'Captain America' star Danny Ramirez takes flight as Marvel's new Falcon (2025)

Growing up in Miami, Danny Ramirez had two movies running on loop in his house: “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and “Air Force One.” The former was a classic his mother loved, the latter a favorite because Harrison Ford is her hero.

So Ramirez costarring alongside the erstwhile Indiana Jones in his first big-screen Marvel movie “Captain America: Brave New World” (in theaters now) is a pretty big deal, though Ramirez is getting used to acting alongside A-listers like Ford and Tom Cruise.

“I’ve been so blessed in my entire career that if I trip and fall on the floor, I feel like I'm going to look up and there's going to be a legend,” says the 32-year-old rising star. “Even their worst advice would be better than some people's best advice.”

Join our Watch Party! Sign up to receive USA TODAY's movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox.

After a breakthrough role in 2022’s “Top Gun: Maverick,” Ramirez takes flight again as Joaquin Torres, aka the winged superhero Falcon, in “Brave New World.” He made his Marvel debut in the Disney+ TV series “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” opposite Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson, the original Falcon. When Mackie got a promotion (to Captain America), so did Ramirez.

“We're like young kids enjoying the moment, man. And it's so refreshing and so beautiful to have somebody like that who gets as silly and appreciative as you are,” Mackie says of Ramirez.

Here’s what you need to know about Marvel’s newest superhero:

Danny Ramirez infuses the new ‘Captain America’ with rookie enthusiasm

Introduced as an Air Force lieutenant in “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” Joaquin was eager to impress Sam and exuded the youthful energy of his comic-book counterpart. He gets the Falcon’s wings (courtesy of a nifty supersuit) in “Brave New World” but is definitely learning on the job what being a superhero entails. “I remember when he was just jumping around really excited" in the character's early days on the show, Ramirez says. Joaquin is "still really excited" learning new in-flight moves in the movie "but it allowed me to craft and carve that out a little bit more.”

His relationship with Mackie reflects that of their screen counterparts. Falcon is along for the ride as Cap takes on new responsibilities, and Ramirez gets a front-row seat with Mackie going through the “epic and massive” moment of having his first solo Marvel movie. “There's only so much that you learn from words on the page, but when that thing is put on its feet, you see where people come from,” Ramirez says.

‘Brave New World’ star’s big Hollywood break took place on a soccer field

Chicago-born and of Mexican and Colombian descent, Ramirez had early roles in “Assassination Nation” and the Showtime drama “The Affair.” Before acting, however, he was an admitted “sports junkie” and played soccer at Atlanta’s Oglethorpe University. During one unfortunate week his freshman year in 2011, his TV, car and phone all broke, plus he sprained his ankle. Ramirez was sitting out a Saturday practice on his 19th birthday when a production assistant came to the field and needed an extra for “The Reluctant Fundamentalist,” a Riz Ahmed political thriller filming on campus.

His coach didn’t love that he skipped out on practice for a gig that paid him $120. But for Ramirez, cheering on Ahmed doing a soccer move, seeing him as “the lead in the place that I thought was just white people doing stuff,” and watching how a movie set worked was an a-ha moment. “If he could do it, I could do it,” Ramirez recalls. “And then the next day I bought like seven, eight acting books and devoured them all to see if I wanted to do this. It had to be so obvious for me to get the hint and to be given the permission to even pursue it.”

One of his upcoming projects taps back into that first love: Ramirez signed on to write, direct and star in "Baton," with British soccer icon David Beckham producing.

Danny Ramirez’s ‘Top Gun’ squadron has become an all-star unit

Cruise might have been the main man of “Top Gun: Maverick,” but the supporting pilots of the hit sequel are all enjoying high-profile career paths. Ramirez has “Brave New World” and a role in the upcoming second season of HBO’s popular zombie show “The Last of Us.” Monica Barbaro is up for a best supporting actress Oscar for “A Complete Unknown.” Glen Powell scored a Golden Globe nomination for “Hit Man” and is kind of everywhere. Greg Tarzan Davis appeared in Cruise's most recent "Mission: Impossible" film and is also coming back for the new one, "The Final Reckoning" (out May 23). And Lewis Pullman had an Emmy nod for “Lessons in Chemistry” and makes his own Marvel debut in “Thunderbolts*.”

So what’s the secret to that success? Six-hour group van rides with Cruise for 10 months going from base to base, city to city, when they weren’t in the air.

“Tom really said that was us getting our master's (degree) in film,” Ramirez says. “When you get advice like that as an individual, you can make something of it. But when you get this life-changing type of advice and you get to sit in it with other people, you get that golden nugget and you polish it and you share it among everyone. That’s the thing that made that group special.

“So when I look at everyone that's doing something from there, it's this big old ‘duh,’” Ramirez says. “I have really talented friends!”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Danny Ramirez takes off in 'Captain America,' roots on 'Top Gun' crew