Sam Wilson’s monologue in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier Explained

*Spoiler Ahead!*

It’s a nice moment when Bucky says that he didn’t follow the monologue past ‘I am a Black man carrying the stars and stripes’ For the Winter Soldier, Sam not just becoming, but also embracing the role of Captain America is a truly cathartic moment. By this point in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, there is a major sense of relief and elation for everyone as we see a worthy man taking up such an important mantle.

But the depth of this decision is not lost on us for it’s not just fictional racists who will hate Sam Wilson for taking this role but the likelihood of real-life racists disagreeing with Marvel’s call to place the shield in the care of a Black man.

Let’s not ignore the fact that this move might actually cost the franchise a substantial amount of patronage. It is commendable that both Marvel and Sam Wilson are incredibly brave for what they are doing.

Sam Wilson’s powerful monologue

Excerpts from Sam Wilson’s monologue:

We finally have a common struggle now. For once, all the people who have been literally begging for you to feel how hard any given day is..(sic) now you know. 

Now if you could remember what it was like to feel helpless and face a force so powerful it could erase half the planet, you would know that you are about to have the same impact. 

……

I’m a Black man carrying the stars and stripes

What don’t I understand? 

Every time I pick this thing up I know there are millions out there that are gonna hate me for it. Even now, here, I hear it. The stares; the judgment. And there is nothing I can do to change their minds. Yet, I’m still here. No super serum. No blond hair, blue eyes. 

The only power I have is that I believe WE CAN DO BETTER. 

We can’t demand that people step up if we don’t meet them halfway. 

Look, you control the banks. Shit, you can move borders! You can knock down a forest with an email, you can feed a million people with a phone call. But the question is, who’s in the room when you make those decisions? 

Is it the people you’re gonna impact? 

Or just more people like you? 

……

Look you people have as much power as an insane god or a misguided teenager.

The question you have to ask yourself is, how are you gonna use it? 

 

After Sam carries the body of Karli Morgenthau outside to hand over to the medical professionals, he is met with a grateful Senator and other politicians who, after thanking him for averting the Flagsmasher crisis, restart the narrative of passing a GRC vote to move displaced people back to settlements. This is exactly what people like Karli Morgenthau were fighting against and this is why the general population was discontent with the GRC and everything they were doing.

Sam’s monologue was meant to bring the politicians out of their political reverie and remind them that they had to do what was right by the people even if not everyone was on board with it. It cannot be that for the selfishness of a few, millions would have to face severe and unfair consequences. In true Captain America fashion, Sam Wilson gave the politicians a proper lecture on literally how to do their job or face the consequences if they continued on the same road.

The implications of Captain America’s monologue

The powerful words of the monologue aside, the fact that Sam spoke the way he did imply that he was ready to embrace the role of Captain America despite how difficult his journey would be. He was ready to be who he was meant to be and not because it was something mandated by Steve Rogers. The speech itself was a reflection of how good he is as a person, someone humane enough to avoid as much violence as possible and whose intentions are absolutely pure. Sam is the Captain America we didn’t know we needed, a rational and calm human being who knows when he needs to step up and take action.

Another aspect of the monologue was its relevance in today’s reality. Even though Sam spoke about the politics of the fictional post-blip world, it’s just as relevant to the current world, with all the emergencies faced by it as a collective. With a pandemic ravaging the human populace, extreme unemployment, and debilitating poverty that has severely affected the morale of the general collective, what Captain America says rings truer than most speeches we’ve heard.


Captain America’s monologue made for a powerful final episode to the Season 1 of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and established Sam Wilson as a brilliant successor to Steve Rogers. It will be exciting to see the new Captain America take on villains while managing a cute bromance with Bucky.