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The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: What’s hidden in plain sight in episode 3

By Mike McNulty

(L-R): Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and Zemo (Daniel Bruhl) in Marvel Studios’ THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
(L-R): Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and Zemo (Daniel Bruhl) in Marvel Studios’ THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved. /
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The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier season 1, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier season 1 episode 3, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier episode 4, Marvel Cinematic Universe, MCU
A view of Madripoor from Marvel Studios’ THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved. /

Madripoor in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

In one of the more exciting avenues the episode went down, Sam, Bucky, and Zemo ended up going to the fictitious country of Madripoor to gain intel about the Power Broker’s Super Soldier Serum 2.0. And this nation of pirates, mercenaries, and thieves of all stripes definitely didn’t disappoint when it came to appealing to comic book fans. Low Town in particular is a great mixture of Southeast Asian urban sprawl, neo noir, and cyberpunk. It even has what could be a nod to the “Brass Monkey Saloon,” even though the neon logo is the face of a purple ape.

But there’s one specific reason for Marvel fans to get excited about Madripoor: Because it’s linked to the X-Men. In fact, its first appearance happened in the pages of Chris Claremont and Steve Leialoha’s New Mutants #32. It also has quite the history with one X-Man in particular, Wolverine. The Princess Bar where Sam, Bucky, and Zemo meet with Selby (Imelda Corcoran)? The owner just so happens to be one of Logan’s former lovers, Tyger Tyger, back when he ran around under the alias “Patch.” And Madripoor also just so happens to be the place where, back in World War II, Steve Rogers and Logan first met.

Of course, seeing how the X-Men and Marvel’s menagerie of merry mutants haven’t been folded into the MCU proper, Madripoor also acts as fan service. What’s unusual is that the episode doesn’t link Madripoor to Hydra, as the island also acted as one of their bases of operations. Then again, perhaps that’s because this branch of Hydra was under the command of one Ophelia Sarkissian, a.k.a. Viper, yet another direct link to Wolverine (a version of the character did appear in 2013’s The Wolverine prior to Disney acquiring 20th Century Fox).

And in case you were wondering, no, the Power Broker has no connection to Madripoor in the comics whatsoever. Neither does Flag-Smasher (Erin Kellyman). But it might offer a clue as to the identity of the MCU Power Broker. That’s because there was a group operating in Madripoor under the name of the “Power Elite” which included one General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (William Hurt) and Taskmaster. That’s right, the same Taskmaster that’s supposed to make his MCU debut in the Black Widow movie. Hmm… what if one of those two turns out to be the Power Broker?

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