According to the recently released book, Marvel’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: The Art of the Series, Sam Wilson’s jazzy new superhero outfit was not the only thing he was to be gifted with by the Wakandans. At one point, development concept illustrator Wesley Burt considering adding some Wakandan flair to the iconic shield. Visual Development head Ryan Meinerding asked some in the visual department to take a little bit of time and think up some new ways that Sam could use the shield, more specific to him and his own physicality with it. The artist further divulged:
Fans were stoked to see Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson put the new and improved shield to use after it was handed to him by Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers at the end of Avengers: Endgame. Imagine the elation from witnessing an even more improved shield.
“When I was thinking about the tech rim piece, I was looking for a way to minimally add an element to the shield so as not to distract too much from the shield itself but still make it feel like it could have a believable tech addition and hint at the Wakandan upgrades before you see them used.”
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Wesley Burt also had ideas for highlighting the shield’s defense capabilities, such as incorporating Wakanda technology to allow the weapon to generate an emergency dome to protect those within it from attacks. The energy barrier would have included the Falcon wing motif in its design to reflect its wielder. Burt explained:
Though Sam was reluctant to take up the mantle of Captain America, he had no choice, not with terrorist groups like the Flagsmashers running around. Thankfully, after five intense episodes of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Sam came to his senses. But, how cool would it be to see the Captain America shield with true “cloaking shield” capabilities like that possessed by the Border Tribe in Wakanda?
“I also just really wanted to think of other ways that it could emphasize the defensive nature of the shield itself and not just look for new ways that it could be used as a weapon. 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.”
