YOU CAN BE MY WINGMAN ANYTIME

As the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues its small-screen expansion with THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER, Total Film sits down with stars Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan to talk superheroes, spin-offs and their competitive bromance.

-  ADAM TANSWELL

The Marvel Cinematic Universe had been on something of an enforced hiatus after Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home, with the ongoing pandemic putting a pause on any theatrical releases. That meant 2020 had no new Marvel movies, the first time we’ve been able to say that since 2009.

But even if the films scheduled for release this year also seem uncertain (at the time of press, there’s debate about whether Black Widow will open as planned on 7 May), the MCU is back in a big way on the small screen. WandaVision was appointment viewing, and that renewed obsession with the wider world of Marvel is set to continue with The Falcon And The Winter Soldier.

Digging deep into the two characters introduced in the earlier Captain America films, this six-parter is scheduled to be tonally in keeping with Sam ‘Falcon’ Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky ‘Winter Soldier’ Barnes’ (Sebastian Stan) previous big-screen adventures, featuring action, espionage and a familiar villain in the form of Daniel Brühl’s Baron Zemo, who was last seen in Captain America: Civil War.

Plot details are unsurprisingly shrouded in S.H.I.E.L.D. levels of secrecy, but we do know that the buddy duo – last seen together at Tony Stark’s funeral in Avengers: Endgame, after which the wrinkly Cap handed his star-spangled shield to Wilson – are in for “a global adventure that tests their abilities – and their patience.”