The MCU is coming to Disney+ in a big way. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, from Empire’s Malcolm Spellman and John Wick creator Derek Kolstad, was meant to be the first of these projects to arrive, but due to the nature of things, and the way that the chips have fallen during Marvel’s disrupted 2020 production schedule, it will now be released AFTER the Scarlet Witch and Vision-flavored WandaVision.
Eventually, we’ll get to see what Marvel has planned for the reformed Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and its new Captain America, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), but we’re clearly in for a longer wait than we hoped for.
We’re now just over a month away from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier‘s arrival on Disney+. To keep you occupied until it gets here, here’s everything you need to know…
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Poster
This poster kicks things off in style, with the best look we’ve had yet of Zemo in his purple mask, the mysterious gang of masked villains, and an official look at Wyatt Russell as John Walker in full USAgent gear.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Trailer
A new trailer for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier aired during the Super Bowl. Watch it here. It’s much longer than the one we saw on TV.
And here’s the earlier footage that was released back in December…
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Release Date
Disney chief Bob Iger was the one who originally revealed that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was eyeing an August 2020 premiere on Disney+, but the series will now premiere on March 19, 2021. The cast and crew resumed production on the final pieces of the filming puzzle in Atlanta, Georgia back in mid-September.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Cast
Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan co-star in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, reprising their respective roles as Sam Wilson/Falcon and Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, and some other familiar MCU faces will be joining them – Daniel Bruhl and Emily VanCamp. If those names sound familiar, it’s because they played roles in Captain America: Civil War.
Bruhl starred as Helmut Zemo, a Sokovian citizen turned terrorist mastermind who, in Civil War, engineered the rift between Tony Stark and Steve Rogers. Meanwhile, Emily VanCamp was Sharon Carter, SHIELD agent and grandniece of Peggy Carter. Steve Rogers has kissed both of them, and the intimate moment with Sharon didn’t go down well with fans, so that romance was swept under the rug sharpish.
Desmond Chiam (The Shannara Chronicles) and Miki Ishikawa (The Terror: Infamy) are also in the cast of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Details on their characters have not yet been provided.
Noah Mills has an undisclosed role, too. Mills comes into the series off a run on NBC’s short-lived 2019 crime drama, The Enemy Within, having previously appeared on the network’s single-season thriller series, The Brave.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Story
Here’s an official synopsis of the series, courtesy of Disney:
“Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) team up in a global adventure that tests their abilities—and their patience—in Marvel Studios’ The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.”
What does this mean for Captain America? Well, if you saw the end of Avengers: Endgame, you know that Steve Rogers has lived on, but passed the shield to Sam Wilson, who will be the new Captain America. Bucky approved, but Sam definitely seemed to have some reservations about taking on the shield and all it represents. Don’t be surprised if this series is about the pair coming to terms with a world where Steve Rogers has to play a very different role, and with Sam processing the enormity of his responsibility.
One other thing we know? You will almost certainly want to binge the hell out of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier when it finally lands.
“We’re shooting it exactly like a movie,” said Mackie said in an interview with Variety. “Everybody who had worked on TV before was like, ‘I’ve never worked on a TV show like this.’ The way in which we were shooting, it feels exactly like we were shooting the movie cut up into the show. So instead of a two-hour movie, a six or eight-hour movie.”
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episodes
Deadline reports that Kari Skogland (The Handmaid’s Tale) is directing all six episodes of the series.