6 Capitol attack in the series - not because its creators specifically anticipated or copied these events, but because they sought to tell a story about a country at a perilous crossroads with itself.
Stan said it was inevitable that viewers would see parallels to recent crises like the Jan. “They came from a postwar, antifascist space and were talking about the morals and ethics that were prevalent at the time,” she said. The comics that Marvel published in its formative era “were born of a time where the world was healing from a very particular series of events,” said Skogland, who has also directed shows like “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “The Americans” and “The Walking Dead.” On his very first cover, in 1941, the hero was depicted punching Hitler in the face, and he evolved over decades to reflect Americans’ ambivalence about their leadership and the actions taken in the name of their nation. Kari Skogland, who directed all six episodes, said that the series continued to embrace the same contentious themes - “not just topical issues but hard-to-talk about issues” - that Captain America pioneered as a comic-book character. But the makers of “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” said the series would confront the same questions that the country has been asking itself in recent, turbulent months: Who is an American, and who gets to decide what principles the country stands for? What compels people to take extreme actions in the name of what they believe is patriotism? “If you want any honesty to them, you cannot avoid all the trauma that Bucky’s been through, and you cannot avoid the fact that Sam is Black,” said Spellman.Īs it has with other projects, Marvel is being coy about plot specifics. Spellman, a writer and producer on shows like “Empire,” said that “what survived from the first day I walked in through the million different iterations of this project was the spirit and conflict of the two central characters.”īarnes, a brainwashed combat veteran who has spent periods of his life in suspended animation, is “someone who is 100 years old and has done nothing but fight,” Spellman said, whereas Wilson has spent his career struggling with “the whole Black excellence thing - the concept of working twice as hard to get half as far.” Malcolm Spellman, who created “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” for television and is its head writer, said that while Marvel’s concept for the series had always been “a buddy two-hander,” he had specifically wanted to model the show on genre films that dealt with issues of race, like “The Defiant Ones,” “48 Hrs.,” “Lethal Weapon” and “Rush Hour.” “He wasn’t looking for a promotion at work.” “It wasn’t a thing of him sitting back and waiting for the shield,” he continued. Kevin Feige, the Marvel Studios president, said that from the outset, his company wanted its Disney+ programs to feel as significant as its movies in terms of their production values and of the characters and stories they included.įrom Wilson’s perspective, Mackie said that moment “wasn’t an opportunity - it was a major burden.”
The stage was set for “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” about two years ago, when Disney introduced its Disney+ streaming service and turned to its subsidiary studios for original content.Īt the same time, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was arriving at a narrative turning point with “Endgame,” which said farewell to beloved characters like Steve Rogers while creating opportunities for new champions to rise. “I’ve gotten used to being the guy overlooked,” Mackie said.
It is also a series freighted with implications for the Wilson character and for Mackie the actor, who, in a universe with precious few Black heroes, now have the chance to become full-fledged lead characters after long careers as sidekicks. “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” consisting of six 45-to-55-minute episodes to be rolled out weekly, offers timely explorations into the nature of patriotism and extremism and the values of inclusivity, diversity and representation, set in a world striving for stability after a global catastrophe. Where are they, and how are they coping with the world?” As Stan explained: “We’re going to explore where these two guys left off, with one big character missing - the prominent figure that brought them into each other’s lives.