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For most of its runtime, the premiere episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, the MCU’s latest series to stream on Disney Plus, focused on its characters trying to move on from the past. Be warned moving forward, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode 1 reveal is coming, so again, huger spoiler inbound.
Sam Wilson refuses Captain America’s iconic vibranium shield and instead goes to his sister and other relatives in Louisiana to try to help his sister while preserving his family’s legacy. Bucky Barnes, meanwhile, is going to therapy and trying to make amends for his actions as the Winter Soldier.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode 1 reveal
But all that changes in the final minute of the episode, when it is revealed that the US government has named a new Captain America and that it is someone who has no ties to Steve Rogers. Enter John Walker, also known as Super Patriot, played by Wyatt Russell, who in the comics is a darker, more violent version of Rogers’ Captain America.
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It was the biggest reveal in an episode that was full of backstory, as the heroes mostly dealt with the aftermath of The Blip in Avengers: Endgame and how it altered their lives and those around them. But in revealing a new, more villainous version of Captain America in Walker, the Falcon and the Winter Soldier is able to create an antagonist much closer to home for the show’s heroes instead of the extremist groups that the show also revealed in the episode.
Wilson trusted the government with the shield and intended for it to be placed in the Smithsonian, but giving it to someone else is a betrayal of trust that will no doubt hurt Wilson, who is still serving in the US Air Force. So far, the other antagonists revealed or hinted at by the show are threats from without or outside the US, such as the extremist group Flag Smashers, or even the returning Helmut Zemo, the villain who first appeared in Captain America: Civil War.
But in the Super-Patriot, the Falcon and the Winter Soldier will be facing an opponent who will have the backing of the government and will even be seen as a hero by some, and will even don Rogers’ familiar stars and stripes suit and shield. Wilson was tasked by Rogers to carry the shield and take up the mantle of being Captain America, so seeing someone do that and engage in acts that do not live up to the values that he represents makes him a compelling villain.
Like a lot of first episodes, the Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s premiere was more focused on moving the chess pieces on the board than on shocking twists and spectacles. But in revealing an extreme version of the First Avenger, they have unveiled a villain that both Wilson and Barnes will have a personal reason to fight. Nonetheless, it relatively huge deal for the The Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode 1 reveal.
