Falcon
Samuel Thomas Wilson
Series · Phase 4
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
2021 · 50 min
Sam Wilson hands Captain America's shield to the Smithsonian because he does not believe a Black man can carry it in this country, and the government immediately gives it to a decorated white soldier…
The Multiverse SagaDisney+84%Released
The story
Sam Wilson hands Captain America's shield to the Smithsonian because he does not believe a Black man can carry it in this country, and the government immediately gives it to a decorated white soldier named John Walker. Bucky is in court-mandated therapy and making amends from a notebook.
The plot follows the Flag-Smashers, a stateless movement radicalised by the borders that reappeared after the Blip, and its best material is entirely off-plot: Isaiah Bradley's ruined life, Zemo dancing in a Madripoor club, and Sam being pulled over on his own family's dock.
Key facts
- Release date
- 19 Mar 2021
- Status
- Released
- Phase
- Phase 4
- Saga
- The Multiverse Saga
- Runtime
- 50 min
- Certificate
- TV-14
- Director
- Kari Skogland
- Writers
- Malcolm Spellman
- Seasons
- 1
- Episodes
- 6
- Streaming
- Disney+
- Timeline placement
- 2024 — six months after Avengers: Endgame
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Anthony Mackie | Sam Wilson / Falcon |
| Sebastian Stan | Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier |
| Wyatt Russell | John Walker / US Agent |
| Daniel Brühl | Helmut Zemo |
| Erin Kellyman | Karli Morgenthau |
| Carl Lumbly | Isaiah Bradley |
Characters
Winter Soldier
James Buchanan Barnes
U.S. Agent
John F. Walker
Baron Zemo
Helmut J. Zemo
Captain America
Steven Grant Rogers
Easter eggs
- Isaiah Bradley's backstory adapts Robert Morales and Kyle Baker's Truth: Red, White & Black, about Black soldiers experimented on with the super-soldier serum.
- Zemo wears his comic-accurate purple mask for the first time, and Daniel Brühl improvised the dance in the Madripoor club.
- Madripoor, the lawless island city the series visits, comes from Chris Claremont's X-Men and Wolverine comics.
- The Power Broker is revealed as Sharon Carter, and her post-credits pardon and Langley reinstatement have never been followed up.
- John Walker's homemade black-and-red suit at the end is US Agent, and the closing title card names him as such.
- Ayo and the Dora Milaje arrive to claim Zemo, and Ayo's 'sun's getting real low' line to Bucky pays off Natasha's Age of Ultron gag.
- Sam's new Captain America suit is built by Wakandan technicians, with a Redwing drone housed in the wings.
- Valentina Allegra de Fontaine debuts recruiting Walker, beginning the through-line that ends in Thunderbolts*.
Trivia
- It was originally planned as the first Marvel Disney+ series, but pandemic delays pushed it behind WandaVision.
- The Flag-Smashers' plot was rewritten because the original storyline involved a global pandemic and Marvel judged it too close to reality.
- Wyatt Russell is the son of Kurt Russell, who played Ego in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and Goldie Hawn.
- Prague, Puerto Rico and Atlanta doubled for Madripoor, Latvia and Louisiana, with Prague standing in for Riga.
- Malcolm Spellman was the head writer and later co-wrote Captain America: Brave New World.
- Carl Lumbly's Isaiah Bradley monologue in episode five was widely singled out as the best acting in any MCU series.
- The finale's title card renames the show Captain America and the Winter Soldier, a change Marvel kept hidden until broadcast.
Reviews
Critics
84%
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier's buddy-comedy chemistry and thorny engagement with American iconography make up for a wobbly central plot.
The MarvelGossips verdict
Two excellent character studies and one badly underwritten terrorist plot fighting for the same six hours. Mackie, Stan, Lumbly and Brühl are all doing real work, and Karli Morgenthau never gets an argument the show is willing to take seriously. Sam's final speech is the closest the MCU has come to saying something plainly.
Related titles
Frequently asked
Does Sam Wilson become Captain America?
Yes, in the finale. He takes up the shield in a Wakandan-built suit and delivers the series' central speech to a Senate committee, then headlines Captain America: Brave New World in 2025.
Who is Isaiah Bradley?
A Korean War-era super-soldier experimented on without consent and then imprisoned for thirty years. He is adapted from the 2003 comic Truth: Red, White & Black, and Carl Lumbly returns in Captain America: Brave New World.
What happened to Sharon Carter?
She is revealed as the Power Broker of Madripoor and, in the post-credits scene, receives a full pardon and returns to government work while selling secrets. Marvel has not revisited the thread in five years.
Is John Walker a villain?
He is a tragedy the show keeps stopping short of condemning. He murders a surrendering Flag-Smasher on camera, is stripped of the title, and is recruited by Valentina as US Agent — the role he carries into Thunderbolts*.