Superheroes are for everyone. It’s why it’s so important for superhero cinema to cast and hire folks from different communities to ensure those audiences feel represented, and it’s why movies like theRyan Coogler-directedBlack Pantherare such a watershed moment.The Falcon and the Winter SoldiershowrunnerMalcolm Spellman, who’s crafting the second Disney+ MCU TV series which will debut this March, spoke toTVLineabout this responsibility and joy, and how he hopes his show will further that breadth of inclusion and admiration.
“For the first 15 years of my career, I couldn’t mount consistent work,” said Spellman of Hollywood’s participation in systemic racism. “Executives would say out loud, ‘You can’t have a Black lead in this project because it won’t sell overseas.'” Now, films likeBlack Pantherare the biggest overseas money-makers Hollywood makes, and Spellman (who also worked on the culture-shiftingEmpirefor FOX), is working hard to ensure his MCU series continues the conversation.
“When you start to see the direct impact that a Black superhero had on my nephew, that’s branded on my brain. I believe that Falcon and the Winter Soldier is a nice progression with the mantle that Coogler and Chadwick [Boseman] left us. I really do believe that these giant Black icons are necessary, not only for Black kids, but for white kids to start to absorb — our people as being big and heroic… I think one of the most important things is the faith I have that there are no limitations to the size of specifically Black stories. They can be as big as anyone else’s. We learned that with Empire, we learned it with Black Panther, we’re going to see that with Falcon and the Winter Soldier. There’s just zero argument against that anymore. It was really empowering, after hearing for the first 15 years of my career that being Black meant you had to only do niche things that were really small, to see all Black filmmakers and be one of them to be involved with projects that just appealed across every spectrum while remaining decidedly Black. That’s probably one of the best things about the path we took to get here.”
Spellman went on to explain how he and his wife, writer/producerNichelle Tramble Spellman(The Good Wife), have founded a production company The 51 which aims to give young, underrepresented writers a chance to tell their story. “Me and Nichelle never ever imagined we would get a chance to work in Hollywood and so, we really want to directly reach back and start to work with filmmakers who are in that same bubble where there’s a ton of untapped genius that never gets access.” Access at every level at every scope — Spellman is helping create our future by changing the present, and we are ready for it.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldiercomes to Disney+ July 08, 2025.
