'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' & 'WandaVision' are different but perfectly balanced 'as all things should be'
'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' may have two bonafide heavyweight superstars in Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan to carry the series, but Marvel's high-octane superhero buddy-cop drama has quite the bar to vault after the staggering success of 'WandaVision'. While Marvel Studios has gone all out on social media with immersing captions and sneak peek footage to promote its latest entrant on the block, there is no doubt that the series will face a stiff challenge to better 'WandaVision' that's still a topic of discussion among MCU fandom.
In many ways, it's unfair that 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' will be constantly compared to 'WandaVision'. After all, the theme and the tone can't be compared. One explored the evolution of Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and clubbed generous doses of quirk, comedy, horror and mystic Paraphernalia, while Mackie and Stan as Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes will have a story to tell in the post-Steve Rogers era. The teaser trailer hardly reveals anything to conjure up something substantial to even speculate.
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However, what it does establish is that the duo are part of an intense, pacy story that says the six-part tale is more than just slambang action. Wilson isn't really ready to wield the shield, while for a rehabbed Buck, being a good guy seems to be a bit of a challenge, even with the Vibranium arm. What piques interest when it comes to the series is how the story has connected both characters from 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' to 'Avengers: Endgame'.
To digress a bit, from being victims of Thanos' snap to being partners, the two have come a long way. Now, calling them friends is a bit of a stretch, but at the same time, they're no Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker from 'Rush Hour' either. The relationship is complicated, yet there's chemistry and that makes them click (eventually). To add to the heightened excitement the series promises to bring, there's a new Captain America in town and while it was already revealed that John Walker/ US Agent (Wyatt Russell) would take the shield, there's more to this than just new characters.
There have also been reports that 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will deal with Captain America's legacy and interwoven issues of racism. The theme could not have come at a better time. At one end is Wilson, a man handpicked by Rogers (Chris Evans) as the rightful heir to the shield and at the other is a government-appointed Walker. Showrunner Malcolm Spellman drew parallels between Walker and Bucky.
"Bucky Barnes is dealing with grief. Same with John Walker — they both have different incarnations of a veteran story, in that you do everything for a country, and then who’s there to pick up the pieces for you?" (via Screenrant). How much of Walker's origin story from the comics is used is unclear, but with the narrative Disney+ is going for, a Black Captain America in Wilson just might be possible.
And that's just one of the many reasons as to why 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' will bring its own cool quotient. The Flag-Smashers and Baron Zemo (Daniel Bruhl) are somewhat of an enigma. It would be premature to judge Zemo's capabilities after he fractured the Avengers in 'Captain America: Civil War'. The series will be introducing a new set of baddies into the MCU but what puts 'WandaVision' at an advantage is the connection it has to an upcoming MCU flick in 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness'.
But, unlike 'WandaVision', this series will deal with conflict that a normal human faces. Wilson and Bucky are heroes without superpowers and with the show set in a post-blip world, there will be more developments in the world in the aftermath of 'Avengers: Endgame'. Then comes the whole deal with the superhero costumes, the blitzkrieg action, and a bit of a spy-thriller element thrown into the mix. These make 'The Falcon and The Winter Soldier' a must-watch.
As Thanos rightly puts it in 'Infinity War': "Perfectly balanced, as all things should be", both the series has a lot to offer and surely the debutant comes with its own share of surprises, easter eggs, and fan service. To answer the question of whether the Mackie and Stan-starrer will be better than 'WandaVision', it just might be.
'The Falcon and The Winter Soldier' releases March 19, 2021, on Disney+.
