Before WandaVision, there was Falcon + Winter Soldier as Marvel Studios’ first TV series

It has been nearly two years since we last left the Avengers at the end of “Endgame,” it seemed like the end of an era for both in the MCU narrative (as we knew it) and in real-life (with the start of the pandemic). For Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios, however, the story wasn’t over; it was just beginning.

On TV.

And while we first saw “WandaVision” as the first Marvel Studios TV series, it was actually “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” that was first to come across Feige’s desk.

“We wanted to prove to ourselves that just because [we] were on TV it couldn’t be as big as our movies,” Feige said in a virtual press conference. “The thrill is there, but the idea was that we could go deeper into our characters.”

Those characters initially were Falcon aka Sam Wilson and The Winter Soldier aka Bucky Barnes because there were things we didn’t know about them. The series begins six months after the events of “Endgame” when everyone returned after The Blip, and the unexpected consequences of it.

“Our series ties together a core MCU problem: that everyone can be a hero,” said writer Malcolm Spellman. Feige added, “What makes our characters are their flaws. Our heroes having to contend with themselves emotionally is what grounds everything.”

For Sebastian Stan, that meant discovering a whole new side to Bucky after playing the character over a decade. “It’s Bucky and I’s quest of identity, accepting the past, and educating ourselves about what life is like now,” he said.

While we get to learn more about Sam and Bucky and how they personally deal with the “loss” of their friend and captain, we also get the grand-ness and action-packed goodness that the MCU films offer in the new six-part series.

Director Kari Skogland said that the whole team approached the series “like a six-hour MCU movie” where character depth could happen, as well as world-building.“We even had the same stunt people with us from the films, so we felt comfortable. But expect more hand-to-hand combat in the show. The stunt people love that stuff!,” said Anthony Mackie.

Still at the end of the day, Mackie and felt most comfortable because he got to play alongside his friend, Sebastian Stan. “You can’t find people any more different than Sebastian and I,” he said. “We allow ourselves to be our best, but can correct ourselves at the same time. Like real friends,” he continued laughingly.

You can see “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” exclusively on Disney+ beginning on March 18, 2021.

Our special thanks to the Marvel Studios team for contributing to this story!