Why Falcon was the best choice for Captain America’s shield, according to Sebastian Stan

Sebastian Stan insists that Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson/Falcon was the perfect choice to inherit Captain America’s shield in Avengers: Endgame, even though some fans believe that his character, Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier, should have been the one to take it.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Stan explained, “Sam, to me, was always the clear man to take on that mantle for numerous reasons, which also comes with so much more baggage that’s going to be explored in the show. At the end of Endgame, for either Steve or Bucky, it’s really not about the shield.”

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For Stan, by not giving the shield to Bucky, Steve, who used the time travel to live out his life with Peggy Carter, is saying to his old friend, “You’re going to go and do that, too. I’m not going to put this thing on you. We’re both going to live our lives — the lives that were taken from us back in the ‘40s when we enlisted."

The show that Stan is referring to is The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, which is still due to premiere on Disney + at the end of this year, even though filming on the series isn’t quite complete yet.

Stan also took this opportunity to discuss the tone of the show, insisting, "It was very much in the same world that Captain America: The Winter Soldier was, which was one of my favorite experiences that I’ve ever had, period.”

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“So, in a sense, it was grounded and very much in the world as we know it. But, it’s also really jam-packed with a lot of massive, massive action scenes mixed with deep focus on character.”

“These characters are getting so much more mileage for all of us to explore them. We can put them in situations that we’ve never been able to put them in before because you now have six hours as opposed to two.”