The Falcon And The Winter Soldier Director is Reinventing Sam Wilson For The MCU (Exclusive)

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier has an opportunity to examine the lives of Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes in deeper ways than previous Marvel Studios titles have allowed thus far. Not only will audiences get a look at these characters outside of their lives among the Avengers heroes and in more traditional social settings but director Kari Skogland has as also made sure to hone in on some new and epic action beats for the characters. Right out of the gate, Anthony Mackie is taking down bad guys in a brand new fashion which some of the most impressive Marvel action sequences would be impressed with.

“In the case of the flight I did a lot of studying of what’s on the Internet in terms of the various action groups that jump out of planes or parachutes or, the GoPro kind of, you know, world that is, I think, very experiential,” Skogland told ComicBook.com. “So I wanted us to feel like we were with him. And so as compared to [Iron Man in-flight action], looking at him I wanted to feel like we were flying right lockstep with him. And that’s what those cameras and that aesthetic has taught us. So, I guess we’ve evolved with understanding that that’s what it is. So it’s a particular aesthetic though. And so it was tricky, you know, to put that on all our guys jumping out of planes in squirrel suits and such.”

The action coming to The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is, according to John Wick action architect Drek Kolstad, the closest thing the MCU has come to those Keanu Reeves thrill rides. “Oh, dude for me, yeah, because they uncap in regards to the action,” Kolstad told ComicBook.com’s Adam Barnhardt. “They would encourage us to go big. And then, we would go big and they’d come back with, ‘That’s awesome, you can go a little bit bigger?’ And yet, it was still rather grounded.”

This means Skogland is getting to spend some time in hand-to-hand combat, in addition to the explosive battles through the air. “We had an amazing team,” Skogland recalls. “In terms of all of the, you know, the hand-to-hand combat or on the ground, it was all to be as real as possible. So, obviously everything’s quite choreographed for safety reasons and such, and we pushed the envelope, but… And we are dealing, you know, with, in some cases, super soldiers and in some cases, you know, with Bucky and all that. But it was to be as real and grounded as possible. That was the goal. So scrappier, you know, and it shouldn’t feel, it should feel unexpected.”

The early reactions to The Falcon and The Winter Soldier‘s first episode give a lot of props to Mackie’s action sequence which opens the show but Mackie himself is very much looking forward to Stan’s action sequences as Bucky. “Sebastian has some pretty cool sequences,” Mackie says. “After watching the series, I was kind of jealous.”

Are you excited for The Falcon and The Winter Soldier? Share your thoughts in the comment section or send them my way on Instagram! Following Friday’s new episode, ComicBook.com’s Phase Zero podcast will record a new review and breakdown featuring our full interview with director Kari Skogland!

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier premieres its first episode on Disney+ on Friday. If you haven’t signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

Note: If you purchase one of the awesome, independently chosen products featured here, we may earn a small commission from the retailer. Thank you for your support.