The much anticipated Marvel series ‘The Falcon and The Winter Soldier’ has dropped and it puts us right in the middle of the action from the get go. We get to see both Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes in action (a flashback/ nightmare in the case of The Winter Soldier), but we also get to see what both characters do during their down time. This first episode has dropped multiple callbacks, references and easter eggs from previous Marvel projects but for now, let’s take a look at 7 of the important ones mentioned so far:
Marvel’s Cinematic Timeline
This series is set six months after “The Blip”, giving us an idea of the timeline within the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe). And chronologically it would seem that the events in WandaVision happened first, as it was mentioned in the previously released series that Monica Rambeau returned to work within (or after) a month after “The Blip” happened. However, this series is still two months before the events of Spider-man: Far From Home.
Batroc
For those of you who feel this character is very familiar, it is because you have seen him for a brief period earlier, in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Captain America fought Batroc on the ship which Batroc and his men had previously hijacked. This character doesn’t care about the work he does, as long as he is paid for it. He is the current leader of the mercenary group – LAF.
In the comics, this character is known as Batroc the Leaper.
Steve Roger’s Current Whereabouts
Of course, we know what happened to Captain America, but that doesn’t mean that the general public in the MCU knows what happened to him. Steve, of course, goes back in time and returns the stones and decides to stay with Peggy for his happily ever after and returns only to give Sam his shield. The different conspiracy theories are interesting, although it is Nicky Fury who is up in space and closer to the moon than the retired Captain.
Comic book and MCU continuity
Sam has a sister, Sarah, who has two sons for her own. In the comics, Sam has two nephews as well, but he had two sisters, who each had a son. Keeping up with the comic book continuity is going to be tough from now on, but Marvel Studios is keeping the continuity alive wherever possible. Paul and Darlene who are Sam and Sarah’s parents in the series are also the names of their parents in the comic books as well.
The Blip Given Context
We got a glimpse of the chaos that “The Blip” caused, in Spider-man: Far From Home and WandaVision. But this series delves more deeply into the after effects of this global event – People don’t have jobs, countries are tense around their allies and enemies, radical groups which prefered the “Snap” over the “Blip” are rising up, etc. Both Sam and Bucky are two characters grounded in reality than the rest of the Avengers and they allow Marvel Studios a way to introduce context.
Rhodey
We expect this to be one from a long line of unannounced cameos that will appear in this series, but we do not mind this one at all. Both Sam and James lost their best friends at the end of Avengers: Endgame (for two different reasons), and this camaraderie is nice to see. We also get a quip from Rhodey about “the right way to fly”, so we expect The Iron Patriot/ War Machine to make an appearance later on.
Lt. Torres
Lt. Torres, the “man on the ground”/ guide for Sam Wilson during his mission is a welcome addition to the MCU. Lt. Torres takes on the mantle of The Falcon when Sam takes on the mantle of Captain America in the comics. We do not know if that will happen in this series or in the later MCU projects, but this is a good easter egg for the comic book fans.