AARON RICHTER

BY ERIC FRANCISCO

PHOTOGRAPHS BY AARON RICHTER

DANNY RAMIREZ IS flying high. Not only is the 32-year-old Miami native making his debut as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s newest superhero in Captain America: Brave New World, taking over as the Falcon for Anthony Mackie (who played the part since 2014 and has since graduated to the titular Captain America), but he doesn’t have to keep this new identity a secret anymore.

Consider Ramirez’s point of view for a second. On the one hand, he’s a rising Hollywood star with key roles in buzzy franchise productions, from the billion-dollar smash Top Gun: Maverick to the upcoming second season of HBO’s hit video game adaptation The Last of Us. On the other hand, the Internet hype machine and its unstoppable modus operandi to seek out scoops, leaks, and spoilers—which can get talkative actors into serious hot water with studio heads—has made it difficult for Ramirez to say much of anything. When I first spoke to Ramirez in 2021 for the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, where he made his first on-screen appearance as Lt. Joaquin Torres, he was quiet when I asked what lay ahead.

Years later, though, Ramirez has finally come clean: Joaquin Torres was always meant to be the Falcon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, echoing comic book canon. (Joaquin first appeared in Captain America: Sam Wilson in 2015, officially becoming the Falcon in the sixth issue.) But when? How? And would it even actually happen? At the time, the soon-to-be Avenger was told that this was classified information.

AARON RICHTER

Ramirez has every right to relish the moment. Once an athlete who harbored dreams of playing professional football, he’s now a certified, capital-S Superhero in the MCU. Though there have been Latino superheroes on TV (like Robbie Reyes/Ghost Rider in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) and in movies (like Miles Morales in the Spider-Verse movies) before, Ramirez knows how monumental it is to fly alongside Captain America and the greats.

In a chat with Men’s Health, Ramirez previewed his return to the MCU, his “natty” workout regimen, and why from here on out his superhero journey could go anywhere.

MEN’S HEALTH: Let’s go back to 2019. How did you find out you were joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the new Falcon?

DANNY RAMIREZ: I was told on the phone. I got a call when I got the job; [former Marvel producer] Victoria Alonso was like, “Hey, look, it’s been a long road for us to have a Latino [superhero]. Finally, I’m here to tell you that we have one.” During that conversation and other conversations with people in Marvel, they were like, “Yeah, it’s going to be cool when you take those wings.” So, I knew. The script itself had nothing in reference to Joaquin Torres being Falcon, but in the conversations with casting, because they were flirting with it on the show—they knew. But with only six episodes [of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier], there’s only so much room. So, it’s been an exercise of patience.

MH: What has Joaquin been up to between the end of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and the start of Brave New World?

DR: His relationship with Sam has solidified; I can’t say too much about that specifically. It’s exploring the current world they left behind in the show, and where it’s at now. By the time you meet Joaquin again, you recognize that same youthful, chaotic energy. But it’s someone growing into their power.

Ramirez, left, with Anthony Mackie in Captain America: Brave New World.

MARVEL STUDIO

MH: I can’t not ask about Harrison Ford, who takes over the role of Thunderbolt Ross for the late William Hurt. How much time did you spend with him, both in the film and off-screen?

DR: Harrison fucking Ford. We got to spend most of our time on-set. On every job I’ve had, there’s been someone larger-than-life—in regard to how the world views them—and they end up teaching me to be myself as much as possible. Harrison and I had maybe two weeks of overlap on-set together. We were like, “He’s Harrison Ford, he’s going to have his own roped-off section.” But he just wanted to talk shit and hang out with us.

Early on, people like Harrison Ford set the stage for how something’s going to move. He made us relaxed and comfortable. He and Anthony were cracking jokes—he and I were cracking jokes. By the time we went to San Diego Comic-Con, I was like, He for sure forgot [about me]. And then we jumped right back into it. He made everyone plant their feet on the ground and be like, “This is still people playing with each other. It’s just play.”

MH: What’s unique about being the Falcon? What kind of shape do you need to be in to perform, with all those wire stunts and other effects?

DR: I had never been on wires before. For Top Gun, we did everything, practically. So for that, it was just about having a thick neck and shoulders to move under high g-forces. For this, [prior to filming] I hadn’t put the wings on. I didn’t know the weight of them. Are they heavy? So, core was incredibly important. And then, just to resemble a bird, a big part of my workout plan was to [have] a thin waist, big lats, and big shoulders. And just be shredded.

MH: What were your most important physical goals?

DR: They varied. My first was: I want to move. My identity my whole life was “athlete,” so I’ve felt what it’s like to be light on my feet and powerful at the same time. For this role, I wanted to tap back into my most agile; the falcon is the fastest animal on the planet. So I had to tap into speed and agility, and because of the superhero element, I also had to be strong. I had months of one-a-day prep training for the oncoming onslaught of two- and three-a-day training. It essentially ended up a melting pot of fight choreography, training, and mixed martial arts. And I did parkour to be able to do my stunts.

Nic Shimonek is my personal trainer, recommended to me by NFL athlete Jaelan Phillips. Nic was the one who did Saquon Barkley’s recovery from his injury. He was Patrick Mahomes’s backup in college and was a starter at Texas Tech. He’s an NFL guy; that’s the perfect balance of power and speed and agility. He was the spine of the entire training regimen. And, obviously, I wanted to look the part. It’s completely unrealistic to maintain it, but at my peak, when we first started filming, I felt like a real athlete that could go pro. It was four months of work.

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MH: Was there a specific workout that best prepared you?

DR: Do you remember last year’s Chiefs vs. Ravens AFC Championship?When Patrick Mahomes looked like he was going to tear his ACL, and fell back awkwardly? Bob Stroupe is his trainer, and Bob later shared a video on Instagram where they’re training that same weird knee angle.

Nic Shimonek comes from that same philosophy. A lot of the stuff we’re doing, and a lot of his warm-ups, are movements that feel animalistic. Lizard crawls, bear crawls. A lot of things that feel natural but also primal. That’s the stuff that ended up paying off the most, because every day I was warming up my shoulders in a very specific way: bear crawls and Spider-Man crawls. And not just to mention Spider-Man while talking about a Marvel movie. [Laughs] That ended up paying off the most, because my shoulders ended up receiving a lot more full attention.

MH: Was there a specific workout that best prepared you?

DR: Do you remember last year’s Chiefs vs. Ravens AFC Championship? When Patrick Mahomes looked like he was going to tear his ACL, and fell back awkwardly? Bob Stroupe is his trainer, and Bob later shared a video on Instagram where they’re training that same weird knee angle.

Nic Shimonek comes from that same philosophy. A lot of the stuff we’re doing, and a lot of his warm-ups, are movements that feel animalistic. Lizard crawls, bear crawls. A lot of things that feel natural but also primal. That’s the stuff that ended up paying off the most, because every day I was warming up my shoulders in a very specific way: bear crawls and Spider-Man crawls. And not just to mention Spider-Man while talking about a Marvel movie. [Laughs] That ended up paying off the most, because my shoulders ended up receiving a lot more full attention.

MH: What’s your dynamic like with Anthony Mackie, from one Falcon to another?

DR: We’re competitive about everything. He also played football, but I was for sure a better athlete than he was. Even within the movie, you’ll see it, that competitiveness. There’s a couple of running scenes [in the movie]. He knows when to go all out and when not to, based on knowing the tempo of the day. Meanwhile, I was throwing myself at 100 miles per hour, because I can’t fake-run. I would go, and he would be like, “Okay! See you later!” And I’d be exhausted, sweating, and having to go again.

MH: What misconceptions do people have about playing a Marvel superhero? How different are people’s imaginations versus your reality living it?

DR: I posted a photo of my training results. And because athletes go through so much drug testing, people were like, “Oh, he for sure is in some type of cycle.”

MH: Like “not natty?”

DR: Yeah. This is fully natty. There were two months that I did creatine, but outside of that, it was just the training. But that’s the misconception: Because it’s not a sport, everyone must be doing this. And, so, this is just to say that I was all natty, bro. [Laughs]

MH: Almost three years ago, you were in a different high-flying blockbuster: Top Gun: Maverick. How do you feel about that movie now, in hindsight?

DR: When we were out there and realized we were actually going to be in fighter jets, I figured no matter which way it turned out, it was going to be cinematic history. From day one on-set, we knew we were doing something special, and the execution made it transcendent. If the movie would’ve been bad, it still would have been one of the most unique achievements. That [director] Joe Kosinski, [editor] Eddie Hamilton, [producer/co-screenwriter] Chris McQuarrie, and Tom [Cruise] were able to execute on the footage we shot on such a high level.…I’ve held it on such a pedestal. Now, it’s just cool when people catch up with what we were experiencing.

Ramirez played “Fanboy” in 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick.

SCOTT GARFIELD/PARAMOUNT PICTURES/PARAMOUNT +

MH: Any fun stories from the days you filmed the beach scenes?

DR: This is so funny. I wasn’t shirtless for Marvel—it was a different type of pressure—but I got to the best place [physically], that I wish I would’ve gotten to for Top Gun. Because everyone was trying to get shredded. There’s one thing to look good for, and it was the beach scene. But I don’t want to be up on this plane pulling 7.5 Gs and not be where I have to be because I have zero percent water in my body. I may look shredded, but I’m going to pass out in the plane. So, I was trying to hit this balance. I would’ve gone a bit more the route I went [for Captain America: Brave New World]. That beach day, we all raced on the beach, and I smoked everyone. I’ll say that on record. [Costar Greg Tarzan Davis] is going to be pissed.

MH: What did you learn from Tom Cruise?

DR: To this day, we text all the time; he’s still one of the fastest repliers on the planet. He replies faster than [Maverick costar] Jay Ellis does. [Laughs.] But the thing I learned most was: How you do anything is how you do everything. It’s a fine line, making something that works and something that doesn’t. But he has a quality of understanding the craft so much that it gives an ultimate freedom of understanding. Not only of the film, but how the film is going to be received. So, it’s been absolutely about busting my ass. Make sure everything I have control over, I have, and at the same time, let all of that go leading up to the project. There’s only so much you can do.

MH: You’re joining The Last of Us in season 2. What can you tell us? How different is your character, Manny, from Joaquin in the MCU?

DR: It’s a completely different world. [Showrunner] Craig Mazin is a genius, one of a kind—truly a charismatic leader. I get lucky with the quality of artists I’m around. The differences from the video game, you’ll have to see. But Manny has had a completely different upbringing [from Joaquin]. Also, it was a dream to work with Kaitlyn Dever. We’ve always been like, “We gotta work together!” and finally we got to work on something.

AARON RICHTER

MH: It’s a big deal that we’re about to see a man of Latino heritage become a Marvel superhero. What’s at stake in Captain America: Brave New World?

DR: It means a lot. I’m gonna be able to tell every story I want to tell; it would just be dependent on scale [in terms of budget]. But what gets me excited—and it took my grandma to realize this—my grandma sent me a picture from Mexico, holding a stuffed toy of Falcon. A McDonald’s Happy Meal toy. I was like, “Whoa, shit.” I didn’t do this to get the toy, but the fact that I was a toy…subconsciously, as a kid, I developed a relationship toward characters and the actors who portrayed them. It’s incredible to think that could be happening somewhere, whether they’re Latino or not—that they connect with me and it opens up their imagination.

I talk about it as getting permission to do something: for me, it was the Miami Hurricanes in 2001. They were down the street in Coral Gables. These players were 18 to 22 years old, in the national spotlight, doing amazing things. I was like, “Well, if they could do it, I could do it.” That gave me permission to be great. And, so, in the same way, if this kid sees a face that resembles his, he’d be like, “Well, if he could do it, I could do it too.”

MH: You’re part of a bigger universe now. Do you have any dream MCU team-ups?

DR: There’s a lot. I want to work with Lewis Pullman. We were roommates when he got cast in Thunderbolts, and we were in Top Gun together. It’d be interesting for Cap, Spider-Man, and Falcon, based on the turmoil between Anthony [and Tom Holland]. That would be fun. I think it’s mainly based on who I’ve met in person and their personality. Anthony is so funny that I’m imagining him talking shit. We banter quite a bit, so who else could pop on that same wagon? Deadpool? Deadpool would be sick. I don’t know how we’d get anything done.

This interview has been edited for content and clarity.

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