No sooner has the wildly popular Marvel show “WandaVision” ended that the superhero franchise has released its second original series, “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.” This new show presents a shift from its predecessor, as it has a format much more similar to a traditional Marvel plot. However, it has already proven to provide a new take on this well known format, focusing more on the personalities and lives of the individual characters and the impact that the life of a superhero has on them. 

“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” follows Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), also known as the Falcon, and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), also known as the Winter Soldier, as they navigate life post “Avengers: Endgame” and deal with the absence of their best friend Steve Rogers, or Captain America. The show picks up a few months after the events of “Endgame,” when Steve Rogers handed over the shield and the mantle of Captain America to Sam Wilson. 

The show dives into the personalities of the two main characters, and their lives outside of the Avengers, something which is rarely seen in the Marvel movies. In particular, the show develops Bucky Barnes’s personality after his time as Hydra’s (an evil organization) brainwashed super soldier. The show does well exploring the lives of the people behind the suits and the action, allowing viewers to get a better sense of who some of their favorite heroes are outside of the constant fighting. Overall, fans have been pleased to get to know the human side of Barnes and Wilson as they navigate ordinary life. 

Additionally, the show features intense action, and the premiere alone has been much more violent than other Marvel productions. While this had been advertised by Marvel ahead of the series’s release, it was still quite different to see such intense scenes. However, the show’s emphasis on the impacts of superhero life on the main characters helps balance this out, as it explores the effect such intense fighting has on the heroes themselves. 

However, the premiere of “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” moved slowly, and the titular characters notably did not even meet in the first episode. While the exploration of Wilson’s and Barnes’s outside lives gave a unique aspect to the plot, the premiere did not set up the main conflict of the series until the last few minutes of the episode. Considering that the series is only six episodes long, this is quite unusual, as the plot normally develops quickly at the start of a series. Hopefully as the show continues the plot will move at a faster pace, allowing for both good character development and good plot development. 

Despite this flaw, the show features strong acting and fantastic visual effects, creating an immersive experience for the viewer. The cinematography of the show allows viewers to feel as if they are in the scene with the characters, allowing fans to experience the plot along with the characters. All in all, the visual effects of “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” are top notch, and help create an amazing and riveting experience for viewers. 

Overall, “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” premiere shows a promising future for the Marvel Cinematic Universe as it expands both on the big screen and through streaming. The success of the show so far indicates great success for Marvel shows on Disney+, and fans are eagerly looking forward to seeing what Marvel has in store next. For now, “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” is a fantastic show that will surely live on in the hearts of fans for years to come.