For many years the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) was a box office triumph, with success after success after success. Beyond the big name Avengers, the franchise even managed to make blockbusters from lesser known characters who most audience members had never even heard of. And then, slowly but surely, the woke crept in and the hits began to dry up. Recent small screen adaptations have fared even worse, with producers Disney pushing an increasingly far left political agenda in front of good storytelling and entertainment.
As Disney's political agenda became more and more obvious in its productions, the cast and crew grew more political. As most Hollywood actors lean left anyway, it was perhaps no surprise to find the main cast getting directly involved in endorsing opponents of Donald Trump. Lesser known cast members, writers and directors on Marvel TV shows went much further - lashing out at fans when their productions failed to gain traction with viewers. The same fans that had driven the MCU to the highest grossing franchise of all time were now being labelled 'racist', 'sexist' and 'homophobic' because they did not approve of the new direction. Remember, it was not the fans who made the decision to make Marvel woke - it was the activists at Disney who imposed it upon them!
Step forward Anthony Mackie, a long-term cast member mostly associated with the Captain America and Avengers films. Mackie plays Sam Wilson, better known as 'Falcon'. As the name suggests, Falcon's special ability is flight, albeit only through the use of a mechanical suit with wings. Unlike his close ally Steve Rogers (Captain America), Falcon possesses zero super powers. When Rogers retires at the end of the most recent Avengers film, more than a few eyebrows were raised when he passes his famous shield and identity to Falcon, as opposed to his best friend Bucky Barnes (aka the Winter Soldier).
Unlike Falcon, the Winter Soldier is a super-powered character and took on the mantle of Captain America in the comics during a popular story arc titled The Death of Captain America. Falcon briefly assumed the same title later on during a woke Marvel rebrand. In Disney's new world of identity politics, it was a no-brainer to opt for Sam Wilson as the new Cap - for he is black.
Now Mackie had largely stayed out of the Trump-bashing antics of Avengers co-stars such as Mark Ruffalo and Scarlett Johansson, but it appears that the influence of Disney has rubbed off on him. During a recent press interview to promote his forthcoming film debut as Captain America, Mackie had this to say: "For me, Captain America represents a lot of different things and I don't think the term 'America' should be one of those representations". Oh dear.
Mackie then doubled down on his apparent anti-America stance by saying this: "It's about a man who keeps his word, who has honour, dignity, and integrity". So the man who will soon be seen wearing America on his sleeve (literally), does not associate America with those values. Wow.
It's fair to say that this latest MCU product is probably going to bomb hard.
Last week's BBC 'inspiring women' meme generated 213 comments and 69 shares on Facebook.
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