So right away, if you haven’t seen The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, there are going to be spoilers since like it or not, the show has been on Disney+ for weeks now and is easily accessed by anyone with an account. But getting into it, the fact is that while it was very entertaining there were quite a few points that a lot of people might agree with or disagree with when it comes to what went down in this look at a world that no longer has a Captain America, at least for a little while. The trepidation that Sam feels when thinking about taking up the shield is easy enough to understand since trying to step into the same spot that his friend Steve vacated is bound to be kind of tough. But the show never really does say what happened to Steve, unless we’re meant to infer that he simply passed away and this is why the world has moved on in a way. Whatever the case might be, Bucky is adamant about Sam picking up the shield and using it again, but at some point, the US decides that they absolutely NEED another Captain America and can’t wait on Sam to make up his mind, or don’t care since after learning what happened to former super-soldier Isaiah Bradley, it’s easy to wonder if America is going to react in a different manner to Sam picking up the shield. The show definitely delves into the idea of racism, displaced refugees, and other matters that folks tend to see in the news these days, and it’s not hard to wonder why, but we won’t get into that right now.
What is easy to dive into is the fact that the Flag Smashers, who do have a reason to push back, tend to do so in a manner that’s too difficult to NOT call terrorism, so we’ll just go ahead and call them terrorists since ‘displaced freedom fighters who want everything to go back to the post-Blip days’ is kind of a mouthful. On top of that, Karli Morgenthau’s whole idea of revolution and reclaiming a world without borders doesn’t come with a very peaceful compromise since she and her people aren’t willing to just sit down and discuss what could happen and what might be beneficial for those that reappeared after the Blip and those that were there the entire time. Being among those that were dusted, Sam and Bucky didn’t really know what it was like to experience the five long years of pain and torment that went on throughout the world as people had to pick up the pieces and keep going. But their duty upon returning is still more or less the same, but it’s a duty to a world that’s at war with itself, as well as a world in which the role of good and evil just barely applies any longer.
It doesn’t help but that John Walker was allowed to don the outfit and shield of Captain America, as his presence and constant temper managed to make things even more difficult, especially when he sullied the shield and killed a Flag Smasher that begged him not to end his life. From that point on, Walker’s involvement could only get more violent since not only had he taken a vial of super-soldier serum, but he had also gone rogue in an attempt to keep doing the duty he’d been discharged from. If anyone was guessing that things would only get a bit more confused, they were right since by the end Karli was being pushed as a blameless martyr, Sharon Carter was reinstated and now has access to all kinds of secrets and deadly implements, and Sam managed to lecture a senator without really giving a solid idea of how to move forward, but made it clear that Karli was only a threat because others had made her into one. That kind of eliminates the idea that she might have had the freedom of choice, which she obviously did since in a real-world situation she would likely be called a zealot and a terrorist for her actions. This is something that’s bound to incite a lot of debate between fans since Karli and Sharon obviously weren’t in the right the whole time, but they successfully managed to pull the heartstrings of many people in a very profound manner.
The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is definitely a show that depicts a different side of the MCU that’s meant to make people think in a way that could possibly create a troubling trend in the franchise. Like it or not, a lot of people enjoy the MCU a little more when it remains less political and a little more entertaining. It’s not a matter of pretending that real-world issues don’t exist, but it is a matter of enjoying the fictional world of the MCU without feeling as though we’ve just been brow-beaten.
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