On March 19, the first episode of the Marvel Cinematic Universe television series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier aired on the Disney+ streaming service. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is the second television series that takes place in the MCU to air on Disney+, with the first show being WandaVision. The series was created by Malcolm Spellman and stars Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/The Falcon and Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier, who team up to go on a globetrotting adventure in an attempt to take down a anarchistic group of terrorists called the Flag-Smashers led by the main antagonist of Captain America: Civil War, Helmut Zemo (Daniel Brühl), who aims to rid the world of superheroes.
The first episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier titled “New World Order” focuses on Sam adapting to his life after coming back from the dead along with millions of other people in Avengers: Endgame. The majority of the premiere has Sam struggle to help his sister (Adepero Oduye) deal with her financial troubles, as she was also one of the many people killed by Thanos (Josh Brolin) during Avengers: Infinity War and was brought back. Sam also finds his faith in the government shaken, as not only are they letting his sister suffer financially, but they also convince him to give up Steve Rogers/Captain America’s (Chris Evans) shield after the latter gave it to him at the end of Avengers: Endgame. Originally believing that Steve’s shield would be preserved in a museum, Sam is crushed to find out that the government gave it to someone else (Wyatt Russell). Meanwhile, Bucky tries to make amends for his actions as the Winter Soldier when he was brainwashed to be an assassin for HYDRA. He is soon horrified to discover that he murdered the son of his friend (Ken Takemoto) and will likely have to face the consequences sooner or later when the latter finds out. The first episode received critical acclaim from fans and critics alike, who praised the darker atmosphere and grounded tone, along with the cinematic action scenes.
The second episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will air on March 26 on the Disney+ streaming service.
