Bad News Hits Falcon And Winter Soldier

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier just can't catch a break.

Were the stars correctly aligned, we'd already have seen the upcoming Disney+ and Marvel Studios show about Captain America's (Chris Evans) two best buddies, Sam "Falcon" Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky "Winter Soldier" Barnes (Sebastian Stan). The series was originally supposed to premiere on Disney+ in August 2020, and it would have kicked off the streaming platform's impressive array of MCU-themed shows, including Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany's WandaVision, and the Tom Hiddleston-led Loki. Unfortunately, the ongoing COVID-19 crisis pushed its release to Fall 2020.   

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier continues its main characters' story arc from the events of Avengers: Endgame, which sees Cap hand over his shield — and mantle – to Sam. Together, the Falcon and the Winter Soldier face characters both old and new, from their Avengers: Civil War foe Helmut Zemo (Daniel Brühl) and Captain America's old enemy Georges Batroc (Georges St-Pierre) to the mysterious, shield-wielding U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell). Unfortunately, the show's production must still clear a few more hurdles before we actually get to see Sam Wilson wield the shield, because it turns out The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has hit yet another speed bump.

Yep, it looks like The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has been delayed again. The show's updated Disney+ listing reveals that the show will now drop sometime in 2021, instead of Fall 2020. This seems to be due to the simple fact that the six-episode series has only recently resumed production, per ComicBook.com. Though Sebastian Stan has said they only had "two or three weeks" to go before production shut down in March, the cold realities of time (and post-production) have presumably contributed to the decision to push the show's release date.

This is yet another disappointing schedule shift for a production that has been wrought with more than its share of them, but then again, good things come to those who wait. As Stan has told Hollywood Reporter, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier should definitely be worth waiting for. "What I loved about it was that, tonally, it was very much in the same world that Captain America: The Winter Soldier was, which was one of my favorite experiences that I've ever had, period," the actor said about shooting the show before the production shut down. "So, in a sense, it was grounded and very much in the world as we know it. But, it's also really jam-packed with a lot of massive, massive action scenes mixed with deep focus on character." So, at least we know 2021 has something awesome in store. 

Incidentally, the fact that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has been pushed back means that the barrage of MCU shows on Disney+ will likely be spearheaded by the significantly quirkier WandaVision, which is still set to premiere in 2020.