For avid Avengers fans, “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” was enthusiastically welcomed when the first episode premiered on Disney+ on March 19 and the same excitement carried through to the season finale that aired on Friday.
For those unfamiliar to the vast Marvel Universe, this six-episode series is enough to hook first time viewers into opening Pandora’s box to superhero cinema.
The series begins in the wake of a grief stricken wasteland. A worldwide effort, known as the Global Repatriation Council, is tasked to restore order after half of Earth’s population was eradicated by Thanos only to return displaced five years later.
However in the midst of recovering from the rubble of “Avengers: Endgame,” Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes struggle to process their grief over the loss of Steve Rogers as they pair up to battle an international terrorist group dubbed as the Flag Smashers who deem themselves revolutionaries.
Barnes’ character has evolved into a haunted and drained man on the road to redemption as he endeavors to right his wrongs after relinquishing his bond to who he previously was, The Winter Soldier.
His story of moral recovery is worth a series of its own. A former soldier forced back into society under no new orders is a dead reckoning.
With Captain America’s shield passed on from Wilson’s hands, a new Captain America is chosen and his name is John Walker.
Another blonde haired and blue eyed vet is chosen to give people an icon of hope again, yet it’s safe to say there’s no one other than Steve Rogers.
Although the budding banter between Sam and Bucky is formulaic and often placed between the most inconvenient moments, their characters are compelling and keeps viewers engaged.
The groundwork stretches into the second episode, but the action revs in the third.
The latter half of the series is action-packed with multiple undertakings waiting to be accomplished, mostly back dropped in Eastern Europe.
This is when the Falcon and the Winter Soldier recruit some old friends.
Marvel fans may be pleasantly surprised by the recruits as they’re enlisted to help fight the good fight against the Flag Smashers.
Every superhero story has a villain, but what this series accomplishes so effortlessly is the successful attempt to let the audience understand the Flag Smashers and their young leader, Karli Morgenthau’s side of the story.
Another prevalent side story shines the spotlight on America’s forgotten super soldier, Isaiah Bradley and his animosity toward the symbolism of Captain America as well as the difficulties of the Black experience he endures.
The special yet differing philosophies shared between Isaiah and Sam fuel Sam’s motives that are eventually revealed in the final episode when the Falcon wields the shield as the new Captain America after John Walker’s public and bloody fall from the public’s grace.
With so many loose ends to meet and acknowledge from past Marvel installments and groundwork to lay for future additions in film and television, “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” had a lot to accomplish in its only season.
A two or even three-hour feature film couldn’t do a complex story like this justice. At first glance, six episodes may even seem small for such a big story.
The series could have spent a couple extra episodes bridging past events and subplots or even diving deeper into the character’s personal struggles, but Marvel and Disney got the job done.
So much so that the viewer is left wanting more. “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” took on a big task, but built a strong bridge between Marvel installments.
With this series, Marvel shined a spotlight on two of its most interesting and flawed characters while hooking in new fans.
