Falcon & Winter Soldier: Who Are The Masked Men?
Super Bowl LV 2021 wasn’t just about sports for sure, we also got to see the brand new footage of Marvel’s Disney+ series, The Falcon & The Winter Soldier, ever since the first trailer. As Captain America retired from the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Avengers: Endgame, both Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes have some big shoes to fill, but it seems as if they are going to have some serious challenges to prove they are up to snuff. The said series is set to venture into Sam and Bucky’s adventures, and to see who will carry on Captain America’s legacy.
The latest trailer gave us a better idea of the mission that the two friends of Steve Rogers will find themselves in, attempting to battle a hoard of threats while also struggling with their many personality differences. In addition to Zemo, there are other antagonists set to appear in the Marvel show, including a paramilitary group called the Flag-Smashers, of which the “little girl” is a part. The as-yet-unnamed character is played by Erin Kellyman (Solo: A Star Wars Story) and it seems she’ll be skilled enough to best the Winter Soldier, which speaks to her fighting ability.
Though we don’t have a ton of details about the masked villains that have handprints on their masks, it was revealed in earlier material linked to the live-action series that these in fact were the “Flag Smashers”. The Flag-Smasher was a Captain America villain that was created by legendary writer Mark Gruenwald and artist Paul Neary in 1985, taking several different incarnations throughout the decades. Flag-Smasher appeared in a Captain America storyline in which the villain was actually a tool for a Steve Rogers that was under the influence of Hydra, thanks in part to some shenanigans from Red Skull and the cosmic cube.
While this new band of soldiers is obviously far different from the iterations that have been seen in the pages of Marvel Comics, it’s clear that they have an ax to grind with the partners of Steve Rogers and might be in cahoots with the returning villain from Captain America: Civil War, Baron Zemo. Beyond Zemo and the Flag-Smashers, Sam and Bucky will also presumably contend with John Walker (Wyatt Russell), who becomes a kind of successor to Captain America after Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) retired in Avengers: Endgame. We still do not know much of the storyline as it is kept under the wraps, with the trailers keeping John Walker mostly hidden, but not completely as there are still some nods to it, including Sam standing in front of a banner honoring Steve.
The Falcon & The Winter Soldier will land on Disney+ on March 19, 2021.
