The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is an upcoming American streaming television miniseries created for Disney+ by Malcolm Spellman, based on the Marvel Comics characters Sam Wilson / Falcon and Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films of the franchise. The events of the series take place after the film Avengers: Endgame (2019). The series is produced by Marvel Studios, with Spellman serving as head writer and Kari Skogland directing.

Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan reprise their roles as Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes, respectively, from the film series. Daniel Brühl, Emily VanCamp, and Wyatt Russell also star. By September 2018, Marvel Studios was developing a number of limited series for Disney+, centered on supporting characters from the MCU films, with Spellman hired to write one on Falcon and Winter Soldier in October. The series was officially confirmed in April 2019 along with Mackie and Stan's involvement. Skogland was hired the next month. Filming began in October 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia, before moving to the Czech Republic in early March 2020, before production was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Production resumed in Atlanta in September 2020, with a short shoot in the Czech Republic resuming that October, and was completed by the end of the month.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is scheduled to premiere in 2021, and will consist of six episodes. It will be part of Phase Four of the MCU.

Premise
After being handed the mantle of Captain America at the end of Avengers: Endgame (2019), Sam Wilson teams up with Bucky Barnes in a worldwide adventure that puts their abilities to the test.

Cast and characters
An Avenger and a former pararescueman who was trained by the military in aerial combat using a specially designed wing pack. Wilson was handed the mantle of Captain America by Steve Rogers at the end of Avengers: Endgame (2019), but continues to use the Falcon moniker. The series explores Wilson's actions after receiving Captain America's shield. An enhanced soldier and Rogers' best friend who reemerged as a brainwashed assassin after being thought killed in action during World War II. A Sokovian terrorist who was responsible for the Avengers' breakup in Captain America: Civil War (2016). Zemo wears his traditional purple mask from the comics in the series, which he was not depicted with in Civil War. Seeing the mask made Brühl "very happy and enthusiastic". Brühl was "incredibly thrilled" to return to the character and the MCU, stating it "felt common and known" from the work on Civil War, but also "something completely new and something fresh". A former agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Peggy Carter's niece. VanCamp said that Carter has been on the run since she was last seen in Civil War, and the series would show what she has been doing in that time.
 * Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson / Falcon:
 * Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier:
 * Daniel Brühl as Baron Helmut Zemo:
 * Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter:
 * Wyatt Russell as John Walker: A militaristic successor to Captain America created by the U.S. government.

Georges St-Pierre reprises his role as Georges Batroc, a mercenary and a master of the French form of kickboxing known as savate, from Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014). Additionally, Adepero Oduye, Desmond Chiam, Miki Ishikawa, Noah Mills, Carl Lumbly, Erin Kellyman, and Danny Ramirez have been cast in undisclosed roles.

Development
By September 2018, Marvel Studios was developing several limited series for its parent company Disney's streaming service, Disney+, to be centered on supporting characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films who had not starred in their own films. The actors who portrayed the characters in the films were expected to reprise their roles for the limited series. The series were expected to be six to eight episodes each and have a "hefty [budget] rivaling those of a major studio production". The series would be produced by Marvel Studios rather than Marvel Television, which produced previous television series in the MCU. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige was believed to be taking a "hands-on role" in each series' development, focusing on "continuity of story" with the films and "handling" the actors who would be reprising their roles from the films.

Malcolm Spellman was hired to write a limited series that would focus on Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson / Falcon and Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier at the end of October 2018. Mackie and Stan had both previously expressed interest in starring in an MCU spin-off film together, with Stan comparing the potential idea to buddy comedy films like Midnight Run (1988) and 48 Hrs. (1982). Marvel and Disney officially announced the series in April 2019, with the title The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The next month, the miniseries was confirmed to consist of six episodes, and Kari Skogland was hired to direct. Budgets for each episode were reported to be as much as $25 million.

Writing
The series begins after the film Avengers: Endgame (2019), which depicts Steve Rogers bequeathing his shield and the mantle of Captain America to Wilson. Derek Kolstad joined the series' writing team in July 2019, and said he would be bringing "a wink and a nod" to the style of world building and character development from his film franchise John Wick. Kolstad felt the series taking secondary characters from the films and "putting them in the primary roles" resulted in them becoming "cooler" and "more interesting", adding "[t]here's more humanity, more longing, more suffering and coming to grips with who and what they are." Additionally, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier features some characters "from the earliest Marvel [films]" that have been layered in and reinvented "in a way that's gonna shift the storytelling structure". Kolstad added that the series would explore reactions to a black man becoming Captain America. Spellman wanted to "go home" with the characters and let the actors show their skills rather than simply focus on action in the series. Stan said the series' tone is similar to that of the film Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), explaining that the series is "grounded and very much in the world as we know it". He added that being able to explore the characters over six hours with the series gave them "so much more mileage" and allowed the characters to be in new situations that would not be possible in a two-hour film.

Casting
With the official announcement of the series in April 2019 came confirmation that Mackie and Stan would reprise their roles of Wilson and Barnes, respectively, in the series. The next month, Daniel Brühl and Emily VanCamp entered negotiations to reprise their film roles of Helmut Zemo and Sharon Carter, respectively. Brühl was confirmed for the series in July 2019, and VanCamp was confirmed a month later when Wyatt Russell was announced to be cast in the series as John Walker.

Set photos in November 2019 revealed Adepero Oduye would appear in the series, while Desmond Chiam and Miki Ishikawa joined the cast a month later. Noah Mills was cast in January 2020, and the following month, Carl Lumbly joined the cast. Additional set photos in September 2020 revealed Georges St-Pierre would be reprising his role as Georges Batroc from Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and that Erin Kellyman had joined the cast. The following month, Danny Ramirez was cast in "a pivotal role".

Filming
Filming began on October 31, 2019, at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, with Skogland directing. The series is filmed under the working title Tag Team. Mackie and Stan announced the official start of filming on November 4. Mackie compared filming the series to production on the MCU films, saying it felt like shooting a six-hour film that would then be cut up into individual episodes rather than filming one episode at a time. Location shooting took place in the Atlanta metropolitan area from November through February 2020.

In mid-January 2020, filming was expected to take place in Arecibo, Puerto Rico for two weeks. However, because of earthquakes on the island, production was suspended. Reporting on this news, Deadline Hollywood stated that it was unclear if the location would still be used for filming. On March 3, the production was revealed to be moving to Prague, Czech Republic for three weeks until March 25, with filming in the city starting on March 6 and expected to continue until the week of March 16. However, filming for the series was halted on March 10 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and members of the production returned to Atlanta. Later in March, Stan confirmed that filming had not been completed, but planned to be once it was safe to do so. He estimated there "were probably at least two or three" more weeks of filming to complete.

In early May, the Czech Republic allowed television and film productions to start up again immediately, as long as they followed newly issued hygienic guidelines for cast and crew members. In late June, the head of the film commission in the Czech Republic announced that cast and crew involved in film and TV productions would be exempt from the European Union travel ban on US citizens which would take effect on July 1. Production was also scheduled to resume at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in August. In early September, filming occurred at Atlantic Station, and by the end of the month VanCamp had finished filming her scenes. Filming resumed in Prague by October 10, 2020, and wrapped on October 23. Shooting occurred at the Monastery of Saint Gabriel in Smíchov and at Olšany Cemetery. According to Mackie, the cast and crew were subjected to strict quarantine and social distancing measures while filming in Prague.

Marketing
A short teaser for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was shown at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con, featuring Brühl as Zemo, with the character wearing his traditional purple mask from the comics. Skogland traveled to Budapest, where Brühl was filming The Alienist: Angel of Darkness, to capture the footage. Concept art for the series featuring designs for the characters' costumes are included in Expanding the Universe, a Marvel Studios special that debuted on Disney+ on November 12, 2019. In December, Feige debuted the first images from the series at Comic Con Experience. Matt Goldberg of Collider described these as more grounded than fellow Disney+ series WandaVision, which was also promoted at the event, with a "standard spy thriller" look similar to the Captain America films that the title characters were introduced in. A commercial for the series, WandaVision, and Loki was shown during Super Bowl LIV. Julia Alexander of The Verge said the footage "wasn't much" but offered "enough glimpses to tease fans". Haleigh Foutch at Collider felt of all the Super Bowl commercials, Marvel's teasers "stole the whole show" and had "a lot to get excited about".

Release
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is scheduled to debut in 2021 on Disney+, and will consist of six episodes. The series was originally scheduled to be released in August 2020, but this was delayed due to filming being suspended as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It will be part of Phase Four of the MCU.