It’s been a phenomenal 24 hours for fans of the superhero genre, with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier arriving on Disney Plus to try and siphon some of the buzz away from Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which isn’t going to be an easy task looking at how the HBO Max exclusive has been dominating the headlines ever since it premiered at 3:01 EST yesterday.
That being said, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s second episodic series got off to a solid start, setting the stage for an interesting examination of legacy. Of course, there was the requisite action, and the six-episode show began with a bang thanks to a thrilling extended set piece that sits comfortably alongside anything we’ve seen on the big screen in terms of scale and spectacle.
From there, it was all about setting up the plot, with Sam Wilson getting blindsided by the government announcing a new Captain America after he’d donated Steve Rogers’ shield to a museum, all while he struggles to make ends meet. Indeed, Sam and his sister saw their refinancing plans turned down by the local bank, which opened up a line of questioning that nobody’s ever really mentioned before.
When asked about his salary as an Avenger in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Sam admitted that Earth’s Mightiest Heroes don’t get paid for saving the world and/or universe, but they rely on goodwill instead. Tony Stark used his billionaire status to fund the team and their extensive array of costumes and gizmos, but nobody ever seemed to wonder how they made money in between battling evil. Steve Rogers’ bank account must have accumulated a lot of interest when he was stuck in ice for 70 years, but none of the rest have what you would call regular jobs, so it’s not hard to imagine that some of them may be struggling financially.