The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is four episodes in and it’s already a complicated tale of power, violence, justice, and what America Cap’s red-white-blue shield really stands for. But the new trailer, which Disney released Monday, also reminds us that the series will come to an end in just two episodes.
[Ed. note: This story contains spoilers for The Falcon and The Winter Soldier up to episode 4.]
The new trailer is made up almost entirely of footage that has been on the show so far, with one major exception: in the last few seconds, we get a photo of John Walker, the new Captain America, standing in a warehouse with Bucky and Sam faced him. In other words, Disney and Marvel are teasing the showdown we all knew was coming.
But even if this fight was clear, there are plenty of loose ends and questions that aren’t. For example, is John Walker really the last super soldier? Where did Zemo go after a brief escape from the Dora Milaje? What happens to the Flag Smashers and Karli Morgenthau, with whom the show seemed to have so much sympathy in the first four episodes?
Nearly two dozen previous stories in the Marvel Cinematic Universe would suggest that New Cap will be defeated, Karli’s violent means will ruin her noble goals and that Sam will feel bad for her, yet deliver the easiest version of ‘justice’ the show. . It would be a disappointing ending for a series willing to play the first four episodes on the moral fringes of the MCU, but it’s also likely given the open nature of Marvel’s mega franchise.
Then again, with only two episodes left, and a Power Broker yet to be revealed, maybe The Falcon and The Winter Soldier will continue its ambitious plan. So far, the show has spent a significant amount of its time giving their own unique points of view on issues to the characters and letting them explain valid, reasonable arguments for their opinions. That would be a tough web to untangle in just two episodes, so maybe the show will let us draw some of our own conclusions about right and wrong.