While Captain America: Brave New World won’t be out until February 14th, 2025, Disney is probably hoping to stir some excitement for that movie by releasing what will eventually become regarded as its prequel TV series, The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, on 4K and Blu-ray as the The Falcon And The Winter Soldier: The Complete First Season.
Set after the events of Avengers: Endgame,
The Falcon And The Winter Soldier has the former frenemies teaming up to take out The Flag Smashers, an armed anarchist terrorist group who feel life was better when half the population were gone.
But it’s also about The Falcon [Anthony Mackie] coming to grips with the idea of being the new Captain America, and the shield itself.
As Marvel’s Disney+ shows go, The Falcon And The Winter Soldier was decidedly in the middle, quality-wise. While Mackie and Sebastian Stan are as entertaining here as they were in Captain America: Civil War, the show, overall, was not as good as Disney+’s best (She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel), but not as meh as their worst (Echo, Secret Invasion).
Though just as Ms. Marvel took on more relevance after The Marvels came out, so too might The Falcon And The Winter Soldier when Captain America: Brave New World is released.
That said, The Falcon And The Winter Soldier is exciting, and even goes places you might not expect (though less so if you’ve read the comics in which Sam took over as Cap).
Of course,
it helps that like so many of the MCU shows and movies, The Falcon And The Winter Soldier has a rock solid cast, starting with Mackie and Stan, whose banter is as spry here as it was in Captain America: Civil War.
But they’re not the only highlights of the call sheet. Daniel Brühl returns from Captain America: Civil War as Helmet Zemo, as does Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter, with both seeming like they shot this show right after that movie, and thus never lost their grip on their characters.
And then there’s the wonderfully bad (but maybe “conflicted” is a better word) Karli Morgenthau of the Flag Smashers, who is played by Erin Kellyman with the same “don’t you dare look away” energy she had as Enfys Nest in Solo: A Star Wars Story.
As for how the six episodes look and sound on The Falcon And The Winter Soldier: The Complete First Season 4K and Blu-ray, like other MCU shows that have been released physically, this has crystal clear visuals and sound, with none of the occasional glitches you sometimes get from streaming.
It’s also easier to rewind and fast forward with a disc, though this doesn’t have as many reasons to do the former as WandaVision, Loki, and the just released Moon Knight, all of which had visual gags that could make you say, “Wait, what was that?” The Falcon And The Winter Soldier is more straightforward.
Along with its six episodes,
The Falcon And The Winter Soldier: The Complete First Season 4K and Blu-ray collections also have a bunch of cool if expected extras.
For starters, it has the “Assembled: The Making Of The Falcon And The Winter Soldier” from Disney+, an hour-long making-of special.
Next, the 4K and Blu-ray versions of The Falcon And The Winter Soldier: The Complete First Season have a second featurette called “Cap’s Shield,” in which Mackie and the crew discuss Sam taking the mantle of Captain America, while Mackie learns how to use the prop.
The Falcon And The Winter Soldier: The Complete First Season 4K and Blu-ray Discs also includes a pair of short but interesting deleted scenes, as well as a fairly typical (by which I mean “fun”) gag reel.
What The Falcon And The Winter Soldier: The Complete First Season 4K and Blu-ray discs doen’t have, but should, are the original trailers for the show, as well as something about Captain America: Brave New World. Sure, a trailer would be great (though probably impossible), but a little something would’ve been nice.
I also wish “Assembled: The Making Of The Falcon And The Winter Soldier” was on the second disc, not the first, since it’s obviously full of spoilers, and that the deleted scenes came with some context as to which episode they were cut from (though its rather obvious) and why it was cut.
In the end,
The Falcon And The Winter Soldier: The Complete First Season 4K and Blu-ray collections are the best way to watch this exciting show, whether it’s on its own, or to set the stage for a Brave New World.
SCORE: 8.0/10
