The anticipation surrounding The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is sky-high, especially after the barrage of new details that have surfaced online with Disney starting its marketing push.
The upcoming MCU series will open a brand-new chapter for Steve Rogers' two best friends, Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes, as the pair tries to navigate life in a post-Blip world.
So far, plot details about the Disney+ project are still being kept under wraps, but it has been made clear that it will tackle the legacy of Captain America. On top of that, the synopsis has confirmed that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will be a globetrotting adventure for Sam and Bucky, meaning that the show will emulate the scale of the MCU feature films.
This will be far different from what WandaVision presented, considering that the Elizabeth Olsen-led project was mostly contained in Westview. While fans wait for the eventual reveal of Sam and Bucky's new mission, a slew of interesting tidbits for the show have emerged.
ANTHONY MACKIE OPENS UP ABOUT THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER
Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan sat down with the Toronto Sun to promote The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and one of the topics that were discussed was the relationship of both characters to Scarlett Johansson's Natasha Romanoff.
While talking about his excitement for what will happen next after The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Mackie shared that a lingering plot thread that he wants to explore next is Sam's friendship with Romanoff:
"All of these shows and all of these movies are kind of like, 'To Be Continued …' By the end of our show, I’m interested to see what’s next. When our script is over and our show is over, we’re just as excited as you are to see what happens next. That’s the beauty of Marvel and the appreciation you have for being an actor in a Marvel movie. Every cliffhanger is a cliffhanger for everybody, except Kevin (Feige). But the question I always ask is: Do I fall in love with the Black Widow? When does that storyline come in? Because I’ve requested that several times."
Stan interjected by joking that it would be interesting to see Sam fall in love “with the memory of her at the cemetery,” but Mackie pointed out that they have a “time machine.” Stan agreed by also mentioning the fact that MCU also has “a sorcerer,” which is a reference to Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange.
Meanwhile, in the virtual press junket for the upcoming Disney+ series, Mackie looked back on Sam Wilson's MCU journey, admitting that the character's superhero life was launched by Black Widow's knock on his door during 2014's Captain America Winter Soldier. The actor also expressed his hopes for a potential spinoff with Romanoff down the line:
“He was a fan just like everyone else. Sam Wilson was a regular guy who just won the lottery because Black Widow knocked on his door and needed a place to hide. He fell in love, and was hoping to have a spinoff with Black Widow.”
SAM'S FRIENDSHIP WITH NATASHA ROMANOFF
On the surface, it makes narrative sense for the MCU to explore the friendship between Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson and Scarlett Johansson's Natasha Romanoff even more, especially considering the fact that Falcon wasn't given the chance to honor his friend's death during Avengers: Endgame. That said, it's reasonable to assume that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will address this lingering plot thread by referencing it through one of Sam and Bucky's interactions.
In a way, Mackie's continued mentions of Natasha could be a hint of things to come for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and this could even mean that the show will connect to this Johansson's Black Widow movie in some form.
Given the proximity between the two projects in the Phase 4 lineup of the franchise, it's possible that some story elements will be interconnected or the series could even feature an appearance from one of the family members of Romanoff like Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova or David Harbour's Red Guardian.
Looking ahead, if Marvel does decide to do a deep dive into the friendship of Sam and Natasha, a good way to showcase that dynamic would be to tell the story of the events that happened in-between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. To recap, this was the time when both heroes were on the run with Steve Rogers due to the Sokovia Accords, and it could help explain how the relationship of the two characters evolved during that specific point in the MCU's timeline.
Whatever the case, Sam's story in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is poised to evolve in surprising ways, and a reference to Black Widow will be a necessary inclusion to help remind fans of how the character's heroic journey began in the MCU.
