#’The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s Stars on Bringing Dimension to Sam & Bucky

Marvel’s latest Disney+ series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, is gearing up to be one action-packed season of adventure, but there’s more to it than that.

Following the success of WandaVision, Marvel’s first series for the streamer, there’s a definite pressure to live up to the hype, but they’re taking one ingredient from the recent hit that mixes well with the heroes at the center of this new tale. Not much would link Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), apart from their mutual friendship with Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America (Chris Evans).

Like Wanda Maximoff’s (Elizabeth Olsen) mournful journey in WandaVision, these two very different men are grieving over separate traumas as well as the shared loss of their friend and hero Steve. During the global press conference for the series, Marvel boss and producer Kevin Feige admitted that emotional trauma is a theme that carries throughout the show.

“I think you feel it more because we have more time with the Disney+, but I think that’s something we’ve always tried to do, ” he told reporters. “It’s always about exploring. What’s great about the Marvel characters is their flaws… it’s grounding in the character experiences and the emotions of the character. And that’s always by far the most important anchor for any story we’re gonna tell.”

For Sam, that means coping with the absence of his pal Steve, “just like everybody else, you don’t wanna see Captain America go away,” said Mackie. “Captain America was Sam Wilson’s captain.” But that’s not all Sam’s dealing as he and sister Sarah (Adepero Oduye) struggle with the economic fallout caused in part by the Blip (the reappearance of half the universe’s population in the MCU).

“The idea of Sam Wilson, he’s always evolved in the world of the Marvel comic books, and now he’s evolved in the Marvel Cinematic Universe,” Mackie said of his character. “So, I’m excited for everyone to see the new and improved Sam Wilson.”

Fans of Bucky will see him go through his own bouts of trauma as he recalls the events of his past pre-Blip when he was under Hydra’s control as an assassin. Now in therapy to deal with his PTSD, Bucky’s forced to face the fact that he’s a shut-in that refuses to foster relationships.

This season, he’ll try and change that, but not in ways you might expect. “I always learn something about myself from this character,” Stan revealed. “I was pretty freaked out because, I felt like we had established a character… that I knew and was very comfortable with tonally. And then, we had to go into this and [ask], ‘Well, what is he like now?’ Part of that was us homing in on his sense of humor.”

Part of that humor will come out when Sam and Bucky team up. “You can’t find two people further opposite than each other than Sebastian and I. But there’s a mutual respect, understanding, appreciation of that person,” Mackie said. “We listen, learn, and teach each other a great deal.” Just like Sam and Bucky will no doubt do as The Falcon and the Winter Soldier rolls out on Disney+.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Series Premiere, Friday, March 19, Disney+