‘You think this letter on my head stands for France?” So did the Marvel Comics character Captain America aggressively retort to an enemy when demanded to surrender. A quick perusal of the internet reveals that it was only one version of the character who said this, and that a later story cleverly subverted this quip, and . . . sorry, I don’t care. I don’t read the comics; I just (sometimes) watch the movies.

Perhaps it was bluntly put in that particular comic. But it is nonetheless true that Captain America is supposed to represent America. Specifically, America at its best: The character originated as Steve Rogers, an honorable man selected for superhuman enhancement by the U.S. government to help win World War II. The so-called Marvel Cinematic Universe mostly adhered to this straightforward depiction while Rogers (played by Chris Evans) played the role.

But in Avengers: Endgame, the commercial juggernaut since whose release Marvel has been adrift, Rogers handed his famous shield over to his friend and fellow hero Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie). This version of Captain America has his film debut in two weeks, with Captain America: Brave New World. And Mackie seems to have a different idea of what Cap stands for. At a press event in Rome, he said:

To me Captain America represents a lot of different things and I don’t think the term ‘America’ should be one of those representations. It’s about a man who keeps his word, who has honor, dignity and integrity. Someone who is trustworthy and dependable.

The most charitable possible reading of these comments is that Mackie wants the character’s goodness to be universally accessible, not limited by the particularity of his origin. But that would be an extremely generous reading. Far more plausible is that Mackie expressed some level of embarrassment about Cap’s ties to an America he feels cannot embody values of “honor, dignity, and integrity,” as well as trustworthiness and dependability.

Whatever Mackie may have actually meant, Marvel executives certainly seemed worried enough by the likeliest reading of his comments that they immediately sent him out to do damage control. His “clarification” stated:

Let me be clear about this, I’m a proud American and taking on the shield of a hero like CAP is the honor of a lifetime. I have the utmost respect for those who serve and have served our country. CAP has universal characteristics that people all over the world can relate to.

It is a relief to have discovered that the actor likes this country, though the position of having to remove doubt about the matter is rather unenviable. Note, however, that even this attempted clean-up shies away from embracing his character’s inextricably American status. It’s a subtle move in the direction of altering the list of things for which DC Comics hero Superman fights, from “truth, justice, and the American way” to “truth, justice, all that stuff” (as it was blithely referred to in 2006’s Superman Returns) and “truth, justice, and a better tomorrow” (as the comics rebranded it in 2021).

Mackie and other cultural mandarins can say and believe whatever they want. But the character on whose image they are relying for profit is inescapably a product and representation of America. (And please, nobody bring up “Nomad.” I don’t care.) Because America is a great nation, founded on noble principles and filled with good people, that which embodies it can and does attract the rest of the world. Yet that effect is a product of our unique example. If Hollywood still doesn’t understand what the letter on Cap’s head stands for, it will soon have other problems.