Everything We Know About 'The Falcon & The Winter Soldier'

This Friday the first episode of Marvel Studios’ The Falcon & The Winter Soldier will air on Disney+. The series has been in the works for the last couple of years now, and fans are eager to see this “dysfunctional” duo join forces. The series has been said to be Marvel’s “darkest tale yet,” and “the bloodiest and most violent, by far.” Both characters were left confused, and also a little sad the last time we saw them. After returning an Infinity Stone to the 1960s, Steve Rogers didn’t return to the present. In fact, he lived out his life with Peggy Carter only to meet up at the same location as Sam and Buck to give them his shield. In doing so ending Chris Evans’ time in the MCU… For now.

Timeline:

The Falcon & The Winter Soldier has garnished a lot of excitement leading up to its release, and fan theories continue to burn. Bucky is still a wanted criminal for his actions as the mind-controlled Winter Soldier from Civil War. One can assume that after the events of Endgame, law enforcement might look the other way. If that turns out to be the case, both Sam and Bucky will be faced with living in a world that moved on without them, something that Captain America himself was no stranger to. It’s also something that Spider-Man: Far From Home kind of dealt with, but feels like prime material for a limited television series.

It might also be the place to establish what the Avengers look like post-Endgame. Well, provided they exist in any form. Are Sam and Bucky involved in their activities or are they, as it always seems, on their own?

Plot:

Aside from the post-Endgame MCU, the show will have a heavy focus on Sam’s decision to pick up the shield and to be Captain America. In 2019, Kevin Feige said, “Disney+ is going to give us this opportunity to tell even deeper stories on characters you already know and love… in a new type of cinematic way that we haven’t done before.” 6-episodes that are each set to be 45-50 minutes long, seems like the perfect way to expand on these two fan-favorites. Another plot-point that will make Sam’s decision all the more difficult, will be the U.S. government seeming like they aren’t too happy with Steve’s anointed replacement by giving the shield to John Walker. Walker in the comics is known as U.S. Agent and is not as heroic as Steve.

Wyatt Russell will be playing the character. While Walker is a war veteran and a decorated war hero, when given the shield and a taste of the superhero serum that was once given to Steve Rogers, he becomes drunk with power. If you’ve seen Amazon’s highly praised series The Boys, think Homelander. Just a little more hinged and overall, a good guy. He’s like a charismatic Frank Castle/Punisher, just more ruthless. U.S. Agent is an anti-hero in the comics, and sometimes a villain. His complicated past in the comics will most likely have an equally difficult path on the show. This will no doubt lead him into fighting Sam before they, and Bucky, potentially team up to fight a more sinister enemy.

I don’t believe the mantle of Cap will be retaken by the end of the series. That seems like more of a movie reveal than a TV series reveal when some people still don’t have Disney+. Feige has also been on record to say that he doesn’t want people to be confused in the movies because of something was done on a Disney+ show.

Emily VanCamp will be reprising her role as Sharon Carter along with Daniel Bruhl coming back as Helmut Zemo. Seeing where Zemo has bee these last 5-years, is one aspect to the show that I am pretty intrigued by. Was he snapped? If not, what has he been up to? Is Carter secretly working for, or with, Zemo? Is Zemo to blame for the government being against Sam Wilson, a war veteran himself, becoming Captain America? Will Zemo attempt to activate Bucky to break him out of jail? These are all possibilities, and I fully expect at least one of them to become a reality.

Considering his rather complicated lineage in the comics, it is possible the series may spend some time on Zemo discovering his forgotten claim to a Sokovian barony. Although the MCU Zemo seems like he isn’t a fan of social classes, so any sort of noble lineage may be his secret shame.

Sharon Carter’s return is rather interesting. Reports have come out that her and Bucky will have a relationship, and I’d assume Sam won’t be too happy about that. A popular fan theory has been that Sharon has actually been a double agent all along and has been working with Zemo since the beginning, or Civil War at least. That’s a theory I’ve been behind for quite sometime, and if so, will be rather fascinating as it would almost certainly smear the Carter name. Sharon was one of the trillions snapped away by Thanos, but maybe she found her way back to S.H.I.E.L.D, or Zemo. With S.W.O.R.D. being introduced in WandaVision, maybe she’s joined them. Or, it is plausible that Nick Fury could’ve tried to make contact to recruit her for his impending battle against the Skrulls. It’s also possible that Sharon could have a story entirely her own.

Flag Smasher, or in the case Smashers, will be appearing in the series. Flag Smasher’s goal in the comics was to eradicate anything that deemed a threat to the U.S. Considering this seems like it’ll be a group, maybe they’re a subdivision of Hydra, an entirely separate organization, or they’re bad guys employed by General “Thunderbolt” Ross to fight Sam and Bucky. Their involvement in the series continues to bring up the fact that this series is very politically driven. It will involve politics at almost every section and could pose to be the actual main villain of the series.

Connection to the MCU

Besides the obvious that the show is in the MCU, Marvel loves to set-up upcoming projects, and The Falcon & The Winter Solider may offer other connections to projects or added greater depth to the ongoing narrative. In the comics universe, Taskmaster trained John Walker making him one of the most formidable fighters in Marvel. Taskmaster will presumably be the main villain of Black Widow, and could theoretically be someone whose trained Walker in the MCU. Walker often worked for the Commission on Superhuman Activities, a presidential task force aimed at supervising American superheroes, in the comics. They could potentially debut in the series as a new pressure for Sam and Bucky, but also for movie heroes like Captain Marvel, Spider-Man, and Thor.

Another project that has been rumored for years to eventually be coming, is the highly popular comics team the Thunderbolts. This is basically Marvel’s version of the Suicide Squad with General Ross essentially being Amanda Waller. William Hurt is coming back as Ross in Black Widow, which takes place 2-years after Civil War. His quest to take down the Hulk and to contain superheroes, could lead him to not only assembling a team of villains, but becoming Red Hulk. Zemo is team leader in the comics, Abomination is coming back for Disney+’s She-Hulk series, and Ghost hasn’t been seen since Ant-Man & The Wasp. Those three, plus Ross’ Red Hulk, would serve as quite the powerful threat for the Avengers.

Setting up the Thunderbolts in the end of the series, would not only provide the ultimate fan service, but it would also be a smart route for the MCU moving forward. Having a team of villains ran by the government, would surely upset the world’s heroes, and would reestablish Ross as being a villain figure. Him leading the charge of the Sokovia Accords didn’t seem like the villain move that was wanted. While it’s clearly a great throw of shade to heroes, him having a rotating cast of bad guys doing the government’s bidding, would be more exciting.

Not much is known about the show, and that’s something that I love to see. Marvel likes to keep sets lock and keyed which I have a lot of respect for. Set photos or videos leaking, especially when 95% of them are out of context, are unnecessary. Particularly when set photos of Brie Larson in the green Captain Marvel costume leaked online and fans were in an uproar about her donning a green costume… Which was almost instantly revealed to be the costumes of Kree soldiers in 2019’s Captain Marvel.

You can start streaming The Falcon & The Winter Soldier March 19, only on Disney+.