I understand that last point; the 9 to 5 world behind superheroes such as Spider-Man, Superman or Daredevil are a well-established part of their character-building landscapes in print and in nearly every film/TV adaptaion, but with few exceptions (e.g. the Black Lightning TV series, where Jefferson and Lynn Pierce's professions had direct ties to a few series arcs), a Black character's business life is something merely referred to, but rarely explored, the characters are given some sort of stereotypical, Hollywood-ized job, or its not mentioned at all.
At the time of that final episode of the D+ series, Wilson and Bradley knew there was not much the government could (or would) do to fully atone for the unforgivable abuses suffered by Bradley, so even a permanent acknowledgement (at the behest of Wilson--not the government, which still implies White government resistance) in the form of a statue to a man who--up to that time--had been wiped from the public record would be moving. I did not believe Bradley saw it as a full, corrective measure for the evils committed against him (and other Black people). In fact, Wilson telling Bradley why he earned the Captain America role and the resistance he expected was the series not trying to put a nice bow on a far larger problem a Black Captain America would face despite his natural right to take the identity for himself.
One day, I need to check that out. On the point of humanizing the Supacell characters, that is appreciated at a time when Black immigrant populations in England (no matter which decade they arrived) have been in the crosshairs of White Nationalists such as the dull-witted Douglas Murray, who dedicates his breath to dehumanizing Black immigrants and/or native populations around the world.
After Bradley’s introduction in Falcon/Winter Soldier he didn’t seem to me a person that would care at all about being acknowledged, especially in a symbolic way. That being said, I
can buy the ending better if I look at it as Bradley thinking more of the other experimented on Black soldiers who were even more unsung than him being acknowledged. Bending Bradley around to accepting that statue fit very much with the “seen and heard, seat at the table” ethos at the start of the last presidential administration, when the nation was supposedly still caught up in a “racial reckoning” that often resulted in similar symbolic gestures.
Even in Brave New World, Bradley is suspicious of Ross and reluctant to go to the White House, which felt more organic to his live-action debut. And it was Wilson who kept coaxing him into accepting the token gestures, in a way, I imagine, to start a reconciliation/healing process. That being said, Wilson's needling also exposed an unwillingness to respect Bradley's lived experiences as well as his boundaries, even if it came from what Wilson believed were good intentions.
I do think you’ve touched on the ambivalence even in how they dealt with the statue, but I feel that twisting the story at the end of Falcon/Winter Soldier to have that outcome was an attempt to smother the deeper, existential questions, the DuBoisian “double consciousness” angst raised by the idea of Wilson taking on that mantle.
Older generations-white and Black-might have seen Wilson becoming Captain America as a leap forward, but younger generations might have been less giddy about that (especially in the George Floyd/post-Floyd era), and I think that’s a more interesting, albeit discomforting story, to explore.
It’s not lost on me how Brave New World didn’t become a Black cultural, or pop cultural phenomenon, like the first Black Panther, even though both films came out during Black History Month. Issues of how good each might have been aside, there didn’t seem too much of a push to rally around Wilson’s Captain America and embrace him or defend him if necessary, like I saw with T’Challa, Miles Morales, or even Ironheart today (when it comes to some on the internet pushing back against the toxic hate the series is getting).
I don’t think Brave New World became a phenomenon in part because people are less enthused today to see a Black character who is trying to fit in and “prove themselves” as opposed to doing their own thing and being enough on their own terms and in their own way. Much bandied about terms like "Black excellence", "unapologetically Black", or even "Black love" doesn't easily apply when it comes to Wilson who is still dealing with impostor syndrome while attempting to live up to a mantle he didn't even ask for. Wilson is ice skating uphill to achieve an at best tenuous and conditional widespread respect and acceptance, and that kind of striving isn't in vogue right now. And then there's the lack of a love interest or almost anything else that either makes him a cool, fantastical character like T'Challa that we really can never be like but still want to be like (Blade might fit in that category as well), or more relatable ones who sometimes have "real world problems" like Miles Morales, Luke Cage, Black Lightning, or Riri.
Wilson struggling to get a bank loan and to keep his family business afloat was all forgotten (as was his family) in Brave New World, which were attempts to make him more relatable even if they might have veered toward Hollywoodized typical ideas of the Black American experience. In Brave New World, money wasn't an issue, and he was even getting free beers. A missed opportunity was showing us how he got there and what happened to all the people who were opposed to the very idea of Wilson as Captain America. I get the desire to avoid "race" even in stories that are touted to deal with it in some way, and I can imagine that there was a fear they would retread the Falcon/Winter Soldier story but I think glossing over it was a mistake because it fed the misbelief that racism is a one-and-done, "Afterschool Special", "moral of the story" momentary distraction (that doesn't even rise to the level of problem) that can easily be rectified and crossed off a list of "more important" issues, instead of a deep-seated social affliction that will take a lot of collective commitment and work to overcome.
Mackie, the director, and at the script at times did give him some cool moments, but I think there is something too uncool about the MCU take on the character for that to really resonate outside of a generic "liking" him because of Mackie's charm or for the character's "empathy", "nobility" or some such.
Brave New World found itself in the untenable place of being "too woke" for some and not "woke" (in the proper definition sense) enough for others.
