Actor Wyatt Russell made a bold, somewhat uncommon statement this week after the premiere of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney+.
Our new Captain America seems to have known he was in for a whirlwind of backlash after taking over the popular role that belonged to Chris Evans and is trying to remain optimistic about his role in the MCU.
We often see actors preparing to play a role they know will be vilified, but it’s rare to see them honoured to be hated, “People are probably going to hate it, and some people are going to love it,” Russell told USA Today, these movies and shows “are there to make people feel emotions, and I’m hoping that that’s what this show can do for people. Hopefully, they don’t hate me too much,” he added,“it would be an honour, I guess, to be disliked in the Marvel universe”.
Russell appears in the last few minutes of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s first episode on Disney+. He shows up as a government sanctioned Captain America after Sam respectfully rejects the shield and immediately #Notmycap started trending on Twitter. It seems fans were prepared to see the shield passed on, by no one was near ready to see it move on to someone they deem unworthy.
Russel spoke a bit about the role and how his Cap will differ from Evans’, “He’s been thrust into this role as Captain America and he’s going to do it his way, and he wants to do it right. But his way is a very specific way that he has learned through being basically a trained human hunter. I mean, that’s what Marines are. They’re not Steve Rogers, they’re not the same. They’re not like Boy Scouts anymore. They’re a little bit more gnarly.”
With 5 episodes of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier left to release, it will be interesting to see how the story plays out. The show left us with a very unhappy looking Sam and fans are speculating that Bucky is coming for the shield. Find out how the story ties together Friday’s on Disney+.