Hot on the heels of “WandaVision,” the newest release on Disney+, “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier,” keeps the Marvel-mania alive. Photo from imbd.com
On the heels of “WandaVision,” the Marvel Cinematic Universe has released their second Disney+ show, “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” which tackles issues of racism and trauma in a post-Blip world.
The first two episodes have stirred up conversations around racism in America, with Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), known as the Falcon, being replaced as Captain America at the end of the first episode by a white man (Wyatt Russell) as a “real person who embodies America’s greatest values.” This takes place after Sam had retired the shield at the beginning of the episode as a nod to history and because he said it hadn’t felt like it belonged to him when Steve Rogers, Captain America, gave it to him at the end of “Avengers: Endgame.”
In the second episode, Sam and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), known as the Winter Soldier, get into a heated conversation about the fact that Bucky withheld the information that there was a Black super soldier from him. A police officer then approaches Sam and Bucky as they argue in the street and asks Sam for his identification. He shows outward racial bias towards him, not asking Bucky, a white man, for his identification, before another officer points out that they are Avengers. Only after the cop realizes Sam is an Avenger does he stop harassing him for identification.
Outside of Sam and Bucky’s interactions, we see racism portrayed once again when Sam and his sister, Sarah Wilson (Adepero Oduye), go to the bank to get a loan for their family’s boat. We can see that Sarah has been worn out by the past five years living during the Blip, where half of the world was snapped away by Thanos, which Sam was not there for as he was snapped away himself. The relationship between Sam and Sarah provides insight into how much stress the past five years have caused for everyday people, especially for a Black woman.
While this show takes on more heavy topics through Bucky’s experiences and court-mandated therapy, it also is a fun, interesting superhero show that delivers on the promise of action. In the two released episodes, we see captivating fight choreography and a greater display of the Falcon’s abilities in combat. This highlighting of the Falcon as a superhero that shines as more than just a secondary character to the original Captain America, is one I can’t wait to see more of.
With four more episodes left to be released in the season, I look forward to seeing how the rest of this show plays out and is included in the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe.
President of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige and his creative team have many other MCU shows in the works; including “Loki,” “What If…?,” “Hawkeye,” “Ms. Marvel,” “Moon Knight,” “She-Hulk” and “Secret Invasion.”
While in the past, Netflix shows like “Daredevil,” “Jessica Jones,” “Luke Cage” and others that aired on that streaming service were not included in the overarching storyline of the MCU, Feige has said that the shows lined up to air on Disney+ will be heavily intertwined with films.
Notable additions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe include the rights to the Fantastic Four as well as The X-Men franchise from 20th Century Studios. A Fantastic Four reboot will premiere before an X-Men reboot comes to screens, but it has been confirmed by Feige that Jon Watts, director of “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” will direct the Fantastic Four movie set to reach theaters in coming years.