We still have questions after Disney Plus’ MCU teaser

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Let’s start with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. We absolutely loved this duo in Captain America: Civil War. Together, Sam Wilson (Falcon/Captain America) and Bucky Barnes (Winter Soldier) make up the buddy-cop duo we truly deserve in the MCU.

First and foremost, let’s address Sam Wilson picking up the shield and chucking it across what looks to be a backyard. For those who may have forgotten how things wrapped up in Avengers: Endgame, Steve passed on the shield to Sam Wilson – giving him the official title of Captain America. However, we later see Sam in his Falcon suit, and the teaser later cuts to a football stadium with the government’s choice for Captain America’s successor, U.S. Agent. How will this sit with Sam? Will he fight for his title?

We also see Bucky, who was manipulated by Baron Zemo in Civil War by Baron Zemo. As a result, he reverted back to his former mind-controlled state. In this clip from the show, there’s a moment where Bucky confronts Zemo with a gun pointed directly at his head and, immediately after, the camera angle changes and shows bullets falling from above. What’s the reason for Zemo’s return? Is he a villain? An ally? Some theories can point to Zemo trying to pick back up where he left off in Civil War.

But before Zemo comes into play, it’s best to ask how they even cross paths with him in the first place. Last we heard from Sam and Bucky before the events of Infinity War and Endgame, Sam was in prison for not signing the Sokovia Accords (before being broken out by Steve Rogers), and Bucky went into cryosleep in Wakanda. My guess is that post-Endgame, Sam and Bucky have each other. Sam may or may not still be on the run after the Avengers split in 2016, and Bucky is likely still trying to rebuild himself after his crimes under the Winter Soldier.

Zemo, on the other hand, was imprisoned for the crimes, including the mass bombing in Vienna (which resulted in the death of T’Chaka and many other innocent lives). So my guess is he escaped prison. And when the government’s choice of Captain America’s successor, U.S. Agent is introduced, that could potentially be Zemo’s next target.

Another theory from that confrontation could be that Zemo successfully brainwashes Bucky again; to frame him and get him in the public eye again just as he did in Civil War. If you recall from InfinityWar, Bucky referred to himself as “a semi-stable 100-year-old man”. Could this mean that traces of HYDRA’s programming are still in his brain? It’d be an interesting twist, to say the least.