Marvel Studios has released nearly two dozen movies by now, resulting in an intricately crafted world sharing storylines and characters on both movie and television screens. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, that means characters, MacGuffins, and locations from previous entries can pop up at what seems to be the most random of times — just look at Avengers: Endgame as an example. The latest episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier happened to include another homage to earlier properties, ripping a sequence straight from Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
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In “The Star-Spangled Man,” the show’s titular duo is forced to come face-to-face with a group of Flag-Smashers. It’s the sequence we’ve seen in the trailers for the series, where the two sides fight each other atop a pair of semi-trailers zooming down the highway. It’s also during this fight Captain America (Wyatt Russell) shows up to help out, a move that leads directly to The Winter Soldier callback.
Viewers quickly find out the Flag-Smashers have some kind of powers — Bucky (Sebastian Stan) later claims they’re Super Soldiers — and Cap temporarily loses his shield to them. The baddies then throw it around, and Bucky manages to catch it with his hand — just like he did when the original Captain America (Chris Evans) threw it at him during The Winter Soldier.
It’s just another one of the many nods Marvel Studios injects into its movies, and it’s a moment fans instantly picked up on. For good reason too, because the shield is set to become a major part of the show as it airs its last four episodes.
“Sam’s whole thing is he went on this journey, this Avenger journey, over six movies with Steve because of his respect and admiration for Steve. He says when Captain America shows up at your door, you answer,” Mackie previously said of Sam Wilson’s thoughts of the shield. “That being said, it’s the pain, the idea of not being able to go on these missions, not being able to help his friend.
“There’s still people out there that still appreciate comradery and friendship…just like everybody else, you don’t want to see Steve Rogers go away…just like he was your Cap, Steve Rogers was Sam Wilson’s Cap. That’s why he says at the end of Endgame, ‘It feels like it’s someone else’s.’ He’s a fan just like everyone else…Sam is just a regular guy who won the lottery when Black Widow knocked on his door and he fell in love and was hoping to have a spinoff with Black Widow.”
Watch The Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney+.
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