Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan Tease How The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Delves Deeper Into the Odd Couple Heroes

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will bring audiences back in step with two MCU characters who have become fan favorites, especially when they're ribbing each other. However, the action-buddy-comedy series also has some heavy lifting to do considering where we left Sam (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky (Sebastian Stan) at the end of Avengers: Endgame. Both of them were blipped out of existence by Thanos (Josh Brolin) at the end of Avengers: Infinity War and brought back for the final battle against the purple alien. 

After Thanos was defeated, they discovered that their mutual bestie Steve Rodgers (Chris Evans), aka Captain America, had pulled some time hijinks and gone to live a long life with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) and was retiring in his old age, leaving his iconic shield to Sam. The new series will pick up with both Sam and Bucky grappling with what their lives have become now that they've been dropped back into existence after five years and they no longer have Steve to guide them.

"They're trying to figure out their place in the world now that this big presence has gone," Sebastian Stan told TV Guide during a recent press junket for the show. "It's like, who are they to each other? The whole show revolves around that being a catalyst." 

What does seem to be clear is that neither Sam nor Bucky is eager to pick up Steve's shield and continue where the hero left off. 

"There will never be another Captain America that could fill the shoes of Steve Rogers," Mackie explained during the same interview. "I think it's more so about them, their admiration, appreciation, and respect for their friend, as opposed to them waiting in the wings, hoping to be Captain America." 

This season of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will feature six hourlong episodes, giving fans a deeper look at each of these characters than they've had before. There have been two previous films following Bucky's journey after he was revealed to be the Winter Soldier, but the series will further examine the toll his years working as a HYDRA mercenary had on him. 

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Review: Quintessentially Marvel Premiere Sets Up Potentially Deep Buddy Comedy

"It is the fact that he's killed a whole lot of people," Falcon and Winter Soldier head writer Malcolm Spellman told TV Guide. "There's a line later in the series where he points out that he remembers every murder, and if he remembers every murder, doesn't that mean, regardless of whether people were manipulating him, that a part of [him] was there? And if a part of him was there for each person he killed, doesn't that make him a monster? That is what he's going to have to unpack over the course of this season." 

As for Sam, the show will introduce his family in the first episode and demonstrate Sam's struggle to get reacclimated after so many years away, and it won't be something that is solved quickly. His family also has a great deal to do with how Sam views the symbol of the shield and what Captain American represents, which is something that Steve couldn't have imagined when he handed the shield over at the end of Endgame.

"When you meet Sam's family, that's a family story that's going to continue through the series. You're not just meeting them in one throw-away beat. You're seeing a whole family storyline set up," Spellman elaborated. "Part of what we wanted to do was... create a personal pressure from Sam, because his sister also has a shared experience with him, and she [has] real opinions on symbolism, and what heroes do in general. It creates a personal obstacle for Sam to come to grips with...For Sam, he is a Black man, and he is not just a Black man -- he's a Black man from the South. He does not believe it is appropriate to take on this symbol because it means something very different in his hands than it does [in] Steve's [hands]." 

As arduous as the path ahead might be for both Sam and Bucky, it doesn't mean that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier isn't going to deliver the laughs that the fans expect. The duo became a fan-favorite odd-couple thanks to their squabbles in Captain America: Civil War, and that frenemy dynamic will continue throughout the TV show, even as the show tackles more intense topics.  

"I'm thrilled for the comedy. I think the fans are really not only going to enjoy the characters, but just getting to know them and their sort of grumpy repartee, and seeing both Sam and Bucky in a way that we've never seen them before," series director Kari Skogland added at the junket. "I'm really excited also about the watercooler conversation around the many things that we are exploring: racism nationalism, what it is to be a hero, grief, loss, and forgiveness, alongside mental health. We are really tackling some very ongoing big character themes, and I'm going to be very interested in the engagement from the fans and how they feel about that." 

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier premieres Friday, March 19 on Disney+.