The Falcon and The Winter Soldier season 1, episode 1 review: New World Order

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is here but is the premiere episode worth the wait?

After a six month delay, Marvel’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier hit the small screen as it made its presence felt on Disney Plus.

The pilot episode took place roughly five months after the events of Avengers: Endgame. We see the world trying to cope in a life without triumphant heroes, specifically focusing on the legacy of Steve Rogers as it does so.

This premiere painted a wonderful picture of how our favorite heroes have to keep on going. This helps convey what their life is like when they’re not on the front lines battling aliens from planets hundreds of light years away.

The Falcon by day, Uncle Sam… also by day?

The premiere went back-and-forth between both of the titular characters, and it wasted little time looping us into the action with Sam Wilson engaged in an aerial fight in a scene that reminded us of how skilled he truly is.

We meet a new character, Torres, who is a friend of Sam’s in the Air Force and it’s through a conversation between him and Sam that the show can quickly address the elephant in the room, and that is what happened to Steve Rogers.

After a fitting memorial at the Smithsonian in Washington DC, it is safe to assume that our beloved Captain America seemingly passed away. The heartfelt speech that Sam delivers at the memorial is riddled with doubt and there is a clear unsureness in his voice and his words. It’s almost as if he doesn’t feel ready to take on the shield, and to embrace the symbol of hope like everyone was hoping he would do.

It’s really interesting to see someone like an Avenger deal with imposter syndrome when they literally took part in saving the world. A shock comes over him and you can clearly see that he is being too tough on himself. And he may be about to be a lot tougher after the new Captain America debuted on national television using Steve Rogers very own Vibranium shield.

Bucky Barnes adjusts to the 21st century

On the flipside of things, we see what Bucky Barnes has been up to since returning from the blip. He’s now in mandated therapy as a part of his government-issued pardon for his acts as the Winter Soldier. Understandably, the acts he’s done as the Winter Soldier seem to still linger in his mind – despite being brainwashed when they happened.

More from Disney Plus

• Will Loki air a new bonus episode tonight? (November 16, 2023)
• Hawkeye season 2: Everything we know about a potential new season
• Loki season 2: All 6 episodes ranked from worst to best
• Loki season 2’s Marvel Cinematic Universe connections explained
• Ranking the unrankable: Top 10 The Clone Wars episodes, ranked

The therapist asked him to make a list of all the people he’s hurt, and to try to make amends with them. As he tries to comprehend doing that, one of the victims took center stage, Yori – whose son was one of the Winter Soldier’s vicitms. The reality of the damage the Winter soldier caused really starts to settle in with Bucky and no matter how many times he is reminded of that past, it still seems to sting him like it was the first time.

There are some bright moments for him in this episode too, however, such as going on his first date in nearly 80 years – which was going pretty well until he left in the middle of it to confirm that he was the one who killed Yori’s son.

Outlook on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

My personal hope for this series, is to have Sam overcome that imposter syndrome and to pick up the shield that was destined to be his. He will not only be a symbol of hope, but a symbol of courage. The fictional Marvel universe right now is in shambles because the people are still recovering from a massive traumatic experience in the Blip, so they need heroes like Sam to step up and lead the way in this brave new world.

Moving forward, Bucky and Sam will undoubtedly complement each other in a perfect team up that neither expected to happen; but by the end of the miniseries, I have a feeling they will be glad that it did.

You can catch The Falcon and The Winter Soldier on Fridays at 12am PST/3am EST on Disney+.

What did you think of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier‘s premiere? Let us know in the comments below!