The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: What's Next For the New Captain America?

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has reached its finale, and as many Marvel fans have known since the start of the series, the final chapter was all about anointing the new Captain Americain the Marvel Cinematic Universe. (Major Spoilers Follow!) Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) left his role as Falcon behind in order to become the new Captain America - just in time to help Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) stop Karli Morgenthau (Erin Kellyman), Batroc (Georges St-Pierre), and the Flag Smashers from staging a terrorist attack in NYC. However, now that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is over, Marvel fans are wondering: what's next for the new Captain America?

Will The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Get Season 2?

The biggest question about the future of Sam Wilson's Captain America is how he will next appear in the MCU. Based on the early reactions to how The Falcon and the Winter Soldier ended, a lot of Marvel fans felt like this first season was a bit too short. Fans clearly want to see more of the various storylines and developments that TFATWS established, and while those continuing stories could be woven through any number of upcoming MCU projects, they could also get some central focus in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier season 2 - or rather, Captain America and the Winter Soldier, as the show's ending puts it.

Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige has already made it clear that these Marvel Disney+ series are being taken on a case-by-case basis when it comes to the question of whether or not they receive additional seasons:

"We are developing all of these shows the way we're developing our movies," Feige told SciFiNow+. "In other words, when we start with a movie, we hope there's a part two; we hope there's a part three. But we aren't factoring that into part one... but some of the shows that we're about to start filming, we are keeping in mind a structure that would lead into a Season Two and a Season Three in a more direct way than, say, a show like WandaVision which clearly goes into a feature.

It's pretty safe to say that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier season 1 ends with some clear setup for season 2, so that possibility definitely seems like it's on the table. But then again, TFATWS also sets the stage for something bigger than just another season of the show...

The Next Captain America Movie

Pretty much every fan of the MCU agrees by now: the Captain Americamovie franchise is the strongest solo franchise in the MCU. The First Avenger has become far more appreciated; The Winter Soldier is deemed by many to the best film in the MCU; and Civil War is a classic that gave us the MCU Black Panther, Spider-Man, and of course, Zemo. While The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was a popular TV series, it's not at all on the level that a new Captain America movie would be.

It's not just the fact that Captain America is one of Marvel's strongest movie brands - it's also the fact that Anthony Mackie's version of the character deserves his own spotlight in a feature film. As Kevin Feige indicated, some of these Marvel Disney+ series are meant to help tee-up big movie projects. It took the span of six episodes to explain why Sam Wilson took up Cap's shield; but it arguably takes a movie to full showcase what he does with it, from here. Not giving the black Captain America his own movie might also come off the wrong way, in terms of optics.

Cameos

Until we know whether Sam Wilson gets his own movie or another season of TV, the character is free to pop up in any number of the other upcoming MCU Phase 4 projects. Seeing Sam appear in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania would be a great callback.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (season 1) is now streaming on Disney+.