The Falcon and the Winter Soldier debuted this week to critical acclaim from both casual and hardcore Marvel fans. While the first episode was largely spent laying the groundwork for Sam and Bucky's post- Endgame storyline , there's plenty more to come across the five remaining installments.
With Disney's acquisition of Fox complete, the studio is now free to begin integrating elements of the X-Men and Fantastic Four storylines into the MCU . While films like The Mutants and Fantastic 4 are still some time down the road , it seems like the studio will be starting to bring in smaller Easter Eggs throughout Phase 4.
Despite beginning production not long after the completion of the Fox takeover, it seems The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will include the first of these with an Easter egg found in the closing credits of the first episode.
CLOSING CREDITS TEASE MAJOR X-MEN EASTER EGG
The closing credits of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier 's debut episode have included multiple references to Madripoor, a key city found in the X-Men comics. Madripoor is a crime-ridden southeast Asian island and city, inspired by Singapore. The city has served as the location of the X-Mansion on several occasions, as well as being the location of various Captain America and Wolverine team ups in Marvel Comics.
Eagle-eyed Marvel fans noticed a direct reference to the city during the credits with writing that mentions “Forces from neighboring Madripoor have... [been] committing human rights violations.”
Additionally, a look at the skyline of the city is shown on a torn piece of paper. An identical city has previously been featured in several trailers for the series, confirming Bucky and Sam will travel to Madripoor in an upcoming episode.
Lastly, monkey graffiti is shown during the credits, this may be a reference to the Brass Monkey Saloon, a common criminal hideout that is found in the city and which is confirmed to be featured in the series .
The series creator Malcolm Spellman has previously commented on Madripoor's inclusion in the project in an interview with Screenrant . When the writer was asked about creating the city, he said hardcore fans will “know the ramifications” and others “will be finding out somewhere in the near future.”
“So, Madripoor... We referenced this outlaw city that actually felt like Madripoor in real life. And as we are creating, a bunch of things are happening in the Marvel Universe, and all of a sudden that city becomes Matterport and everybody geeked out. Everybody flipped. They're like, "Oh my God. You know the ramifications of this?" The fans know, and the ones who don't will be finding out somewhere in the near future.”
SO IS THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER INTRODUCING MUTANTS?
The likely answer is no. Based on Kevin Feige's previous comments regarding the series, it doesn't seem like it is set to leave any major universe-changing impact on the MCU, or introduce any insane new characters like Wolverine or the mutants .
However, introducing viewers to the city of Madripoor sets the stage for a return there in future projects that would explore mutants. So while fans shouldn't be bracing themselves for a surprise Wolverine cameo to mirror the comic meeting of Captain America and Logan, it could serve as a fun place for the writers to include some X-Men Easter eggs .
Spellman's comments seem to indicate the studio has discussed plans to involve the series' X-Men connection in the future, potentially in The Mutants movie that is currently in development .
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will release its second episode next Friday, exclusively on Disney+.
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