An iron. The second series
from the Marvel Studios for Disney+ after WandaVision, begins with a shot of an
iron.
The one used by Sam Wilson,
aka the superhero Falcon, alone in his room, filmed against the light, for the
shirt he is about to wear in a solemn ceremony.
- The handing over to the
authorities of Captain America's shield, officially missing since Avengers
Endgame.
It's a nice shot, and it's
a no-brainer: Falcon and the Winter Soldier are definitely Marvel.
1. Facts about Marvel series
True to the tradition of
the late Stan Lee's comics, who was always keen to show supermen in their most
mundane everyday life.
The authors take advantage
of the longer format offered by a six-hour miniseries to peel back a little
more of the superheroes' private onion.
We don't cry with emotion
yet, but this first episode has at least the merit to offer a pleasant
introduction.
-On a more conventional
tone than WandaVision and closer to the canons of a Marvel movie.
Hybrid creation, like
WandaVision, between a movie and a mini-series, does FELSH confirm that Marvel
is patiently weaving a new spring of series with its own manufacturing methods.?
Unfortunately, we can't
answer the question for the moment and we'll have to be satisfied with a first
impression of this introductory segment.
(Since Disney didn't show
any other to the press): it wasn't too bad.
And while we'll have to pass for originality, at least we're amused to see in Falcon and The Winter Soldier.
These two featherweights
of the Avengers struggling with the hard return to reality, six months after
the intergalactic clatter of Avengers - Endgame.
The dust has settled, the
global danger has passed, and the stakes have been raised on the individual
destinies of these two second-rate gladiators.
Who have been weakened
more by their daily lives and their little worries than by a super fight
against the dreadful Thanos.
Don't worry: there's a danger lurking and we
won't spend six episodes watching Wilson ironing his shirts.
2. Broke Falcon, Neurotic Winter Soldier
So we find Sam
Wilson/Falcon (great Anthony Mackie, a valuable asset of the series).
Now under contract with the US Air Force for express rescue operations, grappling with three issues:
- should he or should he not take over from Captain America and keep his shield.
As the latter wished
before saying goodbye at the end of Endgame?
Who are the Flag-Smashers,
a disturbing anarchist group of bank robbers who are nostalgic for the
"blip".
The five years of chaos during the disappearance of half of the Earth's population after Thanos snapped his fingers in Avengers - Infinity War?
And most importantly: how
to save Sarah's moribund family fishing business, her Louisiana-based
sister?" But how exactly do you make a living?
"When Sam asks Wilson for a loan for the
failing business, a Falcon-fan banker dares to ask him anyway. Meanwhile.
In New York City, Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) undergoes therapy to overcome the post-traumatic stress of his former life.
As an assassin for the
terrorist organization Hydra.
The cherry on top of the
neuroses: like his ex-friend Steve Rogers/Captain America, James
"Bucky" Barnes is a World War II veteran.
Who hasn't aged a day in 80 years, thanks to
several cryonics performed by Hydra.
And he still feels very
much alone in this time that is not his own.
Nightmares haunt him, his
shrink yells at him, he hasn't dated since Roosevelt...
In the midst of his
redemptive phase, the Winter Soldier has made a list of good resolutions in his
notebook.
But he can't manage to
cross off a crucial line, the most painful one.
3. It's a lot of work
The episode ends on a little cliffhanger that hardly surprised comic book readers:
While Sam Wilson has
finally decided to give up on becoming the new Captain America.
Returning the Star Shield
to the government to keep it on display at the Smithsonian Institute in
Washington..
He discovers on TV that
the Department of Defense has been skimming off the top.
A brand new - and white -
Captain America is appointed with great fanfare to take over from Steve Rogers.
Last shot on the lucky
man, in costume, winking at the cameras, Sam's funeral face... End credits. It
smells the conflict!
Even if his name is not
mentioned in this final scene, fans of the Marvel universe already know that
the lucky one is John Walker.
He played on screen by
actor Wyatt Russell, a troubled character whose existence in the comics dates
back to 1986.
4. Writers Unclear, Sherpas to the Rescue
Based on statements of intent
from the writers of Falcon…
And the Winter Soldier issues of racial
identity will be an important part of the narrative of the six-episode series.
All of which was directed by Canadian director
Kari Skogland (25 years of service, mostly in television).
Malcolm Spellman, the head
writer, assures us that he made sure that a balance was observed between pure
entertainment and an assumed political dimension.
(Woke for those who know
him), which is now a must in Marvel productions and claimed by the parent
company Disney.
This socio-political spice
is in any case perceptible from this first segment.
And Spellman's buddy movie
references - 48 Hours, L'Arme Fatale, Rush Hour or even, further away from us.
The Chain, with Tony
Curtis and Sydney Poitier in 1958 - allow for optimism even if, at the end
credits.,
We still haven't seen the
shadow of a common scene between Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan. Don't
panic, it will necessarily be for the next one.
5. Behind the scenes
We remain intrigued by the
internal creative operation of Falcon and the Winter Soldier, identical to that
of WandaVision.:
No general in chief in the
person of a possible dedicated showrunner really supervises the series from A
to Z.
Even Spellman is reluctant
to define himself as such.
And for good reason: the writers of each new
Marvel drama for Disney+ can only imagine their scripts within the narrative
limits.
It allowed by the other Marvel movies and
series - consistency of the interconnected universe is a must.
"I've never experienced anything like
this," Malcolm Spellman recently told us in interviews on Zoom.
"In fact, throughout
the writing process, Marvel Studios assigns two sherpas to each team.
For FELSH, it was Nate
Moore and Zoie Nagelhout, credited as executive producers.
Who are aware of everything that's going on in
the upcoming series and movies," Spellman explains.
"We're not allowed to
talk to the people in charge of the other series or movies, so we don't really
know what's going on elsewhere.
But the sherpas are there
to guide us and tell us what we can and cannot write.
For example, I might want
to send a character from my show to such and such a country, and the sherpas
would tell me.:
"Oh no, there's
already something special planned there, it's impossible.
" It's a totally new
way of working for me. "It is understandable that in these conditions, so
far, just as for WandaVision.
A season 2 is not (yet) on
the agenda in order not to stick too quickly an ulcer to the teams.
6. Six episodes at $25 million each
And Malcolm Spellman
admits that his group of six writers (including himself)..
Sometimes tore their hair out to reconcile the
constraints of this narrow system with the natural course of a story serving
the characters at best.
This Marvel method for
streaming has in itself nothing illogical.
It answers to the one that guaranteed the firm
its 13 years of non-stop success in the cinema.
There is no director at
the helm of the movies, no showrunner at the helm of these new series.:
Whatever the medium, the
only real boss is still Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, supported by
his unfailing.
“ lieutenants Victoria Alonso and Louis D'Esposito”.
7. Their mission, since 2008
Their mission was to make
Marvel, period! Conceived, written and produced as a single $150 million film.
An average of $25 million
per episode, each one thought of as a Marvel mini-movie, on the orders of big
boss Kevin.
Falcon and the Winter Soldier clearly doesn't
propel fans into unknown territory.
Despite a visual identity
and tone that is in stark contrast to WandaVision.
There is nothing too out
of place with the atmosphere of the films.
From the presence of known
faces (and others to come) to the effective feeling of déjà-vu of the generous
opening scene.,
Through the integration of
the story in the more general picture of the Marvel saga: we are at home.
The whole for a harmless
but professional result, pleasant to follow and mainly carried by the powerful
charisma of Anthony Mackie.
As credible in the slalom with missiles at
8,000 meters of altitude as in his family quarrels between two boxes of shrimps
in Louisiana.
We can't wait to see him
and his neurotic sparring partner blossom into a bromance.,
That we hope is worthy of
the models cited by Malcolm Spellman.
And above all, let's hope that this first nice
flight of the Falcon will not be too flattened by the iron of the Marvel method.,
And a now very predictable
political specification.
