The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

About the series

Contains story spoilers.

The six-episode miniseries begins after Avengers: Endgame, when Sam Wilson has received Steve Rogers’s shield but has not decided to become Captain America. He returns it to the Smithsonian; the government then chooses decorated soldier John Walker as the public successor. Sam is also trying to save his family’s fishing business in Delacroix, Louisiana: he and sister Sarah seek a bank loan, but the family boat and post-Blip finances make the shield debate tangible. Bucky Barnes, meanwhile, lives under government conditions and tries to make amends for people he killed while brainwashed as the Winter Soldier. His mandated therapy sessions force him to face those he hurt, including Yori, whose son’s death Bucky has avoided acknowledging.

Sam and Bucky’s paths converge when the Flag Smashers, led by Karli Morgenthau, use super-soldier strength to take medicine from a shipment in Munich. The group says it opposes the Global Repatriation Council’s treatment of people displaced by the five-year Blip, but its raids and violence endanger those it claims to represent. Walker and his partner Lemar Hoskins arrive as the new Captain America and Battlestar and demand that the experienced heroes work with them. Sam and Bucky refuse to be folded into Walker’s chain of command. Their disagreement sharpens in Baltimore, where Bucky introduces Sam to Isaiah Bradley, a Black veteran imprisoned and experimented on after fighting the Winter Soldier in Korea. Isaiah’s history exposes the exclusions beneath the government’s polished account of who may carry the shield.

To learn how Karli’s group obtained its strength, Bucky arranges for imprisoned Helmut Zemo to escape and help them. Sam, Bucky and Zemo travel to Madripoor, where Sharon Carter protects them after their cover is exposed. They find scientist Wilfred Nagel, who recreated the serum; Karli’s group stole the supply, and Zemo kills Nagel during their escape. Sharon gets Sam, Bucky and Zemo out of the city when bounty hunters close in, but the group’s brief refuge also reveals how much power she has accumulated there. Sharon remains a fugitive despite her past service and asks Sam to seek a pardon. In Latvia, Wakandan warrior Ayo confronts Bucky over freeing Zemo, the man who killed her king, T’Chaka. These alliances are practical and conditional: the heroes use Zemo’s knowledge despite his dangerous agenda, while Sharon’s assistance conceals her own position in Madripoor’s criminal economy.

After the Flag Smashers attack the Global Repatriation Council, Walker secretly keeps the final serum vial that Zemo misses. During the confrontation at Donya Madani’s funeral, Karli’s escape leads to a fight in which Lemar is killed accidentally. Walker pursues Nico and kills him with the shield in front of horrified witnesses. The next episode separates that killing from its consequences: Sam and Bucky catch Walker and take the shield, and only later does a military hearing strip Walker of the title. Valentina approaches him after his discharge, while Sam returns home with the shield and a choice he has not yet made.

The pause in Louisiana lets Sam make a decision with people who know him outside the superhero role. After Isaiah describes his imprisonment and the experiments performed on him, Sam helps Sarah repair the family boat with neighbours and other local volunteers. Bucky arrives to help and brings a case supplied by the Wakandans. The two train with the shield and discuss how to move forward rather than keep measuring themselves against their pasts. For Sam, accepting the symbol cannot mean pretending Isaiah’s treatment never happened; for Bucky, making amends requires facing people whose lives his actions damaged. When Torres reports the Flag Smashers have reached New York for an attack on the GRC conference, Sam opens the case and chooses to intervene with the equipment made for him.

During the final attack on the GRC vote, Sam arrives in a Wakandan-made suit and turns rescue into a public argument: he asks officials to account for people displaced by the Blip, persuading them to postpone the forced relocation vote. Sharon kills Karli during the operation, having been revealed as the Power Broker during the confrontation. Walker diverts to save hostages and accepts Valentina’s offer afterward. Sam’s last act is quieter: he brings Isaiah and his grandson Elijah to the Captain America exhibit, where Isaiah’s erased service and suffering are finally acknowledged.

The quieter aftermath leaves different kinds of accountability beside each other. Bucky tells Yori that he killed his son as the Winter Soldier, giving his friend the truth he had avoided. He completes his amends list and joins Sam in Louisiana for a cookout. Sharon receives a government pardon and returns to her CIA position, but immediately calls a contact to offer access to government secrets. Her official rehabilitation gives the Power Broker a new opportunity. The partnership has brought Sam and Bucky toward repair while an ally uses the same victory to expand her concealed criminal business.