The following contains spoilers for the first episode of The Falcon And The Winter Soldier.
Thanks to Disney+, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is seeing a huge expansion of its properties. WandaVision certainly showed the audience what the platform can offer, and The Falcon And The Winter Soldier expands on the idea. Exploring the lives of Sam Wilson and James “Bucky” Barnes in a post-Captain America world, the series is set to tackle some serious themes.
That doesn’t mean the series won’t feature its share of Easter eggs. It wouldn’t be a comic book property without them these days. The Falcon And The Winter Soldier brings in a lot of new faces from the comics in its first episode, but it also provides for a lot of references to MCU movies of the past. The graphics in the credits even tease what’s to come for the audience.
When Sam brings Captain America’s shield to Washington (in the same case Steve presented it to him in), it isn’t the first time the audience sees the Captain America museum exhibit. It previously appeared in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Bucky and Steve both visited it, but this time, it’s been updated.
The exhibit still features information on the transformation of Steve Rogers into Captain America. It also contains images and props from Captain America: The First Avenger and information about the Howling Commandos. It does, however, also feature information from Avengers: Endgame. There is a list of “The Vanished” and a tile depicting Captain America’s final mission. There’s also information about the Sokovia Accords with a picture of Bucky Barnes, likely detailing his pardoning for his crimes as the Winter Soldier.
Eagle-eyed fans will also notice a familiar image in the assortment of propaganda posters. One of them is actually the cover of the very first real-world Captain America comic book. It’s the Joe Simon and Jack Kirby cover that features Captain America punching Adolf Hitler.
When it comes to Bucky Barnes, despite his Winter Soldier guilt, there are a lot of nods to his time in the first Captain America movie. These are less traditional Easter eggs, and more of a way of showing the audience he’s still the same guy he was before the show delves into really developing his character.
When he heads out for the day in New York, his first activity is saving his friend from an argument in an alley. Unlike the first movie, he’s not in uniform and it doesn’t have to get physical, but that is how audiences first met him.
Likewise, he’s also still looking for love, though this time that experience is flipped for him. In the first movie, Bucky got Steve to tag along on double dates. This time, his new friend is setting him up.
This series, set after the Blip in Avengers: Endgame, is said to be a sequel of sorts to Captain America: Civil War. That’s because it will expand upon the relationship between Sam and Bucky. That being said, it feels more like a spiritual successor to Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The first episode features a ton of callbacks to that film.
The first obvious one is the appearance of Batroc. He opens the show as the villain taking control of a military vessel, in this case, a plane. Batroc previously appeared with a crew to take control of a ship at the start of The Winter Soldier that Captain America and Black Widow set out to stop. This time, it’s Falcon who battles him.
The next involves Bucky sleeping on the floor. When he wakes from a nightmare, it’s from the floor of an apartment with just a pillow and a blanket. That calls to mind a conversation between Sam and Steve in The Winter Soldier about beds being too soft when soldiers return home from war.
Another harder to spot one, unless the audience members are big fans of the “on your left” memes is at the museum exhibit. Sam stands in front of a banner of Steve, but he turns just enough while speaking that Captain America remains on his left as he did during their first meeting.
Fans will remember that Steve kept a running list of pop culture references in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. They were things he missed while in ice. Bucky also keeps a list. His list is a little different. It’s a list of names for him to follow up with from his Winter Soldier days. Some are figures he helped gain power that he wants to take down. Others are those who he wants to apologize to for wronging them. The list spans at least two pages in his book, though likely more. Amongst the names are a few familiar ones.
A Rostov is a comic book character known as the Red Barbarian. He’s a general that runs one of the places where Bucky is imprisoned in the comics. He also ends up assassinated by the Winter Soldier.
PW Hauser could be a reference to a few different people. Paul Walter Hauser actually co-starred with Sebastian Stan in I, Tonya, which would be a more meta-reference. Marvel comics contains two characters with the surname: one fought against the Howling Commandos and another was a radio host who didn’t like Sam Wilson.
C Kusnetsov is also a comic book character. He actually built artificial intelligence and robots for the USSR in his brief appearance.
Zemo is Helmut Zemo from Captain America: Civil War. He’s set to be a major player in the series as well.
L Kaminsky is a prolific comic book writer as is S. Whitaker. Kaminsky wrote several stories featuring Sam Wilson and US Agent John Walker. Whitaker wrote many Captain America stories.
Not all of the new faces in the series are given names, but they are credited as characters fans might know from the comics. First off, Sam Wilson’s family expands from what the audience knows. All of his family members share their names with their comic book counterparts. Even his sister’s jab about “Uncle Sam” is straight out of the comics.
Sam’s new friend Lieutenant Torres seems to be an adaptation of a comic book character as well. Joaquin Torres takes up the mantle of Falcon in the comics when Sam Wilson becomes Captain America. That might explain his interest in Red Wing and his willingness to be Sam’s backup. He was also, however, actually transformed into a person with real bird wings in an experiment. That secret base on the moon Torres mentions could also be a comic book reference to either Uatu the Watcher, who did observe humanity from the moon, or any number of heroes who actually did set up secret bases in space for different organizations.
The Flag Smashers are also based on a singular comic book villain. Two different characters used the mantle. One of those was Karl Morgenthau. Erin Kellyman is credited as playing Karli Morgenthau, so be on the lookout for her to be more heavily involved in the anarchist group.
As the episode comes to a close, Sam and his sister watch a news report. The report unveils a new government-sponsored Captain America. Though the identity of the new hero isn’t revealed, his name is John Walker.
John Walker is also known as US Agent in the comics, though he did take up the Captain America mantle for a time. During his stint, he became more and more violent and reckless. The government eventually became very unhappy with his approach. Though Bucky and Sam don’t interact in the first episode, there’s a good chance neither will be happy with this new person taking up their friend’s heroic identity.
Of course, the news broadcast itself is also an Easter egg. WHiH broadcasts the report. It’s become the unofficial news network of the MCU beginning with its use in the marketing campaign for Ant-Man.
Marvel fans know to keep a close eye on the credits of the on-screen projects. While The Falcon And The Winter Soldier doesn’t feature a scene amongst the credits, it does feature some interesting artwork. Amongst the artwork is newspaper headlines, images of the characters still set to appear in the show (like Sharon Carter and Helmut Zemo), and some redacted files.
One of the most interesting is a reference to the Power Broker. This comic book character is known for experimenting with super-soldier serum. In fact, he has a hand in John Walker and Joaquin Torres’ stories in the comics. The paper giving a nod to him also features a blue vial, not unlike the super-soldier serum seen in the MCU.
There’s also text that reads, “forces from neighboring Madripoor have… committing human rights violations.” The location hasn’t appeared in the MCU yet, but it’s a big comic book location. It has connections to villainous groups like the Hand and Hydra.
An image of Carl Lumbly also appears next to text from a research file. Rumors amongst fans suggest Lumbly is playing a super-soldier serum test subject. In the comics, Isaiah Bradley is the first Black Captain America, which would be the perfect character.
The Falcon And The Winter Soldier currently airs on Disney+ with new episodes dropping Fridays.
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