The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: Malcolm Spellman Says They Wrote Karli Morgenthau as a Hero

Last week saw the end of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but Disney+ just treated fans to a little behind-the-scenes documentary about the series. The newest episode of Marvel Studios: Assembled is now available to stream and it’s revealed a lot of fun information about how the series was made. The show’s head writer, Malcolm Spellman, was interviewed in the documentary and he spent some time talking about Karli Morgenthau (Erin Kellyman), the leader of the Flag-Smashers. Spellman explains why the character was written as a hero.

“In construction of the character, we were like, ‘Let’s make her a kid.’ And, ‘Let’s make her tap into the spirit of how people feel today.’ And even though the pandemic hadn’t hit yet, that all just exacerbated a feeling folks were having. And if you’re Black, you’ve been having it your whole life, which is, the game is rigged, the people who are at the top are becoming irresponsible. We accept that the game is rigged, but now, they’re getting irresponsible in how much they’re taking from us, and people just have to push back. And we wrote Karli as a hero. She is a hero that goes bad,” Spellman explained.”

In a previous interview with TVLine, Kellyman spoke about her character and the Flag-Smasher’s motivations. “The people who remained kind of came together and supported each other lot more because of the traumatic event — half of the population disappearing — and the borders were open, and people came together, and there was more unity,” she explained. “That’s what she’s trying to replicate that again, but with everybody this time.”

“She thinks that she’s fighting for the people that go unheard and unseen, the displaced people, so she’s against what he’s fighting for,” Kellyman added of John Walker (Wyatt Russell). “But also, he’s not her main focus. She has bigger priorities, and I think the main one is making sure that everybody that’s been affected by the Blip is safe and in warm places and have medical supplies and food to eat.”

What did you think of Karli Morgenthau’s arc in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier? Did you see her as a hero? Tell us your thoughts in the comments!

Watch The Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney+.

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