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‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ is a New Beginning for the MCU

Stepping out of the OG Avengers’ shadow

We can pretty safely say now that, yes, WandaVision was different. Eventually the fists came out — it was still a superhero project after all — but for a long time, WandaVision was a bizarre, unfunny romcom that was notable mostly because of its degree of peculiarity (and Agent Woo’s scene stealing). It was also a surprisingly moving examination of grief, wherein Wanda was both hero and villain.

WandaVision threw down the proverbial gauntlet; to paraphrase Tony Stark, Marvel was no longer tip-toeing — they were strutting.

By contrast, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is eminently familiar. It feels like an extension of the Marvel films, most notably the Captain America trilogy, but also Endgame.

My favorite thing about these Disney+ series is having the space to explore things the films would probably gloss over, most notably the post-snap world (the unsnappening? let’s go with that). Spider-Man: Far from Home rather comically touched on it, as band students suddenly reappeared during the middle of a basketball game, and Peter’s romantic rival grew from a dorky kid into a stud while Peter was blipped out. Which is to say, the unsnappening is a background element played for laughs, when it’s noticed at all.

Both of these series take a more serious approach. It remains a backdrop to the spectacle, but nobody is laughing anymore. The world has changed, and these changes promise to carry forward in the new narratives.

Marvel is sometimes a bit loosey-goosey with stakes and arcs from film to film—recall how Tony Stark blew up all his suits at the end of Iron Man 3, only to fly around like usual (and make new metal monsters) in Age of Ultron; whatever self-realization he’d come to was erased by the need to have Iron Man doing Iron Man things. But Marvel is at its best when the events from one film are passed forward, baton-like, to the next, forming a cohesive narrative that no single film or trilogy could accomplish on its own. Consider the scene in Civil War, in which Secretary Ross plays a video of the Avengers’ not-so greatest hits as evidence of their need for accountability. Or how Civil War itself is the impetus for almost everything that comes after.

So it is refreshing to see the unsnappening (is it just me, or is it getting catchier each time I use it?) feature prominently in the storytelling Marvel is doing through Disney+.

The big question on my mind heading into The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was how these two men, both of whom looked to Steve for so much, would pickup the pieces now that Steve is posted up beside a fireplace eating Jell-O with an afghan in his lap. Sam was the right choice to give the shield to, and with it the title — the good man, by Dr. Erskine’s standard — but it was clear at the end of Endgame that Sam wasn’t ready for either yet. And the series finds him in that same mindset. The shield is Steve’s, and belongs in a museum with the rest of his accoutrements (and maybe Steve himself hey-o). It seems like the noble choice, but it’s also clear that Sam doesn’t think he’s worthy of it.

(From a meta story sense, this is all good stuff. It would be weird to see Sam immediately take-up the mantle. Good stories are about the inner journey as much as the outer one; you need both to really make the story sing. It matters nothing that Steve knows Sam is already worthy of the shield. Sam needs to come to that awareness on his own, through the motions of the story (this is called a character arc, kids). It’s clear already that we are going to be taken along on this journey of self-discovery, which is the best news of all.)

Meanwhile Bucky is trying to make amends for a past he was an active participant in but had no control over. He’s in therapy, sorta—does it count if you say little and the only things you do say are lies? Somewhat sadistically, he’s best friends with an elderly man whose son he murdered while mind controlled. The best thing going for Bucky is he finally ditched that 90's era grunge look and got a nice haircut (are you telling me there were no decent barber shops in Wakanda?).

Bucky is keeping a list of names on a little notepad—people to pay back, people to make amends to; it’s a very heavy list as each is tied to some trauma and likely some killing. He’s still caught somewhere between Bucky and the Winter Soldier: psychologically damaged, emotionally stunted, perpetually alone. Happiness may be beyond him after everything he’s gone through, but it also seems he just prefers a good wallow.

We know at some point Bucky will stop ghosting Sam, and then the bromance can begin in earnest. I don’t think they despise each other any more — I don’t see how they could, after everything they’ve been through — but I’m not expecting kumbaya either. I want that we’re-cool-but-I-kinda-hate-you vibe that films such as Lethal Weapon had in spades; they’re partners but they’re also kinda tired of each other’s shit. But when the bullets start flying (or the super-powered fists), there is no one they’d rather have at their back.

WandaVision felt largely like an experiment — in a meta way, it seemed like something outside of the existing continuity (though obviously it will have implications going forward). The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is a more direct continuation of Endgame, and for that I welcome it most enthusiastically. If this show can bottle up what made Captain America: Winter Soldier and Civil War special— grounded action, meaningful stakes, timely laughs — we’ll be in for a real treat.

After one week, so far so good.

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