Premiere of the Falcon & Winter Soldier series: More of Disney +’s slow status quo

How much energy can you muster for an extended superhero option on TV this weekend? In terms of content that favors deliberately paced cinematics over instant action and wham-bam, the DC Comics universe already has a four-hour option to capture headlines – and for good reason.

Therefore, HBO Max slightly spoiled the debut of the new Disney + series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The first episode was released on Friday, March 19, without the surprise and strangeness that came with January’s. Wandavision premiere. With no news on its side, the series has to have more family laurels. Fortunately, he succeeded in this, but the results did not reach the “hurry to watch now” status that Disney + has enjoyed in recent months.

Shield removes a shield

This is now Marvel Studios’ second post-rollback series, and it is the first to take a more predictable approach to the consequences across the Marvel universe. Endgame define this new TV series in the style of shameless corporate synergy when Chris Evans handed his Captain America shield to Anthony Mackie (The Falcon) and Sebastian Stan (The Winter Soldier), essentially saying to the audience: “Two superheroes will remain one specific plot – then stay tuuuuned. “

On a macro scale, the pilot’s plot revolves around superheroes who struggle with personal issues while trying to make the world a better place. But on the contrary Wandavision, F&WS he seems less confident in trusting that his audience will immediately sink their teeth in an atypical setting.

Falcon opens the series with a 10-minute film-gauge action sequence, in which he is asked to “subtly” save a hostage before an airborne hijacking plan crosses the border with Libya. The Falcon gets dressed, flies and explodes somewhere in the range of five aircraft while punching and kicking a bunch of guys. (As soon as the word “subtle” was spoken, I predicted a lot of bangs and bangs.)

This is a superhero mission, I might add, and everything else that Falcon (also known as Sam Wilson) does in this episode is completely removed from the life of the Winter Soldier (also known as Bucky Barnes). Falcon is openly connected to US military operations. He participates in a “retirement” event for Captain America’s shield, talks to War Machine (Don Cheadle) about grief and reconnects with his sister for the first time since the world was destroyed.

Unfortunately, Mackie is not a character that we can understand and connect with; his pain in the opening scene is unfortunately anchored mainly by Cap’n’s routine melodrama and recognizable iconography. The well-paced Disney + touch of character development doesn’t come into play until we meet your sister (Netflix’s Adepero Oduye When they see us) Their lives diverged enormously after he disappeared for five years, and they acknowledge their disagreements over a series of well-paced events that look more like an ABC drama than an ordinary Marvel movie. It’s not “risky” for a series of superheroes, but we finally managed to see Falcon as a human– and particularly one whose loyalty to the family and plenty of charm can sometimes run out of gas.

Loans, therapy and dates, my God

Meanwhile, Barnes’ timeline seems a little more pulled out of a premium cable archetype. This comparison is reinforced by an unpleasant sitting on the couch that only David Chase’s mother could love. As shameless as the scene may be, it is good to affirm Barnes’s progress as someone who resembles a respectable “hero”. The comings and goings of this session confirm that Barnes is in the middle of a sort of 12-step program for the bandit, correcting Hydra’s complaints from the past.

Unsurprisingly, your control over a real chip is tenuous, and F&WSThe first episode is best when you don’t leave Barnes out of danger. His progress on this series is likely to be marked by the fact that he has to face his worst demons in a brutal way, and this episode does a good job of putting a more animated and emotional cast around those moments. Stan is clearly able to pause and wait for appropriate moments to punch hard, opening up with sincere charm in a moment and then closing in with silent pain and regret, acting like his ass. These moments work in particular thanks to Stan’s castmates jumping on them as if they were in the audience with us.

The real reason this episode works can be summed up in an exchange at Barnes’ therapy session, in which he sighs and lets his guard down for a moment. “I went from one fight to another for 90 years,” he says of his struggle to process emotions. Your doctor pauses: “Now that you have stopped fighting, what do you want?”

This exchange of two lines summarizes F&WSdebut of. This first episode is full of moments that allow two underdeveloped superheroes to stop fighting, look at the camera with their eyes wide open and come to terms with who they are as characters and people. It is not yet known exactly how well the complete series will perform, but given the appearance of the premiere (and the trailers from the previous series), the answer seems to be more mechanical than WandavisionThe approach of: some CGI-filled combat, some tenuous agreements between the titular heroes and, probably, the typical Marvel conclusion of “the heroes will end up saving the day, perhaps with a cost, to prepare the next Big Thing”.

So, if you expected twists and turns that will keep you out of social media to avoid spoilers, so far F&WS it seems to have more emotional dialogue and plot development befitting an ABC series than an ordinary superhero movie. That could be the crux here: a Disney + series that can honestly be a break now, spree later. So if you need a break after four hours of Zack Snyder’s insanity, take a break this week. But know that Mackie and Stan have so far impressed like stars, enough to convince me to keep tuning in to see where F&WS flies to the next one.

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