i think they are regretting that now. they nerfed the role way back when by picking mackie
it could work without powers if they did it properly. from the trailer it looks like they are going to give him a suit made of "something special".
the problem is that mackie is not only a bad actor he is also short and lacks hero athleticism, jawline (making the mask look ill-fitting), hairline.
they established the character by setting him him up as a joker side-kick who got humbled by steve (the man he is trying to replace), winter soldier and even another joker ant-man.
now they are having difficulty flipping that script.
people miss those details but those details all add up.
Yup. I tell ppl all the time that comics and wrestling (WWE) run on the same principles. There's an art and science to booking stars compared to jobbers, and sadly Sam came in as a jobber. (Cheadle) Rhodey too.
It's not just the viral "on your left" jobbin to Steve over and over, but in his same introductory movie, Sam says "I'm just like
him, but slower and weaker." Effectively sabotaged himself on the mic, lowering the maximum pop he could get as a star.
Compare that to T'Challa who had a Brock Lesner debut squashing Bucky 3x times in 1 film, only a brief 1v1 with peak popularity Steve
Rogers Austin without a definitive winner (intentional), and
culminating in them running dead even in a foot race at Wrestlemania. End result: BP gets built up as the next big thing, Steve doesn't have to job (Bucky does the jobbin), and Falcon sinks further to opening act status.