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The next Captain America?
Sam "Falcon" Wilson (Anthony Mackie) struggles with heroism
Photo: Disney +
You shouldn't expect too much from this six-parter, even show creator Malcolm Spellman thinks that.
In an interview at the start of the new Marvel miniseries this Friday, the author and producer hurriedly dampened the hope that "The Falcon and The Winter Soldier" could come up with as many mysteries and narrative novelties as "Wandavision".
On the contrary, his series is "the antithesis" of the successful Marvel sitcom, which was so popular and trimmed to the point that it almost brought Disney's streaming server to its knees.
After the "Avengers" couple Vision and The Scarlet Witch alias Wanda Maximoff, "The Falcon and The Winter Soldier" is dedicated to another duo from the second series of the so-called Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
The series ties in with the mega blockbuster »Endgame« with initially heavy melancholy tones, at the end of which half of humanity (and heroes) wiped out by super villain Thanos was restored, but left the world in a terrible state of shock and hangover.
Whoever did not return to service was known to be the patriotic super soldier Captain America, he preferred to retire.
So the country needs new heroes in order to straighten itself up mentally and morally.
Two loyal, but also war-weary sidekicks of the captain are available.
There is Sam "Falcon" Wilson (Anthony Mackie), who inherited the famous Stars and Stripes shield, but does not (yet) trust himself to play the role - and is probably also concerned about whether the nation is ready for a black Captain America.
At least it suggests the first episode pre-screened to the press.
In the Marvel Comics, by the way, this question has long been resolved, but in times of "Black Lives Matter" protests due to racism and continuous police violence against blacks, it is definitely worth thinking about it again on the big stage of US mass entertainment.
Another potential successor is the captain's very old, artificially young fellow World War II comrade, James "Bucky" Barnes, who as a brainwashed "Winter Soldier" murdered for the Soviet Union for decades before he - refined but broken - joined the "Avengers".
While his upright buddy Wilson in Louisiana has to grapple with the impending ruin of his family's fishing existence and an ignorant bank clerk, Barnes in New York tries to cope with his various post-traumatic stress disorders - with the help of a harsh therapist, but also through amusingly awkward dating attempts with a young sushi chef.
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"Avengers" Falcon and Winter Soldier: Buddy movie with superheroes instead of cops
Photo: Disney +
So in the first hour a lot of plot and even more subtext is negotiated: the current poverty and economic hardship in large parts of the USA as well as the division of the country after the Thanos / Trump nightmare and the longing for healing and (war) generations beyond Reconciliation.
And then there is global terrorism saddling up on general chaos, which, as we have already read, will soon manifest itself in the person of the Nazi villain Baron Zemo (Daniel Brühl).
And apparently SHIELD agent Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp) also plays a role in later episodes - which is good, because women have so far been neglected in the male melancholy.
How was that, one shouldn't expect too much?
I agree.
That "The Falcon and The Winter Soldier" relies more on conventional narrative and action than on finesse is also clear right from the start - in a visually elaborate, James Bond-like intro with Falcon, his drone assistant Redwing, exploding helicopters, whizzing paragliders and hapless bad guys.
His series is designed as a classic »two-hander«, says showrunner Spellman, a buddy movie in which two different characters have to pull together.
So, so to speak, »Lethal Weapon« with superheroes instead of cops.
There are worse things.
"The Falcon and the Winter Soldier"
: From March 19th on Disney +
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