Fresh Images From Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Sequels are often darker than their predecessors, but Captain America is taking that literally in The Winter Soldier, swapping his star-spangled uniform for a darker grey suit. Perhaps it's no wonder that he's feeling gloomy, with his old pal Bucky transformed into the titular Winter Soldier and the odds stacked against him. Here are some exclusive new pictures from the film that appear in the new February issue of Empire magazine (out Tuesday, December 31).

So there you get a look at Captain America's new duds; Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow running full tilt for, er, important reasons; Sebastian Stan's Winter Soldier holding Cap's shield (clutch your pearls in horror now, everyone!) and Robert Redford's Alexander Pierce laying down the law (it seems) to S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson).

Marvel's latest also features Anthony Mackie as The Falcon, along with Frank Grillo, Cobie Smulders and Emily Van Camp, and you can read lots more about it in the new issue of Empire. Captain America:** The Winter Soldier also graces the cover of Empire this month, kicking off our 25th birthday year, and also starts off the summer blockbuster season on the early, early date of March 26, 2014.