As a result, most of these plotlines are overstuffed and directionless, and both Sam and Bucky often feel like spectators in the series that bears their names. From the rise of the hamfisted revolutionaries known as the Flag Smashers and the Wal-Mart brand replacement Captain America named John Walker (Wyatt Russell), to the return of a much more charming but still equally murderous Baron Zemo (Daniel Bruhl), there’s entirely too much going on for a series that’s only six episodes long to develop any kind of coherent narrative. Rather than the in-depth character study we were all hoping for, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is a convoluted mash-up of about three different shows, none of which are actually about Sam or Bucky. Unfortunately, that’s not at all what appears to be happening on the show we’re actually watching. Now, with Steve officially a senior citizen in retirement, it’s the perfect moment for these characters to step into the spotlight on their own terms. After all, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) both play major roles in the comics this onscreen universe is based on, but both were regulated to supporting parts alongside Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers. A show featuring two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most popular sidekicks, in which they would-at long last-get the focus the larger franchise had denied them? An obvious no-brainer, it’s the sort of story that practically writes itself and something every MCU fan would instantly want to see. It’s clear already that "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," like other MCU narratives - from "Iron Man" (2008) to "Captain Marvel" (2019) - is very enthusiastic about the American military and American military hardware.On paper, Marvel’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier seemed like an automatic slam dunk. This lack of engagement with the downsides of America’s obsession with border security is matched by a lack of engagement with the less savory aspects of America’s military interventionism. The way the discussion hops from border controls to a blanket rejection of change is disturbing given our ongoing orgy of anti-immigrant sentiment and a call for strong borders that has led to concentration camps for migrants. If more civil rights for one group means less for another, the haves are fully justified by ethics and self-interest in crushing protest by the have-nots. Such zero-sum logic casually buttresses a reactionary status quo. “Every time something gets better for one group it gets worse for another,” he says. But he insists that the group’s idealism is foolish. The soldier who describes the anarchist’s motives admits this borderless world sounds appealing. The supervillain of the series is Flag-Smasher, the leader of a quasi-anarchist group that we are told wants “a world that’s unified without borders.” The first episode also lays the groundwork for an examination of the United States’ relationship with colonialism and nationalism. The MCU chooses to pretend that Black achievement in the U.S. After Sam gets the shield, he doesn’t get deluged with racist death threats, as Hank Aaron did when he was about to overtake Babe Ruth’s home run record, or as President Barack Obama did when he became president. Nor do white racists behave as you’d expect them to. No Black friends or colleagues suggest it might be important for Sam to take up the mantle and help confront racist injustice. No one - neither Sam nor anyone else - talks about what it might mean for Captain America to be Black.
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