The Falcon and the Winter Soldier publicity is taking off — we take a look at what’s new

Thanks to the pandemic, Marvel’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has had to wait its turn behind WandaVision, so it has big shoes to fill in terms of mass-audience appeal. The well-oiled publicity machine has been at work, and there’s posters as well as numerous short (and we mean short) video trailers to catch.

Yesterday WhatsOnDisneyPlus brought us four new posters, and we’ve taken the liberty of using The Falcon for this article, though all four are excellent.

But what is The Falcon and the Winter Soldier?

If (like us) you can’t keep the whole Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) plan in your head, the following might help (and we are but novices ourselves.)

We’re now in phase 4, which is the TV focus for the MCU and follows the events in Avengers: Endgame. As you’ll know if you’ve watched (and if not, go directly to your screen now) WandaVision, that series is set only weeks after the film. Here (thanks to a peruse of Wikipedia) is a summary of what’s what.

The Falcon is played by Anthony Mackie. For him the series is about identity (a common MCU theme); he’s now technically Captain America, but while he has the shield, isn’t sure he wants to take up the role. The Winter Soldier (played by Sebastian Stan) is struggling to cope with life in the 21st Century (he was originally thought killed in World War II). Emily VanCamp plays Sharon Carter (Peggy Carter’s niece, if that helps) who has been on the run since Avengers: Civil War. The series fills in the gaps in her life.

Of course there’s a villain. For this first season at least, it’s Baron Helmut Zemo (Daniel Brühl), the villain from Civil War and now sporting his comic style purple mask.

Trailer time

Here’s a few recent trailers: a teaser, co-workers, honor, start, official trailer. We’ll keep track of the Falcon and the Winter Soldier publicity, and like everyone else wait for the series to drop in six weekly episodes starting Friday March 19.