The first episode of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier premiered today on Disney Plus, following up the smash-hit success of the first original Marvel Disney Plus series WandaVision. This was a more traditional Marvel feature that fits perfectly in with what you would expect from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, marking the first traditional release in the franchise in well over a year.
From here on in, do be aware there is a spoiler warning for the rest of the review, so do not continue if you do not want key moments of the episode ruined for you.
Spoiler Warning
The episode begins with one of the most elaborate battle scenes we have gotten featuring Falcon, where he assists the US military to recapture a hijacked plane that is heading into Libyan airspace with one of their own.
This battle features a combination of up-close hand-to-hand combat, as well as sweeping shots of Falcon using the full stretch of his powers to fly above and below a ravine, filled desert landscape to save the captured pilot.
Immediately, this show distances itself from the more mystery-driven WandaVision, with more action than we got in that full series, minus the finale, in just the first few minutes.
After a successful mission, Falcon travels to Washington DC, where we learn a bit about his actions since the events of Avengers Endgame.
He has apparently refused to take up the mantle of Captain America, leading to his iconic shield being added to a museum exhibit honoring the legacy of Steve Rogers. Sam Wilson (Falcon) presents the shield to the Smithsonian at a ceremony notably attended by Rhodey (War Machine).
Following the ceremony, Rhodey and Wilson discuss why Falcon hasn't taken up the mantle of Captain America, and debate if the world still needs a Captain America.
At this point, we shift our perspective to a dream-induced flashback by Bucky Barnes of his Winter Soldier days. We see him haunted by his actions as an involuntary assassin, in this instance the murder of an innocent man in a hotel hallway.
Bucky has been pardoned for his crimes, but on the condition of attending therapy, something he is not thrilled about. He lies consistently throughout his session, unable to deal with his trauma from decades as a hired gun, and struggling to adjust to life in the present.
We also learn that he is trying to make amends for his actions as the Winter Soldier, specifically calling out how he exposed an elected official that he recruited for HYDRA for her crimes, in a distinctly Winter Soldier way.
After leaving his session, he meets with an elderly man who is fighting with his neighbor over trash. The two are friendly with one another, proving some level of shared history between them.
Gradually, after the two eat together, we learn he is the father of the innocent man we saw the Winter Soldier murder, making this a part of Bucky's process of dealing with his time as the hitman. He also convinces Bucky to reluctantly go on a date.
We then shift back to Sam Wilson, who visits his sister and their family business in Louisiana.
His sister is struggling to keep the business afloat following being left alone for five years when Wilson disappeared during the gap between Infinity War and End Game. They attempt to get a loan to save the business but fail due to Wilson not having income for five years (due to being blipped).
After this we get our first major hints at the broader storyline for the series, featuring a rising militant group known as the Flag Smashers. This group is connected to the rising belief that life was better before people returned during the events of Avengers Endgame, although beyond this most details about them are left ambiguous.
We see Joaquin Torres, who we were introduced to during the opening battle, attending a Flag Smashers event and recording it.
He pretends to participate, wearing a Flag Smashers mask and recording an operative steal two duffle bags and escape in a crowd of people wearing identical masks.
Before he escapes though we learn one of the Flag Smashers operatives has some level of superhuman strength when confronted by Joaquin.
The episode then ends with a cliffhanger that the US government announcing they have created a new Captain America.
This series is definitely a return to form for the MCU, featuring more of the action and traditional storytelling found throughout the franchise.
At the same time though, it similarly points to several potential story threads from the comics that the next five episodes could follow up on, including Torres becoming the Falcon and the Super Patriot story arc. We are still early in this show's run and the two main characters have yet to meet in the series.
Overall the first episode was a strong start, with two parallel great introductory action scenes followed by setup for what is to come later on.
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