TV Breakdown: The Falcon And The Winter Soldier (Noah)
Pre-Screening Stance:
I’m the guy who’s excited that at some point in the future Marvel will be the only thing aired on any service. Just wire it to my brain!
Post-Screening Ramble:
Man, if you were in the handful of people who thought WandaVision wasn’t “Marvel” enough for you, let me tell you this: you’re going to love The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Picking up post-Avengers: Endgame with Captain America gone and his title and legacy up for grabs, TFWS finds Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastien Stan) grappling with what to do now that their good friend (sometimes enemy) and mentor, Steve Rogers, is gone. It’s a high-powered bit of Marvel action criss-crossed with a solid chunk of character development. We get to the see the lives of Sam and Bucky outside of superhero theatrics – Wilson is trying to keep his family’s faltering seafood business alive, Bucky is trying to make amends for the horrible things he did while under the control of Hydra without breaking the restraints of his pardon. America isn’t exactly what they remember it to be. It makes even more sense that Marvel opened their television world with WandaVision knowing this was in the can. The mystery box stylings of the outside-the-Marvel-box series drummed up an enormous amount of fan theorizing and attention and now, with everyone looking towards them, Marvel can remind folks what it is they’re best at – character-driven spectacle. And there is some serious spectacle in this show. It starts with what felt like a ten minute fight scene – Wilson’s Falcon battling it out against an endless army of helicopters – and it is exhilarating, director Kari Skogland makes the viewer feel the joy (and the danger) of flying as Wilson dodges missile after missile. It takes a second, after WandaVision, to sort of let yourself sink into this bigger, more trad-Marvel world, but once you do, it’s comforting and downright enjoyable, with all the necessary Marvel bits – humorous banter, ACTION, bros-being-bros – tied into a smaller, more emotionally charged storyline. It isn’t brand new, but it’s definitely showing the range Marvel’s television shows can flex.
One Last Thought:
The credits are chock full of easter eggs. It took my better half and I half an hour to get through the two minute credit sequence because I kept pausing to explain some peripheral aspect of the Marvel universe. Don’t miss ’em.
