The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Premiere Features a Third Avenger

At long last, the premiere episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has finally arrived on Disney+ for Marvel fans everywhere to enjoy. Folks now get to see what happens next in the story of Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes following the final scene of Avengers: Endgame, in which Steve Rogers passes Sam his shield and the mantle of Captain America. The new series is solely about these two heroes, but the newly-released premiere actually includes a cameo from a third Avenger.

For one scene in this first episode, Don Cheadle's Rhodey joins Anthony Mackie's Sam for a conversation about his potential future as Captain America. War Machine is only in the episode for one scene, but he seems to make a significant impact on Sam during their chat.

This may have seemed like a surprise to some, had Cheadle not spilled the beans ahead of his appearance. The actor confirmed last month that he would have an appearance on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, though he didn't reveal which episode he would be appearing in.

"That's some of the fun of the MCU, that we all get to show up in each other's stories, and there are ways that we're cross-platforming these characters, and they become storylines, sometimes, in the movies. And then these storylines in the movies become storylines in the shows," Cheadle told BroBible's Post-Credit Podcast.

"It's really a fun and interesting and, by all imagination, completely open-ended — this can go anywhere," he continued. "It's great, I can't wait to get in the room with the writers and figure out how all those things [connecting Armor Wars to the MCU] happen. You know, Rhodey shows up in Winter Soldier and Falcon's show. So, it can be a lot."

So Rhodey has already shown up in the new Marvel series, but that's not to say he won't have another appearance later in its six-episode run. He and Sam have a close enough relationship that it would make more than a little sense to see him again.

What did you think of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier's premiere? Let us know in the comments!