Now that Sam Wilson has inherited the title, his Captain America shield nearly got some major upgrades from technology from Wakanda.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
After his reluctance to take up the mantle of Captain America, Sam Wilson eventually comes to his senses after the first five intense episodes of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. First released on 19 March 2021, the web television miniseries features Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson and Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes as they attempt to fight against terrorist groups and protect America after Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers handed the Captain America shield to Sam.
New and Improved Shield
Sam Wilson is seen sporting a jazzy new superhero outfit in the recently released book, Marvel’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: The Art of the Series, a new look that was gifted to him by the Wakandans. It’s supposed that along with a new and improved look, Sam Wilson will also be wielding a new and improved Captain America shield that has some epic Wakandan flair, considered by development concept illustrator Wesley Burt.
Visual Development head Ryan Meinerding also asked the visual department to weigh in with some new ideas on how Sam Wilson could use the shield in a way that carried the mantle while also being specific to his physicality with it.
Wesley Burt’s ideas for the shield are to truly highlight the defensive capability of the shield, such as by incorporating Wakanda technology that would allow the shield to generate an emergency dome that would protect those within it from attacks. The hope is that the Falcon Wing Motif will be incorporated into the design to reflect its wearer, originally the Falcon, now taking up the mantle of Captain America.
Wesley discussed wanting to find ways to emphasize the defensive nature of the shield rather than looking for new ways for it to be used as a weapon. He hopes to keep from distracting too much from the shield itself and incorporate believable technological upgrades in a way that you can see the hint of the Wakandan upgrades before even seeing them be used.
The Inspiration Behind the Upgrades
Wesley Burt shared some of the inspiration behind his designs, specifically wanting to incorporate both Wakandan culture and technology in the upgrades. He was inspired by the various shield tech used by the Border Tribe. Their Vibranium-based blue cape shields were what drew Wesley Burt to incorporate Wakandan technology into Sam Wilson’s new shield.
“I immediately thought of the various shield tech used by the Border Tribe and their blue cape shields, and also the big cloaking shield around Wakanda itself, as a jumping-off point for how it could be implemented here.”
After its short six episodes of the first season, a second season has been teased for release sometime in 2022, and fans are excited to see Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson put the new and improved Captain America shield to use after inheriting the mantle.
