Warning: SPOILERS lie ahead for Captain America: Brave New World!Danny Ramirez’s Joaquin Torreshas stepped up as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s new Falcon inCaptain America: Brave New World, and his story is only just getting started. Torres, a first lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force, was first introduced inThe Falcon and the Winter Soldier, being an ally for Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson in his effort to take down the Flag Smashers. In the years between the Disney+ miniseries, which also saw Sam officially embrace becoming Captain America, Torres was also promoted to become the new Falcon.
As shown inCaptain America: Brave New World, Sam is very cautious with Torres joining him on missions in the Falcon suit, being worried about putting him in danger and wanting to keep training him. Together, the duo investigated Isaiah Bradley’s apparent assassination attempt on President Thunderbolt Ross, learning of numerous people having been mind-controlled by the imprisoned Samuel Stearns, aka The Leader, in his effort to punish Ross for his imprisonment. While helping Sam prevent an all-out war between America and Japan at Celestial Island, Torres is shot down, but survives and is seen recovering in the hospital in the movie’s ending.
In honor of the movie’s Disney+ release,ScreenRantinterviewed Danny Ramirez to discussCaptain America: Brave New World. The star opened up about what surprised him the most from the reactions to the MCU film, as well as how it’s truly the start of his journey as an Avenger, when he first learned he would be the first on Sam’s team, and whether he thinks Joaquin would take the Super Soldier Serum. He also shares his experience working with the Russos onAvengers: Doomsdayand hisLast of Usseason 3 future.
Ramirez Has Been Waiting Six Years To Become An Avenger
He Also Thinks Joaquin Would Take The Super Soldier Serum If Offered
Despite his near demise in the movie’s final act, one of the biggest elements to come fromCaptain America: Brave New World’s endingisSam offering Joaquin the opportunity to join his new Avengers team, an idea Ross ran by him toward the start of the film. However, as Ramirez revealed to us, he’s known about the plans to make Torres the first Avenger on Sam’s team since 2019, with his first phone call offering him the role being a very special conversation with the Marvel Studios creative team.
“I was told, ‘Hey, we’ve been traveling all over the world, and they’re always asking, “When’s the first Latino Avenger coming? When’s the first Latino Avenger coming?”, and we’re happy that we’re making that call right now, and he’s here’,” Ramirez warmly recalled. “It was the sickest call I’ve ever received. It was framed in that, really, it was so dramatic. When they were like, ‘He’s here,’ I was like, ‘That’s me.'”
In the years that followed, Ramirez went off to filmThe Falcon and the Winter Soldier, whichhe indicates originally had plans to lay the groundworkuntil the team realized “there just wasn’t enough real estate to properly introduce Joaquin as Falcon, let alone bring him to the squad”. After some delays withCaptain America’s development, he remembers sitting down with Julius Onah for lunch during pre-production, in which the co-writer/director was very excited to have his star read “this little scene”, and was taken aback when Ramirez’s response was “finally”.
“I explained to him this exact story, and he’s like, ‘Oh, hell yeah’,” Ramirez shared with a chuckle. “So it was, I feel like, a long time coming, but it was also incredibly exciting. I feel like I understand the MCU from the perspective of being on the wings waiting, but at the same time, I think I feel new to a lot of people that are viewing the story.”
As for how Joaquin reacted to the offer, Ramirez feels that his character is"unable to register and process" the moment, particularly as he’s in the midst of “beating himself up for being shot down”. The star also felt that the events leading up to that ending moment, in which Torres has been “a really good wingman for Sam” and that he was able to “test the suit out” and “done lighter stuff”, make it all the more impactful to get the offer, as he feels that Sam “never made these mistakes in that way”.
“Hearing from Sam that he did, to then go from disappointment to being invited, I think that is wild, that got me really excited on the day,” Ramirez explained. “And by the time we’re riffing about getting suit upgrades and stuff like that, his energy is already kind of like, ‘Now, what’s next?’ I think he was really excited, and I was relieved.”
Now part of the team, Joaquin may find himself faced with the same question Sam was inCaptain America: Brave New Worldas to whether to takethe Super Soldier Serumthat was behind Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, Isaiah Bradley and John Walker’s enhanced abilities. InBrave New World,Sam largely rejected the need or desire to take the Serum, both being told by others and feeling himself it was more important to be a symbol of anyone becoming a hero.
For Joaquin, however,Ramirez thinks the new Falcon wouldn’t hesitate to take the Super Soldier Serum, acknowledging that “Sam’s maturity” is the difference between the two characters. “It’s an ongoing conversation, and he understands the full picture,” Ramirez expressed. “He’s been in so many of these situations, and it’s taken him to this moment to be like, ‘You know what? I’m not going to do it.'”
Another of the main reasons Ramirez feels that Joaquin would take the Serum ishis experience with past Avengers battles being “through the news on his TV somewhere”, being similarly influenced as “the perspective of the audience”. As such, his fascination with the Serum and what it could offer would be that it’s “the only way I could compete in this way”, but without taking into account “the morality around it”.
Whether it’s a mistake or not, Joaquin would probably say yes to it.
As for his own perspective on his character taking it, though,Ramirez feels he “wouldn’t be that scared” of a Super Soldier-powered Joaquin, particularly given one of the side effects is it “accentuates qualities that you have”.“I do think he’s of a clearer heart and mind and soul than someone like even Walker,” Ramirez opined, “and has a different yearning than like Bucky, although there’s a similarity in that from the first time we ever meet Bucky, that he thinks he’s the guy. He wants to be the guy, and the dynamic is kind of flip-flopped, and then there’s a little jealousy that built up around him not being the guy.”
Ramirez also feels that Joaquin would also go into announcing having taken it to Sam and others without a second thought, which he also feels is “maybe out of immaturity and not understanding the full picture”. He went on to acknowledge that “everyone has red flags”, and that"it could definitely play with Joaquin’s ego", particularly afterBrave New World, in which Ramirez played the character with “a little bit of hubris” as his story explored the theme of “flying too close to the sun”.
That’s the stuff that I’d be curious if it’s accentuated with Joaquin, if he’s just putting himself in situations that are a little bit more dangerous. Because if he’s doing that now, I could only imagine how invincible he feels then.
Ramirez Was Surprised By How People Took To Joaquin In The Film
“If I Met Joaquin, He And I Would Probably Argue A Lot…”
As with some recent MCU movies,Captain America: Brave New Worldsaw a somewhat mixed responsefrom critics, netting a 48% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes,while still also landing a very positive 78% from audiences on the platform. Viewers found themselves thrilled by everything from the movie’s set pieces, particularly the final act fight between Sam and Red Hulk, as well as the variousIncredible Hulkties and conspiracy thriller tone being reminiscent ofCaptain America: The Winter SoldierandThe Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
Reflecting on the reception of the movie, Ramirez felt that most actors “expect a spectrum of how something is received”,but didn’t anticipate “people would really dig my character”. “There were times that I was like,‘If I met Joaquin, he and I would probably argue a lot,” Ramirez expressed. “‘I’d have to tell him to sometimes just shut up, and he’d tell me to shut up.’ So, that was where I think it was surprising how that energy was received. Obviously, I think there are some people that were like, ‘Oh my God, put a baby seat belt on this kid.’ [Chuckles]”
Though worried this extra energy might have put off some viewers, Ramirez felt it important to “start his journey” in this place, as it “gives us a long way to go” with Joaquin ashe had the goal of “watching [my character] mature through the years”. He also called it a “beauty and privilege” to have his hero start “pretty naive”, as it means both he and the audience “have to learn with him and go on this ride”.
So, yeah, I was surprised, but also excited, because I think that fuels me up more to continue just finding these little things, and growing with the audience.
Ramirez Is Getting “A Career’s Worth” Of Experience On Avengers: Doomsday
Working With Multiple Directors Has Also Provided Him With A “Beautiful Gift”
Looking to the near future,Ramirez is returning forAvengers:Doomsdayalongside Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan, with the epic crossover having started filming in late April and expected to last through most of the year. When asked about howThunderbolts*’s post-credits scene setting up a conflict between Sam’s Avengers team and the New Avengers would be explored in the film, Ramirez admitted he “can’t say anything about that”, butdid call working on the movie “a pinch-me moment”, particularly when looking at its “scope and scale”.
“I sit back, and I think of the scope and scale ofCaptain America: Brave New World,and I’m, like, ‘That felt massive to me. That was epic. We got to fly, and had a dog fight in and against jets. The set pieces were massive’,” Ramirez expressed. “And then, we doDoomsday, and I’m like, ‘Just when I thought it couldn’t get more absolutely magnificent in scope and scale, and the epic proportions of it,’ that’s what’s exciting.”
…that’s one of the biggest privileges of all.
Another exciting prospect for Ramirez has been his experience working withthe rest of theDoomsdaycast, describing it asbeing “an entire career’s worth of stars that you work with” in just one movierather than spread out “over the course of my entire career”. “Hearing tidbits on flows, process,” Ramirez shared. “I mean, Ian McKellen, imagine that! Stuff that like is what dreams are made of, so I think that’s what audiences should be excited about. It is just the scope and scale of this thing.”
Beyond the cast, one of the other interesting points of Ramirez working onAvengers: Doomsdaysees himworking with his third and fourth directors within the MCUafter Kari Skogland onThe Falcon and the Winter Soldierand Onah onBrave New World. In reflecting on working with multiple filmmakers within the universe, Ramirez found one of his more interesting takeaways is that while “you get to see the same world and tone” from their different perspectives, you also “get to see the artistic interpretations of how someone creates that reality”.
“You see their strengths, and you realize, ‘Oh, this is whyEndgamewasEndgame’,” Ramirez explained. “And you see why Julius and his movieLucewas so phenomenal. And you see Kari andHandmaid’s Tale, and you see how they really wrestle with the material in their own way. Every single time, I’m fascinated by how two humans could read the same page and interpret it in completely different ways, and create that reality of what makes them feel tension.
“Somebody might be like, ‘It’s interpersonal dynamics that we build tension off of’,” Ramirez continued. “Some are like, ‘It’s because X, Y and Z in the external world is going to happen,’ and feeling these different engines being created is so much of the joy.”
Taking into account the thought that “I’m a constant in regard to I’m still playing my own character”, Ramirez goes on to explain how working with the various directors has been about “leaning in and sculpting and seeing what is different about my character in this world and why”. He also found this to bethe “beautiful gift” of playing a character in a franchise like the MCU, in which an actor “holds on to a character” long enough that “you explore it with other leaders”, who “might interpret what you did previously different”.
One notable example Ramirez points to is howChris Hemsworth’s depiction of Thor changed with the arrival of Taika Waititi onThor: Ragnarok, calling it “one of the most beautiful journeys of all” MCU heroes. “It creates such a beyond multidimensional character,” Ramirez opined. “It’s a character that people know in ways that they never expected. I think that’s a beautiful gift that the MCU is able to have.”
The Last Of Us Season 3 Will Really Expand On Manny & The Rest Of Abby’s Group
Working With Pedro Pascal On Both Season 2 & Avengers Was A “Really Funny” Experience
Combining the MCU with another of his recent hit projects, Ramirez is also coming off ofThe Last of Usseason 2, in which he starred as Manny,an ally of Kaitlyn Dever’s Abby. This alsoput him on opposing sides with Pedro Pascal, as Abby sought revenge for her father’s death at the hands of Joel in the season 1 finale, only forAvengers: Doomsdayto subsequently put Ramirez and Pascal together as the heroic Falcon and Mister Fantastic after the latter’s MCU debut inThe Fantastic Four: First Steps.
Reflecting on these two very different experiences, Ramirez recalls their dynamic being “really funny” when they showed up on the set ofAvengers: Doomsday, while also expressing his excitement atthe prospect that “Pedro and I are going to work together for a really long time”. “He’s incredibly intuitive, and the way he breaks story, I mean, he’s Pedro for a reason,” Ramirez beamed. “It’s not just because he’s a star. He’s a star in one way, but he’s also an artist, and incredibly raw and vulnerable in his approach to everything, so I’m excited for our careers in working together.”
Looking at his future in the HBO post-apocalypticworld, Ramirez recalls getting a similar early heads-up from Craig Mazin about there being bigger plans for him as when he was first hired for the MCU, with the co-showrunner telling him “this crew is introduced in season 2”, and thatThe Last of Usseason 3is “when they’re in the kitchen cooking”. “So, the idea that season 3, we get to cook with all of Craig’s ingredients is really exciting,” Ramirez shared, “because I think he deals with interpersonal conflict in such a unique way that group dynamics are fascinating with him.”
So in this world that he’s created, and from Chernobyl to this, he’s one of the best storytellers out in the world, no matter what format or medium.
Another aspect of Mazin, beyond the way he explores “power dynamics” and “the allegory of revenge”, that Ramirez is excited to continue experiencing onThe Last of Usisthe “through and through collaboration” that the creative offerseveryone on the show’s production, some he “wasn’t necessarily expecting” with an acclaimed storyteller like him.
“He’s also so giving that he’d want to hear [your take], which I wasn’t necessarily expecting,” Ramirez recalled. “You never know with a genius like that, you’re like, ‘Oh, we’re just gonna say his words,’ but he allows you to make the fit. So, yeah, that’s the exciting part.”
Check out our previousCaptain America: Brave New Worldinterviews with:
Captain America: Brave New Worldis now available to stream on Disney+.
