The Falcon and The Winter Soldier promises to explore the impact of Steve Rogers’ decision to hand the mantle of Captain America to Sam Wilson/Falcon at the conclusion of Avengers: Endgame. It was a decision met with consternation by Bucky Barnes fans, most of whom had assumed his slow character rehabilitation had been heading towards him taking over the job. At the time, Bucky seemed fairly cool with Steve’s choice, but the upcoming Disney Plus TV show should feature some conflict between them.
Now, we may know one of the other key factors that’ll propel the drama in the series. The hint comes courtesy of writer Marc Bernadin, who co-hosts Kevin Smith’s Fatman Beyond. During their most recent episode, Smith asked whether we’d see Falcon becoming Captain America and Bernadin replied:
“That, I think, is the crux of what that show’s going to be. The government doesn’t want Sam Wilson to be Captain America.”
He refuses to say where he got this information from, but seems fairly certain about it. Now, just because the government doesn’t want Sam Wilson as Captain America isn’t an indication that they actively want Bucky in the role. After all, Bucky was until fairly recently a mind-controlled assassin and terrorist, so his public image probably needs a teeny bit more rehabilitation. However, the fact that the government is apparently trying to control the Captain America ‘brand’ is a neat twist, especially given that for a long part of Steve Rogers’ time behind the shield, he lived as an outlaw.
It’s also notable that during Sam Wilson’s time as Captain America in the comics, he frequently tangled with the US government, objecting to their morally questionable secret projects and arguing that an independent Captain America can get more done.
This all sounds like a really neat basis for The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, but we’ve got a while to wait yet, as the show isn’t scheduled to premiere until fall 2020.