The first episode of Hawkeye gave viewers a glimpse at this peculiar production as Clint and his kids attended the play, but there were many inaccuracies in it, such as Ant-Man being present in the Battle of New York. Rogers: The Musical can also be briefly seen at the beginning of Spider-Man: No Way Home, and while it’s a fun addition to the MCU, it actually has a deeper value, as it proves that Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) can win his hardest Captain America test: convincing the world that he can carry the mantle of Captain America.
Steve Rogers passed on the mantle of Captain America to Sam Wilson at the end of Avengers: Endgame, but it wasn’t until the end of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier that he officially became the new Captain America. Sam is inheriting a big name, but the Steve Rogers musical being titled “Rogers” and not “Captain America” suggests there’s not the same pressure to live up to being Captain America as the one John Walker (Wyatt Russell) went through to live up to Steve Rogers. There’s a separation between Steve Rogers and Captain America to the eyes of the public, so Sam’s hardest test as Captain America, which is convincing the world that he’s “worthy” of carrying the title, might not be as tough as everyone thought.
Rogers: The Musical turned out to have a bigger meaning within the MCU than being just a curious element for laughs in Hawkeye (and a source of frustration to Clint as well, as it also addressed how he has been left aside as an Avengers multiple times), and it will surely have some impact on Sam Wilson’s future now as Captain America, though there’s still a long wait before fans can see him back in action in the MCU.