Three Marvel Projects The Falcon And The Winter Soldier Could Be Setting Up

WandaVision may have been the first Marvel project fans got to see in a long time, but the wait has been significantly shorter for the next Disney+ original series — The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Just two weeks after the former's finale, the latter takes flight to introduce us to another side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the aftermath of the events of Avengers: Endgame. As you might recall, the blockbuster ended with Captain America (Chris Evans) giving the shield and his title to Falcon (Anthony Mackie), and now, this series will follow the character as he attempts to navigate a world without his friend playing much of a role. 

He'll be joined by Cap's friend-turned-enemy-turned-friend-again, Bucky, AKA the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), and from the looks of the trailer, they more than have their work cut out for them. However, in addition to telling a great story in its own right, it's clear the series will set up other aspects of the MCU going forward, much like WandaVision did by offering a glimpse of what Wanda's (Elizabeth Olsen) role will be in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. 

Head writer Malcolm Spellman confirmed as much in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. When discussing the future of the series and whether it'll tie into anything else in the MCU, he stated, "I can think of three [Marvel projects] that I'm not allowed to talk about." Obviously, no real spoilers came to light — he won't even say if a second season of his show is in the cards — but those three projects are definitely interesting. There's still a lot we don't know about the show, as of this writing, but here are our guesses as to what those three projects could be.

Going from "Most likely" to "least likely," we feel fairly confident in saying The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will connect in some way to another Disney+ series — Armor Wars. The show was announced back in December of 2020, and going off what we know from the comics, the plot of the show should focus on Stark's tech falling into the wrong hands, forcing the good guys to clean up the mess. With Iron Man gone from the MCU, Armor Wars will likely put War Machine (Don Cheadle) front and center. 

Cheadle spilled the beans that his character would be making an appearance on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, so it would be kind of weird if the show didn't at least partly set up what he'll be doing in his own show. Perhaps he'll end up with a new suit of armor, or we'll start seeing some of Stark's tech used by forces of evil. We have no idea if Cheadle's cameo will be a quick one-and-done, or if he'll end up playing a sizable role for the series, but one way or another, it's a relatively safe bet that an Armor Wars tease will show up somehow. 

Since a tee-up for Armor Wars seems likely, we're going to go ahead and speculate another critical aspect of the Iron Man mythos could get hinted at within The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Kevin Feige has already confirmed that a Disney+ series based on Ironheart is coming down the pipeline, and in fact, Marvel Studios has already cast the lead role with Judas and the Black Messiah star Dominique Thorne suiting up for the role of Riri Williams.

Granted, it would makes a fair amount of sense for Riri to first get introduced on Armor Wars, where there's a strong likelihood she's going to team up with War Machine, but as any Marvel fan will tell you, the studio likes the play the long game. Riri may not take on the Ironheart mantle on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but she could absolutely get introduced as a teenage genius who maybe lends a hand to Falcon and Bucky when they're trying to track down the Flag Smashers. 

It would be a real cherry on top to see a cue taken from the comics, with a not-yet-a-superhero Riri designing her own Iron Man suit, which is maybe just a pile of scraps in the corner of her room. Even just some blueprints that show she's working on her own armor would serve as a perfect bit of foreshadowing for her own series.

Okay, hear us out on this one. A rumor reported by The Direct claimed that Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) from Black Widow would appear in some capacity on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Again, that's just a rumor, but what has been confirmed is that Yelena will have a role of some kind on the upcoming Hawkeye series, also coming to Disney+ (via Variety). If all of this pans out to be true, then it's possible The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will give us a better idea of what to expect for her character before she's even had a chance to appear on the film side of things.

It's unlikely that the series will set up anything we need to know about Black Widow, considering the movie is set prior to the events of Endgame, and it was originally slated to come out in May of 2020 before getting pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the original release schedule in mind, Yelena (likely as the new Black Widow) popping up on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier makes a degree of sense, and it would set up the rest of her arc in the MCU (post-Black Widow) as well. Also, by having her show up in Hawkeye, and meeting Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), it sets the stage for a potential Young Avengers movie down the line. 

Of course, all this theorizing is predicated on Yelena actually appearing on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which is still just a rumor. 

Regardless, even if no future MCU projects were going to be set up in the show, there's no doubt fans would be chomping at the bit to see the newest Marvel series. You aren't going to want to miss The Falcon and the Winter Soldier when it premieres on Disney+ on March 19.