First announced last year, Falcon & The Winter Soldier is part of the developing set of limited Marvel series for Disney's new streaming service Disney+. Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan are reprising their roles from the films, and we already knew that Empire TV producer Malcolm Spellman was setting up in the writing room. The latest news is that he'll now be joined by John Wick mastermind Derek Kolstad.
The events of Avengers: Endgame, of course, have significantly altered the stakes for this series. What we might once have perceived as a potential mismatched-buddies knockabout for Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes is now contending with a significant change in circumstances for the former. It'll be fascinating to see how Wilson/Falcon's post-Endgame narrative plays out.
Interesting too that it'll be playing out on the small screen: the Disney+ shows are apparently far more a part of the MCU than the Netflix Defenders shows were. "These will be major storylines, set within the MCU, with ramifications that will be felt both through the other Disney+ series we’re producing and our features on the big screen,” Marvel honcho Kevin Feige said in April. “A post-‘Endgame’ MCU will be extremely different and extremely focused on Disney+ tying into our future movies."
While the John Wick films are arguably more about action choreography than anything else, Kolstad has nevertheless proved himself adept at some very quirky worldbuilding across the the three instalments to date. It's intriguing to wonder what he'll contribute to Falcon & Winter Soldier, which also features Daniel Brühl and Emily VanCamp (who respectively played Baron Zemo and Sharon Carter in Captain America: Civil War). The series is part of a Disney+ Marvel roster that also includes series revolving around Scarlet Witch and Vision, Loki and Hawkeye.
The series are expected to be around six to eight episodes each. Falcon & Winter Soldier is getting six, all to be directed by Kari Skogland (a prolific TV director and showrunner with credits including The Punisher, The Handmaid's Tale and The Walking Dead). Back in May, Stan said the plan is to kick off filming Falcon & Winter Soldier this October in Atlanta, one of Marvel's current filming hubs. Disney+ launches in November.