Walker’s scene with Val (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) further complicates his arc, especially for comic book readers given Val’s history as Madame Hydra, it makes sense she might be putting together a team that might eventually become the Thunderbolts (Marvel’s version of the Suicide Squad.) But considering Walker is primarily positioned as a straight hero by the series end, why would he join this team? It feels like the show is at odds with itself. Walker’s role in the comics is to function as a morally grey hero, but the speed at which Falcon and the Winter Soldier moves Walker into this role is baffling and feels unearned considering where we left his character at the end of the last episode. Walker gets to rush into battle and is quickly validated as a hero worthy of fighting alongside Sam and Bucky. Walker’s slow descent into madness is instantly reversed for, frankly, a setup for some sort of future MCU project-most likely Thunderbolts. Positioning Walker as a villain is too tidy his arc as a manifestation of America’s worst impulses worked fantastically as a stark contrast to what Steve and even Sam represent as Captain America. On the other hand, the work Falcon and the Winter Soldier did with John Walker (Wyatt Russell) felt extraordinarily well-earned-until it was all completely shortchanged in the finale. With this ample breathing room, the finale (“One World, One People”) barrels through all the lingering plot points and shortchanging almost every character involved. With a running time of about six hours, you’d think there’d be plenty of time to explore all of these equally. It’s a straightforward and compelling premise, one that provided a clear statement of intention and gave the series its own unique identity-until the show also tried to balance that weighty topic with exploring the fallout of The Snap, Bucky’s (Sebastian Stan) continued redemption and more. That latter theme is significant for Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which-now that we’ve reached the end of the series-feels like a show that ultimately had identity issues of its own.įrom the outset of the series, Falcon and the Winter Soldier showed it was interested in having serious conversations about what the mantle of Captain America represents in our modern age and what it would mean for Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) to take up that shield. That’s equally true for the MCU Disney+ series as WandaVision and Falcon and the Winter Soldier turn their gaze towards the dual sets of characters in their titles, playing with the themes of grief and identity. Black Widow, Shang-Chi, and Eternals look like they’ll focus on telling tales about saving the world instead of a universe. In the wake of a world-shattering event like Avengers: Endgame, the MCU has re-oriented itself, focusing on telling - for now at least-smaller-scale stories.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |