The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is the first of the fully-integrated television projects connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe set to premiere on the Disney+ streaming service, continuing the story of Air Force pararescue airman Sam Wilson and World War II Army officer turned HYDRA assassin James Buchanan Barnes in the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame, which concluded with an elderly Steve Rogers turning over the shield and mantle of Captain America to Wilson.
The series is set to showcase the return of Emily VanCamp’s S.H.I.E.L.D.-turned-CIA agent Sharon Carter and Daniel Brühl’s Sokovian Armed Forces colonel Helmut Zemo, both last seen in action in the Russo Brothers’ 2016 threequel Captain America: Civil War, and will also introduce Wyatt Russell as the government’s official successor to Steve Rogers as Captain America, John Walker, a military operative alternately known as Super-Patriot and U.S.Agent.
Now we’re hearing by way of /Film that yet another man with a claim to the title of Captain America could be set to make an appearance in the series. Partly based on Nick Spencer’s two-year run on the Captain America: Sam Wilson comic, the show may in fact draw additional inspiration from Robert Morales’ 2003 seven-issue miniseries Truth: Red, White & Black, which revealed that the secret history behind the Super Soldier Serum involved it being tested on numerous black soldiers before the perfected formula was ever given to Steve Rogers.
One such soldier who survived the experimentation to become the very first successful incarnation of Captain America was Isaiah Bradley, who is now rumored to be making his live-action appearance on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier later this year. Furthermore, Deadline recently reported the hiring of Carl Lumbly, who starred in the short-lived Fox superhero series M.A.N.T.I.S. in the mid-1990s, and if Bradley does turn out to be part of the story, it may be the case that the 68-year-old Lumbly will be the actor portraying him.
In a roundabout way, the addition of Isaiah Bradley fits with what we understand to be the plans for the Young Avengers project we told you about last year. We’ve already heard that Teddy Altman is being cast, that William Kaplan and Thomas Shepherd will appear on WandaVision, that Kate Bishop will be introduced on Hawkeye, Kamala Kham will be introduced on Ms. Marvel, and that Cassie Lang was fourteen in Avengers: Endgame. In the source material, Isaiah is the grandfather of Elijah Bradley, yet another member of the Young Avengers who initially uses Mutant Growth Hormone to play the superhero Patriot but eventually gains authentic powers by way of a blood transfusion from his grandfather.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier premieres on Disney+ in August of this year, followed by WandaVision in December, and Loki in early 2021, prior to the theatrical debut of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 7th, 2021.
