The Falcon and the Winter Soldier S01E02 is the second instalment of a six-part superhero streaming TV action-adventure drama miniseries. Set six months after the events of Avengers : Endgame, the miniseries continues to expand on the Marvel Cinematic Universe (“MCU”) after the 5 year blip, and the impact this has on the world, and of course, on the superheroes themselves.
S P O I L E R S
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier S01E02, entitled “The Star-Spangled Man”, dives deep into its core premise – the exploitation of the super-soldier serum in the wake of the events depicted in Captain America : Civil War. This exploration of the MCU of the past had only been superficially touched upon in the movies and previous TV series (like Agents of SHIELD and Peggy Carter) so obviously there is much story to be told that can provide an engaging narrative for this miniseries and the others that inevitably follow.
Read our review of WandaVision.
At the end of the previous episode, the world is introduced to the new Captain America viz. John Walker. Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes are reunited mainly due to the latter’s dissatisfaction with the former for the surrender of Cap’s shield. The partnership is cemented as the unlikely duo investigate the enhanced members of the Flag-smasher group introduced in the last episode.
Read our review of The Avengers.
The mission ends badly where even with the aid of Walker and his sidekick Lemar Hoskins (aka Battlestar), the quartet get their asses handed to them by the Flag-smashers. There is an obvious conflict between the two pairs, which plays out humorously (and logically) with Barnes fully on-board with investigating yje super-soldier serum issue.
Read our review of Iron Man.
Which brings us to Isaiah Bradley – an African-American test subject experimented on with the serum after Cap’s disappearance – whom Barnes encounter as the Winter Soldier during the Korean War. Bradley proves to be a dead end but will expect the character to re-appear later in the series. In desperation, Barnes suggests reaching out to the one person who did extensive research on the Hydra Winter Soldier program viz. Zemo (the villain from Civil War).
Read our review of Iron Man 2.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier S01E02 maintains a high level of interest with its revelations of MCU past history. The anticipation is hot that the Weapon X program (and perhaps Wolverine?) will come into play as well.
Now streaming on Disney+.
… still there’s more …