Falcon And Winter Soldier: A Recap Of Their Big-Screen MCU Backstory

After taking some impressive swings with the genre-bending WandaVision, Marvel Studios will return to a bit more familiar territory with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (premiering Friday, March 19 on Disney+).

Gone are the warring witches and homages to classic sitcoms, replaced by Marvel's hallmark quippy banter and breakneck action sequences. But that does not mean that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier won't be taking some big swings of its own.

The six-episode series follows Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson/Falcon and Sebastian Stan's James "Bucky" Barnes/Winter Soldier on a globe-trotting adventure as they grapple with the legacy left behind by their mentor and good friend, Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans). Given that Steve at the end of Avengers: Endgame returned to the 1940s to live out his days with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), the world is in need of a new Captain America. Yet while Cap handed off his mighty shield to Sam, it seems that the U.S. government has other plans in the form of newcomer John F. Walker (Lodge 49's Wyatt Russell) aka U.S. Agent.

But we are getting ahead of ourselves. A lot happened in the twentysomething films that preceded Endgame, and we trying to recall it all can make you feel like you just emerged from cryostasis. So here is a quick roadmap of Sam and Bucky's adventures in the MCU. Open up that Soviet-red codebook of yours and get to reading!

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Audiences were first introduced to Bucky in Captain America's debut solo film. A best friend to scrawny Steve Rogers since childhood, Bucky leaves Steve behind in the states to join the U.S. Army during World War II. Steve, though, soon joins him after undergoing an experiment that sparks a growth spurt, grants him superhuman abilities and turns him into Captain America. Bucky fights alongside Cap and his Howling Commandos throughout the war, but plummets to his apparent death during a mission in the Austrian Alps.

Before becoming Falcon, Sam Wilson served in the United States Air Force and worked as a PTSD counselor for the Department of Veterans Affairs. But a chance encounter with Steve Rogers puts him on the superhero track, and he assists Cap, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) in taking down HYDRA and the mysterious Winter Soldier — who turns out to be none other than....

It turned out that after his apparent death in The First Avenger, Barnes was rescued by HYDRA. The terrorist group brainwashed and experimented on him — giving him a metal arm and enhanced abilities similar to Captain America's — and turned him into its best assassin. After multiple encounters, Steve is finally able to break through Bucky's Winter Soldier programming, reminding him of his true identity. This, however, leaves Bucky lost and confused, and he goes on the run to reclaim his past. Meanwhile, Cap enlists Sam's help in locating Bucky so he can finally bring him home.

After Cap is called by the Avengers to defeat the last remnants of HYDRA, Sam is left to seek out Bucky alone. He does not have much luck, however, and eventually joins the Avengers himself after several of the members leave the team following the fight  with the malicious Ultron.

Falcon makes a brief appearance in Scott Lang's (Paul Rudd) debut outing, confronting Ant-Man when he tries to steal tech from the Avengers' compound. When Ant-Man bests Falcon, veteran superhero Sam is surprised yet impressed with Scott's abilities, and starts working his sources to locate him. (Both Sam and Bucky appear in the post-credits scene, which is an edited cut of a Captain America: Civil War sequence — but more on that in a moment.)

Now a full-fledged member of the Avengers, Sam accompanies the team on a mission in Nigeria. After an accident leaves multiple civilians dead, the United Nations passes a law requiring superhumans to register with the government. This splits the team, with Cap leading those who refuse to sign (Sam included) and Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) representing the heroes who are OK with more oversight.

Things get more complicated when a resurfaced Bucky is accused of bombing a diplomatic building and killing the king of Wakanda. Cap and Sam locate Bucky before the authorities do, and he denies having anything to do with the attack. When the three are eventually arrested by police, Bucky is interrogated by a psychologist who turns out to be Helmut Zemo (Daniel Brühl), the man who framed Bucky for the bombing. Zemo is able to reactivate Bucky's Winter Soldier programming, sending him on a rampage throughout the facility. Cap is eventually able to subdue Bucky, after which he and Sam hide him in an abandoned warehouse.

Upon recovering from his latest outburst, Bucky informs Sam and Cap that Zemo is after the other Winter Soldiers, who are still in cryogenic stasis in Siberia. To get to Siberia and stop Zemo, the group has to get through Iron Man and the other registered heroes.

Emily VanCamp as Sharon

With a stealthy assist from Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp) aka S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Agent 13, Cap, Falcon and Bucky suit back up, joining Wanda Maximoff, Hawkeye and Ant-Man in an epic airport battle against Iron Man, Black Panther, Vision, Black Widow, War Machine and Spider-Man. In the end, Sam and his unregistered allies allow themselves to be captured and arrested by Iron Man & Co., so that Cap and Bucky can escape.

Daniel Brühl as Zemo

Realizing that Zemo is behind it all, Iron Man flies to Siberia to assist Cap and Bucky. But when Zemo reveals that Bucky, as a HYDRA asset, killed Tony's parents, Stark is led to turn on Cap and Bucky. Tony is eventually defeated by Cap and, after freeing Sam and the other heroes from the supermax Raft prison, the group goes on the run.

Cap drops Bucky off in Wakanda in the mid-credits scene, hoping he will get the treatment he needs to fully remove the Winter Soldier programming from his mind.

Note: Both VanCamp and Brühl will reprise their MCU movie roles in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

In the post-credits scene, Shuri (Letitia Wright), Black Panther's (Chadwick Boseman) sister, meets with the "White Wolf" aka Bucky, who now appears to be fully stable and free of his Winter Soldier persona.

Falcon, Captain America and Black Widow remain on the run for not signing the Sokovia Accords introduced in Civil War. However, the group springs into action after the intergalactic Titan Thanos (Josh Brolin+CGI) attacks Earth. Many of the Avengers eventually end up in Wakanda, where they meet up with Bucky and confront Thanos and his army. However, the Titan proves to be too powerful and, using the all-powerful Infinity Stones, snaps half the universe out of existence — including Bucky and Sam.

Sam and Bucky are brought back after Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) uses past versions of the Infinity Stones to reverse Thanos' snap. The Avengers then defeat the Titan, and Captain America agrees to return the Infinity Stones to their proper places in the timeline. But after doing so, Steve chooses not to return to the present day, deciding instead to live out his life in the 1940s with his true love, Peggy Carter.

In the present, an elderly Cap shows up and passes on his shield to Sam, asking him to become the next Captain America. Sam accepts the shield, promising his (literally!) old friend to do his best.