The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is the latest Marvel TV show hitting Disney+ this year. We’ve already seen early trailers and glimpses of all the action, but do we really know what the show is about?
After all the mind-bending shenanigans of WandaVision, there’s high expectations for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and plenty of intrigue about its plot. While it appears to resemble the more ‘normal’ action-heavy side of the MCU, there’s still sure to be plenty of surprises along the way.
Here’s everything Aussies need to know about the new show.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: Australian Release Date
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is set to release on March 19 in Australia. While a schedule and release time has not been announced, it’s likely to mirror WandaVision.
This means each episode will release weekly on Friday, likely around 7 p.m. AEDT. (This post will be updated should we hear otherwise.)
Unlike WandaVision, the show will contain six 40-50 minute episodes long. Given this schedule, it’s likely the show will conclude by late April. In May, it will be followed by Loki.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: Trailer
To date, there’s been THREE major trailers released for the show. The first pre-coronavirus teaser showed off glimpses of the battle for Captain America’s shield, Bucky facing off against Baron Zemo and Falcon navigating a treacherous valley.
As production delays continued and Marvel turned its focus towards WandaVision, we heard less about The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. But 2021’s Super Bowl brought a hefty new look at the show.
The second trailer shows off all the high-speed action and bickering you’d expect from Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes:
And here’s the most recent trailer is just a 3-second teaser, but does offer some brand new footage of Sam and Bucky as they both debate whether they are a team, partners or co-workers. And there’s some cool action scene thrown into the mix, too.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: Plot
Outside of these early trailers, we don’t have a clear idea about The Falcon and the Winter Soldier‘s plot. We do know it takes place after Captain America gives up his cowl for a normal life with Peggy Carter, and that Baron Zemo will be the main antagonist, but that’s about it.
Even the official Disney+ synopsis is notably vague:
“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 The Falcon and The Winter Soldier.”
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What we know so far is Bucky “The Winter Soldier” Barnes and Sam “The Falcon” Wilson will face off against a new breed of terrorist as the absence of Captain America gives rise to new extremists like Baron Zemo. Along the way, they’ll battle these threats and each other as they work to discover who they are beyond ‘Captain America’s sidekicks’.
Who is Baron Zemo?
Helmut Zemo was first introduced in Captain America: Civil War as a Sokovian freedom fighter and former soldier who lost his family in the Avengers’ battle against Ultron (seen in Age of Ultron).
He became obsessed with tearing the Avengers apart, and used Bucky Barnes as a means to drive a rift between Iron Man and Captain America. In his quest for revenge, he also uncovered a cell of dormant Winter Soldier agents and killed them to prevent more ‘Avengers-scale’ battles from taking place.
In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, he returns as ‘Baron Zemo’, a masked terrorist determined to continue his mission to take superheroes down. He clings to an ideology that superheroes are bad and cause chaos in society, so he tries to kill them by being bad and causing chaos to society. Like his comics counterpart, he aims to ‘save the world’ by destroying the influence of heroes.
When we last saw him, he was locked in a containment cell in the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre. Given the events of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, it’s a pretty safe bet he’ll escape at some point in the season to continue his villainous goals.
What to watch before The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier continues in the aftermath of Endgame so it’s set in ‘post-Avengers’ territory. To get the full backstory of everything that’s going on, you’ll actually want to go way back to the start of the MCU with 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger.
The First Avenger should mostly be considered worthwhile backstory for Bucky Barnes. It’s not essential, but it will give you the rundown of his relationship with Steve Rogers, and how he ended up becoming the Winter Soldier. Which leads us to Captain America: The Winter Soldier. This is essential to understanding who Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson are, and why their relationship is so tense. Attempted murder doesn’t make for a solid friendship, after all.
From there, you’ll want to watch Captain America: Civil War. This further expands on Bucky and Sam’s antagonistic relationship (but if you want to skip it, you can just watch the airport scenes). Sam Wilson does appear in Ant-Man in a mostly-inconsequential cameo and has a small role in Age of Ultron but these aren’t essential.
To understand why Captain America is ‘gone’ you’ll want to watch Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame but both of these are only necessary for their backstory. If you just want to know more about Sam and Bucky, you can probably get away with skipping these.
Comics to read before The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
If you’re more in the mood for some reading, you should check out one of Marvel’s newest comics, Falcon & Winter Soldier (2020).
It’s a fun little series following Bucky and Sam on various high speed hijinks with all the banter you could want from the pair. You might also like to check out Bucky’s recent solo series Winter Soldier (2018) and/or Captain America: Sam Wilson (2015), a series which follows Sam in his journey as the new Captain America.
It’s likely The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will pick up on many of the threads laid out in both the comics and the films that preceded it, so it’s a good idea to catch up before the show begins.
How does it connect to WandaVision?
It’s likely Falcon and the Winter Soldier will be a completely standalone tale with no connection to WandaVision.
The original plan for the show was for it to air in early 2020 as the first show in Marvel’s TV streaming lineup, but Covid-induced delays meant production slipped behind schedule.
Marvel shows do tend to be linear and connected, but the scheduling shakeup likely means there are no common ties between them. So basically — you don’t have to have seen WandaVision to watch this show.
Don’t expect to see Wanda, Vision or their twins making an appearance in the action-oriented world of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier begins streaming on Disney+ from March 19.
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