Are you up for some The Falcon and The Winter Soldier speculation? Of course you are! With a week to go now until the debut episode of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, fans are thinking about what they are about to experience. Like any other fan, this is where my mind is going this week. Sure, it was cool to watch Assembled today and see the making of WandaVision, but WandaVision is old news. We’ve been there and done that, so I’m excited for what comes next.

Welcome to Free Talk Friday, and as always thanks for reading the Friday thought’s of my scarred psyche. They’ll catch me eventually, and when they do I’m taking a few of those bast***s down with me. Erm, back onto the subject at hand.

Lets do some The Falcon and The Winter Soldier speculation shall we? But, where to begin?

Super Soldiers Everywhere

Actual plot details on TFATWS (you get the acronym right?) are scarce. What we do know has come from set photos and the odd few leaks from the usual Marvel insiders. However, it’s scary wat we don’t know for this show. I feel like WandaVision was more open to the public before it aired, but I always felt like I knew where TFAWS would go, and not WandaVision. Go figure, I guess it was because WandaVision was so outside of what we think of for the MCU? Whereas, TFATWS feels like almost a continuation from the Russo movies. The Winter Soldier, Civil War, Infinity War/Endgame and now The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Let me explain what I mean.

Whilst Chris Evans may have left the MCU, for now anyway, I feel like the Captain America story goes on without him and this is the next step. This show is all about the mantle of Captain America as a symbol and as a person. And that leads us to Super Soldiers.

RELATED: Post WandaVision Discussion | Free Talk Friday

So far in the MCU, the Super Soldier Serum was only a major factor in Captain America: The First Avenger, and The Incredible Hulk. Since then,  this MacGuffin only really was mentioned once more in regards to Bucky. The idea being that Buck was experimented on by the Russian branch of Hydra. But that formula was a source of as many stories in the comics as Crab’s Patty formula was for Spongebob Squarepants.

Here is something I have been saying since Sam got the shield from Cap at the close of Endgame. Sam needs to become super to be Captain America, and that means getting a dose of Super Soldier Serum. Funnily enough, the shots of Sam struggling to remove the shield from the tree in the trailer has convinced me this will e a plot point of the show. Then recent trailers showed us that the Flag Smasher’s (antagonists) seems to be very strong. Add in some rumors of Eli Bradley becoming Patriot for Young Avengers and tying into his grandfather Isiah’s story in the past, and, well it’s looking likely. It seems like the writing is on the wall, so I’ll be shocked if Super Soldier Serum is not a major MacGuffin in this show.

John Walker

Tying into Sam’s quest to become Cap is John Walker. It seems like someone at least wants John Walker to become the new Captain America and he seems to have the super powers for it, but the wrong nature. I personally think Sam is, realizing he’s not string enough to wield the shield, going to give it up to Walker. However, once things start to go wrong, Sam will realize Steve gave him the shield for a reason. I’m kinda thinking a shadowy reflection of the story of Tony Stark’s legacy played out over Spider-Man: Far From Home. However, with so much more time to tell a story, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier could have a lot more going on.

And Tackling Racism

I will also guess that the race of Sam will be a factor in the show. Walker is white and Sam is black, and we know there will be some who do not want to see a black Captain America. Sadly, that’s also probably true of some sections of the fan base, but there’s not much Marvel can do about that. Perhaps right now, as the BLM campaign realistically fades away, it’s a great time for Marvel to explore the racism in their world?

That’s why I think we will see the story of Isiah Bradley back in the day shown here. To show how he could not be the figurehead that Steve could because of his skin color. Time’s may have advanced, but the truth is, even Disney execs were at one point thinking Black Panther was a gamble. Yes racism is considered idiotic now by most of the first world, but it does still exist.

In order to see why the race of Captain America is not important we need to see Sam taking that mantle from the unsuitable Walker. Perhaps, after he has evened out the odds and got some of that sweet Serum for himself?

Zemo

The real mystery player for me in TFATWS is Zemo, or now called Baron Zemo. Zemo was in my opinion one of Marvel’s best villains in Civil War. No powers, just a guy broken through grief who wants to hit out at superheroes. So how will Zemo have evolved since we last saw him, and what is he doing out of custody?

My guess is that Zemo has been blipped for the last 5 years. He will come back and once again be at large with a new agenda. Perhaps he blames the Avengers for the blip now, even though it was not their fault in the first place and they brought everyone back. However, what Zemo’s aims are here, your guess is as good as mine right now.

I have a feeling based on some images we’ve seen that Zemo is actually going to work with Sam and Bucky at one point in this show. How that might come about though, and whether it lasts, that’s another story.

The Final Word

I’m really looking forward to The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. A lot more so in fact than I was WandaVision, which I still thought was cool. I’m not sure what will happen in TFATWS, this is all just guesswork. The one thing I think may be teased I have not mentioned is the Thunderbolts. I have a feeling that villainous team is coming eventually and I could see seeds being sown in TFATWS for sure.

What do you think of my The Falcon and The Winter Soldier speculation? What do you want to see from Sam and Bucky starting next Friday? As always, leave any thoughts you can below.

 

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