The Essential MCU Films You Need To Watch Before ‘The Falcon And The Winter Soldier’
Every MCU film you need to have seen to be ready for 'The Falcon And The Winter Soldier'
The Falcon And The Winter Soldier is almost upon us. Happy The Falcon And The Winter Soldier eve, friends.
Lucky for you, we’ve had a sneak peek at the first episode and while we can’t tell you anything about it, we can tell you what you need to have seen from the MCU to get the best possible Sam and Bucky Buddy Espionage experience.
With that, let’s roll.
Captain America: The First Avenger
An obvious one, perhaps, but the story of Bucky Barnes starts with Captain America: The First Avenger. Not only does it explore Steve Rogers’ origins as Captain America, but sets up Bucky’s as The Winter Soldier. It’s foundational viewing when it comes to understanding who Bucky was and who he is now.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
The title gives this one away, really.
The second Captain America film is vital viewing for crucial Bucky character content. But it’s also where Steve Rogers (and us) meets Sam Wilson, aka Falcon, and where Sam meets Bucky. To get a good understanding of the history between Sam and Bucky and Cap, there’s no skipping Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
It’s also arguably one of the MCU’s best sequels.
Avengers: Age of Ultron
While AOU features neither Bucky nor Sam. it’s crucial in understanding the context of Captain America: Civil War.
AOU sets up a chain of events that directly impact Sam and Steve’s search for Bucky in Captain America: Civil War. Here, the destruction of Sokovia sows the seeds for the consequences Steve and Sam will face in Captain America: Civil War for finding Bucky.
Sokovia’s destruction is also the origin story of The Falcon And The Winter Soldier‘s main villain, Zemo.
Captain America: Civil War
Steve and Sam’s search for Bucky ends here with disastrous consequences for the Avengers as a group when it’s revealed Bucky killed Tony Stark’s parents during his time as the Winter Soldier. Captain America: Civil War not only sees the beginnings of Bucky’s rehabilitation as an Avenger but also sees him working alongside Sam for the first time. The two famously do not gel, which tends to happen when you’re both probably lowkey in love with your mutual bestie.
The Falcon And The Winter Soldier’s main villain, Zemo is also a major player in this film tied to Bucky’s time as a Hydra assassin.
Black Panther (End-Credit Scene)
To track Bucky’s full timeline, one simply must check out Black Panther. But since when did anyone need an excuse to watch Black Panther?
Avengers: Infinity War & Avengers: Endgame
These two films set up all Marvel’s phase 4 projects and are arguably the most vital for understanding the setting of The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, even if Bucky and Sam aren’t featured heavily.
The ending of Endgame in particular sets up the premise of Sam and Bucky’s team up and why their mutual bestie boyfriend, Steve is no longer with them.
The Falcon And The Winter Soldier will stream new episodes every Friday at 7pm AEDT on Disney+. The first episode will stream Friday, the 19th of March, 2021.
Merryana Salem (she|they) is a proud Wonnarua and Lebanese–Australian writer, critic, teacher, researcher and podcaster on most social media as @akajustmerry. If you want, check out their podcast, GayV Club where they gush about LGBT rep in media. Either way, she hopes you ate something nice today.