Disney just released a new synopsis for the upcoming Captain America: The Winter Soldier, revealing some interesting new plot details. This time around, Steve Rogers (aka Captain America) will be busy trying to adjust to modern life after the events of 2012’s The Avengers. But “when a S.H.I.E.L.D. colleague comes under attack, Steve becomes embroiled in a web of intrigue that threatens to put the world at risk.”
Rogers (played by Chris Evans) will be helped by the likes of Black Widow (Scarlett Johanssen), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), and the Falcon (Anthony Mackie), in order to take down his friend-turned-enemy The Winter Soldier (aka Bucky Barnes, played by Sebastian Stan). In the comics, Barnes is brainwashed by the Soviets and turned into the Winter Soldier, but there’s no word yet on how closely the movie will follow that plotline. He has many of the same skills as Captain America, and features a fearsome mechanical arm. He also has a relationship with Black Widow in the comics, so it will be interesting to see if any of that comes out in the movie as well.
Superhero movies have always worked best when they’ve focused on the “human” side of the protagonists, and directors Anthony and Joe Russo (who have previously worked for Community) have implied they will be doing just that, making me hopeful that this will be a welcome addition to the Marvel canon.
The synopsis also reveals that Rogers will be fighting against “professional assassins,” perhaps evoking a smaller-scale, Bourne-like action movie. I, for one, am hopeful that this is the case. It would be a nice breath of fresh air after the massive destruction seen left and right in this summer’s blockbusters, such as Iron Man 3, Man of Steel, and Pacific Rim. I’m an action junkie just like the next guy, but even I can only take so many shots implying thousands of deaths with no tangible repercussions. Here’s hoping Captain America: The Winter Soldier will reverse the trend.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier is set to hit theaters on April 4th, 2014, and will also star Robert Redford, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily VanCamp and Hayley Atwell.