The season finale for Marvel Studio’s “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” was released on Disney+ on Friday, April 23. This season has truly been jammed packed with great Marvel Cinematic Universe content for everyone to enjoy. From Zemo (Daniel Brühl, “The Cloverfield Paradox”) to Super Serums and Wakandans, “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” is giving us a sneak peak into what the MCU may look like in the future.

This series introduces viewers to a post-Thanos enemy, an entire worldwide organization of enemies, to be precise, known as the Flag Smashers. Headed by Karli Morgenthou (Erin Kellyman, “Solo: A Star Wars Story”), the idealist group yearns for the world to go back to the way it was when Thanos “snapped away” everyone in the later moments of “Avengers: Infinity War.” According to Morgenthau, when half the world’s population was taken away, the poor and lower class were able to make a place for themselves in society and in their eyes the world was becoming a better place. These people were thankful for what Thanos did and they agreed with his cause; albeit not being apostles of Thanos. This is what Marvel Studios’ and Kevin Feige do best. They make villains that have an arguably good motive for their actions.

In the beginning of the season, the two title characters are in very different places. Samuel Wilson (Anthony Mackie, “The Night Before”), better known to fans as the Falcon, is giving away Steve Roger’s legendary vibranium shield over to the U.S. Government to be placed in a Captain America museum. At this point in his life, the Falcon really wants to return home to his family, after the events of “Endgame,” to repair his family’s boat. 

The other lead, Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan, “The Devil All the Time”), also known as the Winter Soldier, is show to be a broken man who wants to make amends with his past. He keeps a notebook of all the people he hurt when under mind control by the antagonistic organization Hydra. He spends a lot of time with a man named Yori  (Ken Takemoto, “Ray Donovan”) in particular. Barnes is also required to see a government-mandated therapist, to help talk about his “bad dreams,” which are really just visions of his violent past.

The third main character, and perhaps most controversial one of the series, is John Walker (Wyatt Russell, “Overlord”), the new Captain America. He is a war hero, and with the country needing someone to be the face of the fight against the Flag Smashers, the government gave the Captain America shield to Walker. 

This character by no means was meant to be liked by fans. Contrary to some backlash,  Russell portrayed the character perfectly. Hardcore fans hated his character so much, that some even resorted to sending him death threats. At the beginning of the season, Walker is eager to take up the mantle and become “the best Captain America’’ that he could be.

Throughout the series the main characters, alongside Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp, “The Resident”), LeMar Hoskins (Cle Bennett, “The Tick”) and Zemo, as they try to figure out where the Super Serum, which is being used to grow the Flag Smaher army, is being produced. That way, the heroes can put an end to the group. Clashes between Falcon and the Winter Soldier vs. Walker and Hoskins happen throughout the series and tension builds up between them.

Many times throughout the season, Walker is shown get absolutely destroyed by The Flag Smashers, and even the Wakandans. This leads him to lose his confidence and secure some Super Serum for himself, eventually taking it and becoming more powerful.

The Falcon and Morgenthou talk to each other multiple times throughout the season, and it seems the two have some sort of bond. Out of everyone, the Falcon is sort of able to get through to Morgenthau, but this is all put to an end as Walker loses his patience and ruins their meeting, causing he to lose her trust with the Falcon.

One of the highlights of this season was the character development, especially that of Walker’s. First, he is named Captain America, and then he shows his true colors and lose the mantle. After he loses the title of Cap, he tries to redeem himself in the final battle by constructing a fake shield.

Next, the Winter Soldier is shown at the start to not be too fond of his past. However, toward the end, he comes to terms with his past, allowing for him to make ammends with both his inner-demons and the people who he wronged in the past.

The most important character development we see in this show is in Wilson. Over the course of the season, he realizes what he should have done from the beginning regarding his treatment of the shield and the legacy of Captain America. He realizes that there’s only one person that should have taken up the mantle, and that’s him, just as Rogers originally wanted. In the season finale, we see Wilson donning custom Wakandan-made Captain America armor and it is absolutely epic. The combination of the shield with his wings is incredible. Although Walker attempts to assert his authority as the “real” version of the superhero, it is proven by Wilson that there is only one person who is Captain America, and that is him.

In what was a short, albeit epic, season, fans were given a good glimpse into what the future may hold for the MCU and potentially the next season of this show.  Regardless of how fans felt about the show or its characters, it must be acknowledged how much it did in terms of opening new doors for the MCU to explore. Therefore, the series accomplished a lot in terms of generating excitement for future films and shows.

Image from Marvel Entertainment via YouTube