The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: What’s hidden in plain sight in episode 2

The Real Second Captain America

In what was perhaps the biggest shock of the entire episode, Sam learns from Bucky that Steve wasn’t the only American super soldier. Turns out Bucky, back he was still the Winter Soldier, fought a different Captain America during the Korean War. That Cap was one Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly). And if you knew your Marvel Comics, and read Robert Morales and Kyle Baker’s Truth: Red, White & Black, you were probably just as gobsmacked as Sam, albeit for different reasons.

Once again, though, there’s some slight tweaking from the source material. Just as in the show, Isaiah was a government test subject in their attempts at recreating the super soldier serum after Dr. Abraham Erskine’s (Stanley Tucci) death. Only in the comics, this happened during World War II, not during the Cold War. Moreover, Isaiah was one of 300 African-American soldiers “drafted” into the experiment who survived, which parallels the real-life and infamous Tuskegee Syphilis Study.

Also, if you thought Isaiah suffered a gross injustice based on his backstory in this episode, it’s arguably worse for him in the comics. After his last mission, the Army arrests, court-martials, and imprisons Isaiah for stealing government property, in this case a spare Cap uniform and shield. And while he didn’t spend three decades in prison, he also physically and mentally deteriorated during that time, as the serum ended up giving him early stage Alzheimer’s.

Either way, Isaiah’s story represents America’s checkered and sinful past when it comes to racism and race-relations, particularly when it comes to the treatment and acknowledgment of African American veterans. It’s a bold, courageous move for a superhero series to take and address head-on, and one that deserves to be applauded.

As for him being imprisoned and experimented on for thirty years by Hydra as he reveals in this episode? That’s definitely the origins of this new Super Soldier Serum that’s empowering the Flag-Smashers and what the Power Broker has in his possession. After all, one can’t introduce a long-forgotten super soldier without having it be connected to the greater plot of the series.

We also have the debut of Isaiah’s grandson, Eli Bradley (Elijah Richardson), also known in the comics as Patriot. With Scott Lang’s daughter, Cassie, already grown up, the introduction of Billy and Tommy in WandaVision, and the debut of Kate Bishop in the upcoming Hawkeye Disney + series, it looks like Marvel Studios is definitely setting the stage for a Young Avengers team.

Will Isaiah and Eli Bradley make return appearances later in the series? We’ll have to wait and see, along with how Baron Zemo plays into whatever is really going on. And don’t you worry, we’ll definitely be talking about him next time.

What Easter Eggs and clues did you see in episode 2 of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier? Let us know below in the comments!