The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: What’s hidden in plain sight in episode 5
By Mike McNulty
Shields, wings, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ cameo make up the Easter Eggs and clues for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s fifth episode.
As explained in our review for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s fifth episode, we had one fight, a montage involving fixing a boat, another montage of Sam Wilson’s (Anthony Mackie) shield practice, and lots and lots of character-building downtime. With the slower pacing, you would think this would also allow for more Marvel Comics related Easter Eggs in the Disney Plus series. But in this instance, there weren’t all that many. This isn’t like WandaVision where there seemed to be so many winks and nods (and red herrings) that you you struggled to find your bearings given how deep into Marvel lore one could dive.
Not to say there aren’t any Easter Eggs or references, mind. In some cases, they ended up being rather significant, with very strong hints as to what’s in store for the MCU after the series is done. And to start things off, we’re going to look at what this Disney Plus series has been chronicling since episode one…
Sam’s route to becoming the next Cap in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
All throughout these “What’s hidden in plain sight pieces,” we’ve made comparisons between the original comic book source material and what’s presented in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Since “Truth” is the episode in which Sam gets back the shield – and possibly a new star-spangled version of his Falcon costume – that’s where the comparisons and contrasts must start. And the first major difference is that Sam becoming the new Captain America in the comics vs. what happens in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, is very, very brief.
For starters, Sam didn’t have any doubts about becoming the next Cap (just like he didn’t at the end of Avengers: Endgame). Second, it was Steve, not Sam, who talked with Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) and learned about his story, which is more or less identical to how it’s depicted in the comic book series, Truth: Red, White, and Black. Finally, Sam never had his Falcon wings destroyed prior to becoming the next Cap. If anything, they remained exactly the same.
What is interesting, however, is that this episode does things with Sam becoming the next Cap to make him more in-line with his comic book counterpart as much as possible. In this episode, Bucky gives Sam a new suit, presumably with redesigned Falcon wings made in Wakanda. In the comics, the original Falcon wings were actually made by Black Panther, rather than being Stark or top secret military technology. Also, the first villain Sam fought as the All-New Captain America was Batroc (Georges St. Pierre), whom this episode sets up to have a rematch with Sam.
Granted, we will have to see what Sam’s new suit looks like and how it compares with what he wore as the new Cap. Based on various rumors and leaked photos of action figures, though, it might be pretty darn close.
Oh, and as an aside, it’s rather fitting, and symbolic, that Isaiah makes mention of the famous Tuskegee Airmen, or “Red Tails” in this episode. One could even say that Sam himself is the spiritual descendant of that heroic World War II aerial squadron.