The future of the Captain America moniker is tested in The Falcon & the Winter Soldier. As the world deals with the events of Infinity War & Endgame, Sam Wilson & Bucky Barnes have their own struggles. Sam is unsure if he can live up to the legacy of the Captain America name, while Bucky is questionable of his ability to move on from the Winter Soldier. A pro-snap group is making a name for themselves as the world fails to keep up with the changes caused by Thanos.

The Falcon & the Winter Soldier is a 2021 superhero series, it is produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Television. It is currently available in it’s entirety on Disney+

Editor’s Note: Near complete to complete spoilers for The Falcon & the Winter Solider may be present in this review. General spoilers for the MCU may also be present.

Sam Wilson & Bucky Barnes are preparing for the future in more ways than one. With the impact of the snap having a heavy effect on the world they struggle with their own respective identities. They also have to contend with a pro-snap group making matters worse and a new government appointed Captain America.

THE GOOD: Continuing from the events of Avengers: Infinity War & Endgame, Sam Wilson has struggled with coming to terms of being handpicked as the next Captain America by original Capt. Steve Rogers. His struggles lead him to believe that the title should live and die with Rogers so he decides to officially retire the shield following Rogers successfully having a happy life after returning to his initial timeline. Back home in Louisiana, Wilson is faced with his sister opting to sell the family business due to money troubles. Naturally, Wilson is vehemently against this feeling that it dishonors their parents. Wilson sticks around home in an effort to convince his sister to keep their boat and family business. Elsewhere, Bucky Barnes is dealing with the trauma of his past as Winter Soldier. He frequently visits a therapist and has a list in which he actively works to right his old wrong doings. Bucky also makes friends with a man who lives in his apartment complex, as well as the woman who works at a bar he frequents.

Bucky & Sam reunite and hash out the issues they had over the mantle of Captain America. Sam is informed of an African-American super soldier similar to Rogers named Isiah Bradley & with Bucky goes off to find him. Bradley tells Sam the horrors he endured following the Korean war that the government & Hydra experimented on him for 30 years. Bucky & Sam witness a press conference where a government issued Captain America named John Walker was announced. Meanwhile, a pro Blip group known as Flag Smashers have been making moves across the globe. Led by Karli Morgenthau, they work to aid those effected by the people who returned from said Blip. Walker and his partner Lemar Hoskins/Battlestar introduces themselves to Barnes & Wilson looking to team up but are denied. The group are eventually forced to work with one another following the Flag Smashers recent moves. 

In addition to Walker & Hoskins, Bucky and Sam must work with Helmut Zemo for information on the super serum the Flag Smashers have acquired. Zemo is being hunted by the Dora Milaje for his murder of King T’Chaka. Sharon Carter who has been living as a fugitive also aids Sam and the others with her connections in the criminal world. During a fight with the group led by Karli, Battlestar is killed in action. As the Flag Smashers flee from the accidental killing an enraged Walker chases and kills a Flag Smasher with the shield horrifying those watching. Following the killing Walker slowly loses his sanity and becomes more unhinged. Bucky & Sam try to talk Walker into giving up the shield, but he refuses leading to a fight in which the former win. After a conversation with Torres, Wilson leaves him the damaged wingsuit. Zemo who had earlier escapes is found by Barnes and willingly goes with the Dora Milaje. Following an interaction with Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Walker goes rogue and creates a makeshift shield. 

Wilson fixes his family’s boat with help from the locals & Barnes, he later receives a new Wakanda tech-based winged suit themed after his new title of Captain America. Barnes & Wilson successfully make amends as the Flag Smashers plan to attack a GRC meeting in New York. Wilson; now officially as Captain America, along with Barnes & Carter work together to stop the Flag Smashers. Walker goes after Karli seeking revenge, but eventually redeems himself by saving members of the GRC from a deadly bus drop after they were kidnapped by the Flag Smashers. Carter corners Karli and reveals that she’s the Flag Smashers’ partner The Power Broker. She kills Karli & Batroc who she was also working with. Many enhanced Flag Smashers escape, but are killed by Zemo’s butler. Wilson convinces the GRC to give more time to a proper solution that benefits all who were effected by the snap. de Fontaine gives Walker the moniker of U.S. Agent along with a new suit. Barnes completes his list and moves forward with his life, and Carter rejoins the CIA while planning to sell it’s secrets on the black market. Wilson after convincing Bradley that a black Captain America can exist adds him to the Captain America Museum. 

The Falcon & Winter Soldier is a fantastic first step into the admittedly questionable future of the fourth phase in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. New acts and characters are going to be introduced as minor characters from years past are forced to step up in place of those we lost. Falcon & Winter Soldier deals with the fallout of The Avengers: Endgame as it effects us as viewers as well as the characters within the world of the preceding events. It also tackles a number of rather tough topics such as the horrors of war, racism, and the consequences of cause & effect as well as the changes that come with it. One of the more prominent themes featured in Falcon & The Winter Solider is the PTSD of war vets. It doesn’t delve as deep as it could, but it goes deep enough where you can get a small understanding of the abundance of different pains and traumas these soldiers go through post-war every single day. 

As someone who has had family members apart of war the series helped me sympathize with them that much more than I already had previously. Something that Falcon & Winter Soldier does exceedingly well with is the theme that everyone is a hero in their own story. This is especially true in war, there really isn’t an easy way to deem who the villains and heroes are outside of extreme measures such as the Nazi war for example. And this is the case in regards to Karli and her Flag Smashers. They do horrible things but the reality is they’re for altruistic reasons and even then it was due to desperation from feeling ignored by the world governments on a very serious & delicate issue. 

The series does a lot to set up the next phase for the Marvel Cinematic Universe including the introduction of US Agent, Sam Wilson’s Captain America, and even more seeds are planted for what’s obviously going to be the Young Avengers in the future. Along with the building towards the future we also receive closure as fans as well as do our central characters.  

THE BAD: Some of the contents and heavy material featured in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier may be a bit too much for certain viewers including younger ones to handle. It’s a bit darker in tone compared to previous Marvel entries from the MCU. 

OVERALL THOUGHTS: The Falcon and Winter Soldier debuts phase four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a excellent building block towards the future. Marvel is likely planning much darker continue for fans of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes if the show’s tone is anything to go by and I’m completely here for it. Otaku Dome gives The Falcon & The Winter Solider an 80 out of 100.