The Falcon and the Winter Soldier premiere is a solid start

Although the action scenes drag a bit, the premiere of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier does a good job deepening its characters and world.

Marvel is back with the second of its many MCU Disney+ series: The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. While WandaVision was a weird, mysterious experiment, TFATWS is a more traditional, action-packed superhero story.

“New World Order” wastes no time delving into the action. The first 10 minutes serve up a thrilling airborne sequence with Sam Wilson conducting a rescue mission. It’s here where I felt the episode’s 40-minute runtime drag a bit. If this were a movie, this scene would’ve been cut down to keep the story moving. Instead, we have some time to kill, which means extra time watching Sam being a hero.

It feels very different from the slow buildup of WandaVision. However, both shows give us more time with the characters and pay attention to world-building.

After the opening sequence, “New World Order” spends the rest of its time catching us up with Sam and Bucky. Sam goes back to Louisiana to help with his sister’s business. In Avengers: Endgame, Steve Rogers gifted Sam with his Captain America shield. But Sam is reluctant to take up the mantle and gives the shield to the Smithsonian. I loved how Sam smiles when talking about Steve in front of Lieutenant Torres.

Meanwhile, Bucky struggles to reacclimate to civilian life. He has traumatic nightmares, goes to therapy, and attempts to date. The best moment of the episode is when we learn that Bucky is hanging out with an older gentleman because he feels guilty for killing his son when he was the Winter Soldier.

The movies usually favored the main Avengers over Sam and Bucky, so it’s nice to spend this time with them. In fact, they spend this first episode entirely apart, as the show cuts back and forth between their storylines, allowing their characters to breathe and do their own thing. This is especially refreshing after how crowded Avengers: Endgame was.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier also doubles down on world-building. We got a look at the aftereffects of the Blip in WandaVision and Spider-Man: Far From Home. We know that it’s caused issues in the MCU, but there wasn’t time to dwell on it. But in this show, the Blip is everywhere. It’s part of Captain America’s Smithsonian exhibit, Sam and his sister can’t get a loan from the bank because of the number of new people coming back suddenly, and now a villainous group called the Flag Smashers has risen because they think life was better after Thanos’ snap.

The Flag Smashers are the most intriguing thing about the show so far. I’ll be interested to see how the series tackles their motivations and how Sam and Bucky deal with them later on.

While The Falcon and the Winter Soldier premiere began with a somewhat tired action sequence, its exploration of its characters and world is very welcome. It’s a solid start to a hopefully promising entry into the MCU.

Grade: B+

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