Well, Justice League: The Butthole Cut was released on HBO Max March 18, but I can’t set aside four straight hours, or even non-consecutive hours, to check it out until my next day off, so I waited until midnight to check the first episode of Disney+/Marvel Studios’ The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, especially since, at about 50 minutes, I knew it was going to be less of a slog.
It certainly starts off with a slam-bang action sequence, and it’s noteworthy that in a TV project they’re actually showing more of what Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) can do with his Falcon gadgets than they did in all the movies he was in before. The first episode also shows James “Bucky” Barnes (Sebastian Shaw) trying to get over the assassinations he was brainwashed into performing as the Winter Soldier, and it doesn’t look like he’s holding up that well. However most of the episode centers on Sam, as he first decides to turn in Captain America’s shield after deciding he can’t take up his mantle, then going home to try and save his family fishing business (and his sister’s house), only to find that even if you’re a beloved local hero, you still can’t get a home loan if you’re black. And then Sam sees on TV that the government decided to turn the shield over to a new Captain America. And it’s not a good omen that this new guy looks just like fucking Homelander wearing a mask.
Much like WandaVision, this Disney+ show puts a spotlight on good characters who didn’t get a focus in the Marvel movies. It doesn’t look like it’s going to be as psychological as WandaVision, but the Captain America movies were probably my favorite films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier looks like it’s going to be a good continuation of that action-thriller style.