Sometimes, supporting characters get their day in the sun too.
Marvel’s mini series ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ is an opportunity with, (given the sheer mass and size of roster OF the Marvel Universe) endless opportunity. Here we not only have two superheroes that struggle to get their share of big screen time, which is understandable considering their sharing an average two hour running time with the likes of Captain America and Iron Man….but we have some character development. Shoot, we have some exploratory narrative – an aspect a Marvel film doesn’t usually have a whole lot of time for.
Think of this as a little personal time with the Falcon, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and the Winter Soldier, Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan). Add in a handful of hefty action sequences that are most definitely big screen worthy….and you have a dandy addition to the MCU – possibly a game changer.
The series picks up not long after the events of ‘Avengers: Endgame’. The chaotic maneuver that Thanos pulled, temporarily erasing half the world’s population (referred to as ‘The Blip’), has left our two prime players with their own respective messes to deal with. Sam still straps on the wings and dabbles in the odd military mission, but most of his efforts are spent at his home in Louisiana, trying to help his sister rescue the family business (i.e. life is tough when the Stark fund isn’t there to support you). Meantime, Bucky is attending therapy in a lonely, desperate attempt to erase horrific flashbacks and reconcile his past.
So bold is this series, the two Avengers don’t even share any scenes together in the entire first episode; the backstory is THAT important. And when they do finally get together, there’s an irresistible chemistry between the two, sort of a fiery buddy-buddy cop thing. We DO learn in the setting of the table in the initial chapter that there’s a new threat to society, an organization called the Flag Smashers, a twisted group that has a few super soldiers of their own at their disposal, believing the world was a better place during the Blip.
Obviously, ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ is a more straightforward offering to Marvel fans than the eclectic ‘WandaVision’; but both have their place in establishing a new direction for this franchise. All I know – this is fun stuff. And it’s proof that there’s a lot of life left in your team when you look to the bench.
‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ streams new episodes Fridays exclusively on Disney +.
