Disney+ is at it again! As a part of their “Phase Four” Marvel mini-series releases, Falcon and the Winter Solider follow Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes as they team up in adventures that put their already tense relationship to the test. Like WandaVision, it follows the continuity and events of Avengers: Endgame.
SPOILERS!
Falcon and the Winter Solider
Six months have gone by since millions returned from The Blip. We see both Sam and Bucky in different parts of their lives. Sam is helping the United States Air Force with “covert” operations and he has made the ultimate descision to donate Steve Rogers’ shied to the Smithsonian. Meanwhile, Bucky has been pardoned of his crimes with the condition of going to therapy. Bucky is also grappling with his time at HYDRA as the brainwashed solider in Captain America: Winter Solider. However, as previously stated, Sam and Bucky are in very different parts of their lives, but the similarities they share is fitting in post-Blip and dealing with the trauma following the events of Endgame. Sam and Bucky are also realizing that their lives and future are anything but normal.
Rise and Fall of Captain America & Battlestar
Remember Caps shield, the one Sam ended up donating to the Smithsonian in efforts to preserve Steve Rogers’ and Captain America’s legacy. Yeah, well the U.S. government had alternate plans, and appointed a new Captain America with Steve Rogers’ shield.
John Walker, the new Captain America was a former Captain with the 75th Rangers Regiment, and is a highly decorated solider. Along with best friend and fellow solider, Lemar Hoskins, they became Captain America and Battlestar.
Walker had big shoes to fill when stepping into the role of Captain America. He worked hard to be seen as the Cap, but fell short in many areas. Basically, John Walker was everything the government wanted Steve Roger to be but wasn’t, a pawn to control. Also, Sam and Bucky don’t like him, and I don’t blame them.
A lot happens during Walker’s time as Captain America, including the death of his partner, Battlestar. Walker is obviously upset about this, and he chooses to exact vengeance. He ends up going after a Flag Smasher (which we’ll get into more later) and publicly kills them. This prompts the government to strip Walker of his Captain America status, as well as gets him discharged from the military.
Flag Smashers and the GRC
The struggle is what brings us all together. People who have nothing in common. For we are, after all, simply one world and one people.
The Flag Smashers is led by Karlie Morgenthau, and they actually are super soldiers like Bucky and Steve after stealing about 20 super solider serums. The Flag Smashers are labeled an anti-nationalist group with radical ideals. While they want to revert the world the way it was during The Blip, it isn’t to kill everyone or anything. Instead its so people can survive, instead of being refugees and being deported to their home countries by the GRC.
The Global Repatriation Council, or GRC is an international council whose main job is to manage resources for refugees displaced by the Blip. They’re supposed to reactivate things such as social security, healthcare, citizenship, and even reinstating borders within a country. Mounting tensions between the GRC and the refugees created the Flag Smashers, as these tensions grew, the GRC planned on deporting refugees to their home countries through the legislation called the Patch Act. The Flag Smashers along with some of the refugees didn’t really want this act to be passed. This resulted in tensions coming to a head, Flag Smashers’ leader Karlie accidentally kills Lemar Hoskins. Captain America was able to convince the GRC to not pass the legislation.
The Rise of the U.S. Agent
With the death of his partner and friend, John Walker was effectively stripped of title and rank, as well as kicked out of the military. Walker ended up making his own version of the Captain America shield after it was taking away by Sam and Bucky.
Angered by the turn of events, fueled by vengeance and armed by his shield which is made with his medals from the military, he sets out to track Karlie and the Flag Smashers. Walker is unable to beat the super-soldiers and is saved by Bucky. Bucky, John and Sam are able to save GRC members and take down Karlie. With his vengeance completed, he respectfully leaves Sam and Bucky behind and meets Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, she gives him a new suit, thus becoming the U.S. Agent.
Helmut Zemo & Sharon Carter
Falcon and the Winter Solider didn’t just see the return of Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes, but also former S.H.E.I.L.D. Agent Sharon Carter and Helmut Zemo. Carter is now a criminal living and working in Madripoor after the events of Avengers: Civil War, while Zemo has been in jail and he was broken out by Bucky, and both Carter and Zemo are recruited to help find super solider serum and destroy it.
Both these characters pick up new identities and powerful positions for themselves. Helmut becomes Baron Zemo and Carter becomes the Power Broker.
A New Captain America
After John Walker lost his title and rank as Captain America, the government scrambled to appoint someone new. Sam Wilson, once the Falcon, feels comfortable enough now to accept the mantle as Captain America.
Last Thoughts & Conclusion
Like WandaVision, the events for Falcon and the Winter Solider are leading up to a movie. WandaVision is a lead up to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Falcon and the Winter Solider is a lead up to a new Captain America movie with Anthony Mackie’s Captain America as lead. While the movie is being kept under wraps, their are already a pile of rumors circulating, such as a forgotten MCU villain, Emil Blonsky from the Incredible Hulk movies.
I loved WandaVision for its characters, and Falcon and the Winter Solider didn’t fail to impress with its characters, story, and lead up to a new movie. It respects its foundations, but builds and expands on once secondary characters (i.e. Wanda, Vision, Bucky, Sam, and more) and giving them solid stories, refining backstories and giving them the spotlight they deserve. I look forward to Loki, which is the next miniseries coming out by Disney+.
I rate Falcon and the Winter Solider 4.1/5. Character driven, it’s funny, witty, heartbreaking, and jaw-dropping. A lot of my issues are small, and just inconsequential to the overall concept and story of the show.
Until next time – Cheers!
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