“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” Press Conference Brings Together Actors, Filmmakers to Talk About New Disney+ Series

Hi everyone!

I was invited to a virtual press conference for “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”, which debuts on Disney+ on Friday, March 19th, 2021. The series will run 6 episodes and is very highly anticipated. The participants were Anthony Mackie (Sam Wilson); Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes); director Kari Skogland; head writer Malcolm Spellman and producer Kevin Feige. Kelley Carter, senior entertainment writer at The Undefeated moderated.

One thing the opening episode of “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” has is a lot of action. Feige said about that aspect “…it really starts off with a bang. We kept saying, ‘If we’re going to do a series with Falcon and the Winter Soldier in it, we need to at least start off with the best action that we’ve ever seen”.

The series also feels more like an MCU film than “WandaVision” does – it could easily be on on the big screen. Skogland discussed their approach. “From the beginning, as Kevin said, we were making a six hour film. We just figured out where to snip it, at certain hour marks.”

A question was asked to Mackie and Stan about what it was like to explore their characters in a more in-depth way. Mackie replied, “The idea of Sam Wilson, and the character and the evolution of what’s known as The Falcon…to be able to go back and dive into his backstory, and his family and his surroundings…only betters the character for the audience. Stan continued, “The whole subject of PTSD and the experience that they both share as soldiers, as men who have served, right? Is one of the things that brings them together”. He also discussed the mutual respect the characters have for each other.

While we are still only at episode one, there was a question about whether there would be more seasons. Feige started out by saying that they approached it like they do the movies – the first better be great or there won’t be another one. But if there was another one, “…there’s certainly ideas. The slight difference, of course, is as you’ve all heard me say and I think it is becoming clear with ‘WandaVison’ – that they really will go back and forth between the Disney+ series and the Marvel Studios features.” He continued, “So where characters show up, and how sometimes will be in a direct season two. Sometimes it will be in a feature, and then into an additional season”. He ended by saying they were not going to say “who does what right this second”.

Skogland took a question on what a six hour production allows that could not be possible with a two hour movie. She joked at first and said, “It’s a lot more work, I guess”. Then she went more seriously and said that the movies are like a snack and the series is like a meal. “You really can get involved with the characters in a way…in the six hours, that you just are not able to in a film. Particularly because the films are often high octane already. And they’re immersed in some world-saving event.” She continued that with the series they can meander a bit, and have less streamlining of the twists and turns.

Mackie and Stan were asked about now that Captain America is gone, what responsibility do they feel for leading future heroes. Mackie answered that “‘End Game’ was a monumental shift of the super hero universe. The scope of that movie, the idea of that film is something larger than I think anyone could imagine.” After saying they didn’t want to be “the first crappy Marvel project” while laughing, Mackie said just a little more seriously, “Our job was to take the torch and not make a bad show. And I’m very happy to say that Steve Rogers will be proud that our show does not suck”. When Mackie jokes that the next show will have the problem if it’s bad, Stan says “So what are you saying about ‘Loki”? It was fun to see the camaraderie of the group as they all laughed.

“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” debuts on March 19th, 2021 exclusively on Disney+. This was a nearly one-hour press conference so I may dive in again to write more about it soon.

Unlike in-person conferences we don’t have images or video to share from the event.