3.2 KiB
+++ title = "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021)" date = 2021-08-18
[taxonomies] tags = ["reviews", "series", "series:2021", "stars:4"] +++
Wikipedia Summary: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier[a] is an American television miniseries created by Malcolm Spellman for the streaming service Disney+, based on Marvel Comics featuring the characters Sam Wilson / Falcon and Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier. It is the second television series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) produced by Marvel Studios, sharing continuity with the films of the franchise and taking place after the events of the film Avengers: Endgame (2019). Spellman served as head writer with Kari Skogland directing.
After Avengers: Endgame, there was the expectation that we would see Falcon wielding Captain America's shield, maybe in a future movie. But they did a series instead.
And instead of picking the shield, the first thing Falcon does is give it away. And the constant complaining of Winter Soldier about it. And a dickhead that wield the shield -- just for the money, I guess.
Ok, sorry, lots of spoilers there, but...
Sure, Falcon gives the shield away, but he gives a compelling reason: He worked alongside Captain and knows what he does and what he represents and just don't want to step into his friend shoes, out of respect. It's not that he doesn't see Captain as a symbol, but he sees Steve instead. So you get what he means.
And yeah, Winter Soldier keeps complaining about Falcon giving the shield away, but he's actually worried that, as Steve basically ruined his Captain America image to save him, if giving the shield to Falcon was an error, then saving him was also an error. But, instead of focusing on helping Falcon to actually assume the shield and take the mantle of Captain America, he just spends the time complaining about it.
And sure, the government decide to make another Captain America and take some guy and... heck, didn't they do any psychological check if the person won't break under pressure -- or wasn't a dick beforehand?
And I didn't mention, but there was a black man that was also a super soldier and, for some reason, was never mentioned?
But the whole series is not just about this.
Falcon's fear is, underneath it, the fear of what people would think of a black man being America's symbol. And the fact that the black super soldier refuses to help due the way he was treated (and hidden from everyone) represents the way black soldiers were treated after returning from World War II. And all that is hidden in the guise of an adventure and a symbol till, suddenly, in the last episode, the drop the gloves and all full direct, with Falcon saying things like "Yeah, I'm here, with the shield, and being Captain America and people will still rant 'cause I'm black".
The problem is reaching that point. Things move slowly 'cause hey, you need to make 8 episodes for a thing that could be directly said in 2. And you can't have a series based on action heroes without the action.
It doesn't mean the series is bad, it carries a powerful message for these days, it just have too much filler.