So far out of all the MCU Marvel shows, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is my personal favorite. This is as close to one of these shows being like an actual movie in the MCU that we have gotten so far. It has the perfect blend of action, character development, and moving the MCU forward as well.
How to Stream or Download The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
To stream or to download the series or to stream it you have to go to Disney+. Start by clicking the Download button at the end of the review.
The Movie Review
Even though this is only six episodes long, there is a ton of stuff that is going down! After the events of Avengers: Endgame, Sam is trying to come to terms with Cap giving him the shield and wanting him to be the new Captain America. There is a bit of a racial element here about protecting a country that does not represent him. However, it is done in a very classy and non-preachy way.
The self-doubt that Sam has over being able to fill Steve’s shoes is handled very well and it really made me think that Anthony Mackie is very underrated as an actor. On the flips side of this, we have Bucky and Bucky, just like Sam has a ton of interesting and deep character development in this show.
Bucky is trying to come to terms with the fact that he did a lot of bad stuff while he was The Winter Soldier and he is trying to face up to this and make amends. Bucky ultimately wants to move on with his life and until he faces his past, he cannot do that. This is kind of heartbreaking to watch as you can tell that Bucky is a good guy, with the heart of a hero.
Bucky and Sam are great together. Antony Mackie and Sebastian Stan have some of the best chemistry in the entire MCU! The two of them are working together to try and bring down a group known as The Flash Smashers who are powered by a knock-off super-soldier serum and these people believe that things were better during the blip.
Their leader, Karli is every bit as interesting and well developed as Sam and Bucky are! It could have just been Sam and Bucky trying to take down the Flag Smashers and that would have been great. However, things are greatly complicated by a few factors. One of the most notable ones is Zemo, the same Zemo from Captain America: Civil War.
He has ties to this serum and he is “helping” Sam and Bucky try to stop it all from getting completely out of hand. Another complication is John Walker. The US government has picked acclaimed soldier, John Walker to be the new Captain America, but the way he does things is at odds with the way Sam and Bucky want to do things.
I thought that John Walker was very well played by Wyatt Russell and I am extremely excited to see him more as US Agent in the MCU in the future. We also get a bit about Sam’s personal life as we see the struggles that his sister is having. In all, Sam and Bucky well and truly have their hands full.
There are also some great roles for other people from the MCU. Agent 13 has a fantastic part, which could lead to bigger things in the MCU and we even get to see War Machine himself, Rhodey show up. It is a great show in its own right, but it has so many awesome ties to past MCU movies.
While some people have criticized the pacing of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, I was entertained from the first episode all the way to the end credits scene. This is just such an awesome show and while it has some truly epic action scenes, it is very story-driven and greatly expands the characters we know and love, as well as adding some awesome new ones too.
