Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER
Starring Chris Evans (Steve Rogers / Captain America), Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff / The Black Widow), Anthony Mackie (Sam Wilson / The Falcon), Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes / The Winter Soldier), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Cobie Smulders (Maria Hill), Robert Redford (Alexander Pierce), Emily VanCamp (Sharon Carter), and Maximiliano Hernandez (Agent Jasper Sitwell) with special appearances by Stan Lee, Hayley Atwell (as Peggy Carter), and Gary Shandling (as Senator Stern) and a mid-credits appearance by Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff and Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Pietro Maximoff
Directed by Joe Russo and Anthony Russo
Produced by Kevin Feige
Written by Christopher Marcus and Stephen McFeely
Music By Henry Jackman
Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures
Run Time: 2 hours and 16 minutes
World Premier: March 13, 2014, the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood, California
Opening Weekend Box Office: $95 million (North America)
Worldwide Box Office: $714 million
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Memorable Captain America: The Winter Soldier Quotes
“We kept coming back to Winter Soldier because it was the coolest run in Captain America in modern comics. Ed Brubaker had just done lovely stuff with it.” – Stephen McFeely
“We hired [Joe Russo and Anthony Russo] on Cap because they loved our explanation that we really want to make a 70’s political thriller masquerading as a big superhero movie. Just like with the first film – we got Joe Johnston because we said, ‘We want to do a 40’s World War II movie masquerading as a big superhero movie.’ I love that we’re doing a sequel to a film that’s a completely different genre than the first film. I think that’s fun. And the comics do it all the time.” – Kevin Feige
“When I first started in this business in 2001, I told my agent that my dream was to do a Western and to be a superhero. When I saw the first Iron Man, I realized that Marvel had a completely different take and look on how they perceive the superhero film. It was a perception that I preferred, and I’ve always wanted to be a part of them. And with Falcon, I was just excited by the idea of wearing the red spandex suit. That was my big thing.” – Anthony Mackie
“It’s not so much about [Steve Rogers’] shock with [technology] … It’s more about the societal differences. He’s gone from the 40’s to today; he comes from a world where people were a little more trusting, the threats not as deep. Now it’s harder to tell who’s right and wrong. Actions you take to protect people from threats could compromise liberties and privacy. That’s tough for Steve to swallow.” – Chris Evans discussing Steve Rogers’ uncomfortable place in the modern world in Captain America: The Winter Soldier
“[Black Widow’s] a character who lies for a living. That’s what she does. [Steve Roger’s] a character that tells the truth. Give them a problem and they’ll have different ways of approaching it. She’s pushing him to modernize, and he’s pushing her to add a certain level of integrity to her life.” – The Russo Brothers discussing the dynamic between Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
“I got to go out to Marvel Studios and read one of the later drafts of the script. I went out to dinner with Directors Joe and Anthony Russo, and talked about the project, and gave them feedback on what I liked, or didn’t like, or what parts didn’t work. I mean, the script I read was fantastic. The tone of it, and the Bucky stuff is so perfect, and the way I’d want it to be, I was so thrilled to see that.” – Ed Brubaker.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting
During the casting process for Captain America: The First Avenger, Kevin Feige was already thinking about a potential sequel and where the story could go. The casting of Bucky Barnes was very important … not just because he was going to be a Howling Commando and Steve Rogers’ best friend, but because Bucky would go on to become The Winter Soldier as the story evolved, and in casting Bucky, Marvel Studios didn’t just need a clean-cut patriotic young man with charm, they needed someone with a subtle, brooding darkness that could effectively bring The Winter Soldier to life. Marvel Studios therefore cast Sebastian Stan.
I cannot mention the words Winter Soldier without mentioning writer Ed Brubaker in the same breath. At the end of 2004, Marvel Comics’ Captain America series was relaunched with a new # 1 as Ed Brubaker was brought-in to take over the title. It would be eight-years before Ed Brubaker’s run would end and during that time, he completely revolutionized Captain America as a character and redefined what the mantle of Captain America meant. Brubaker authored a thrilling and suspenseful tale full of action, murder, romance, mystery, and politics. He also completely reinvented the Bucky Barnes character.
Bucky Barnes is one of Marvel’s oldest characters. Like Steve Rogers, he dates back to the Timely Comics days with his first comic book appearance coming in Captain America Comics # 1. Bucky was Steve’s teenage sidekick, a character through which young readers could live vicariously. But, when the inaugural superhero bubble sort of burst at the end of the 1940’s, Bucky was sidelined and when Captain America was brought back as a Man Out of Time by Stan Lee in 1964, Bucky was nowhere to be found. Readers went on to discover that Bucky was (presumably) killed in 1945 while trying to disarm a bomb over the Arctic. And, for some 60-years, Bucky stayed dead while the adventures of Steve Rogers continued.
Then came Ed Brubaker.
Brubaker decided that his Captain America run would more or less revolve around Bucky Barnes. Brubaker revealed that Bucky’s body had been discovered by the USSR within the frozen Arctic waters. Barely clinging to life, Barnes had completely lost his left arm and had suffered brain damage. He was nonetheless revived and despite an extreme case of amnesia, Barnes had retained his combat skills, instincts, and expertise. From there, Bucky underwent extensive hypnosis and training and was later fitted with a bionic arm, after which he emerged as the deadly assassin known only as The Winter Soldier; a crucial weapon wielded against the United States during the Cold War and beyond. Between missions, Bucky was kept in cryogenic stasis to prevent aging.
As Brubaker’s run continued, the Civil War Event Series would shake-up the Marvel Universe in a major way and would lead to The Death of Captain America after which Bucky Barnes would himself pick up the shield and take on the mantle of Captain America. Dozens of twists and turns would follow as the series continued with Bucky establishing relationships in the modern world with Nick Fury, Natasha Romanoff, Sam Wilson, Namor the Submariner, and of course, Steve Rogers while feuding with Doctor Faustus, The Red Skull, Sin and Crossbones, and Arnim Zola. Bucky even became a member of The Avengers!
In short, Ed Brubaker made Bucky Barnes a much more rich and storied character, and this went far beyond the brainwashing and the arm. Brubaker frequently flashed-back to World War II during his run and brilliantly erased all of the “teenage sidekick” nonsense, explaining all of that away as propaganda. For Bucky’s true purpose on his missions with Cap was to do the things that Steve could not be seen doing. Yes, Bucky was a killer. And he was an effective one.
I must mention the talented Steve Epting here as well. Epting is one of my most favorite artists and he did a phenomenal job designing Bucky as The Winter Soldier with the long dark hair, the black domino mask, and the shiny metal arm with the five-pointed red star.
Ed Brubaker’s run on Captain America spans well over 100-issues if read in its entirety, and boasts crossovers with Marvel Events Civil War, House of M, Secret Invasion, and Fear Itself. It is my favorite comic book series of all-time, and I cannot recommend it highly enough! The notion of seeing my personal favorite` comic book run adapted to film had me even more excited than I was for The Avengers in 2012, and I could not wait to get out to the theater and see this movie!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Fun Captain America: The Winter Soldier Facts
Along with The Winter Soldier arc, Kevin Feige had early ambition to tear down S.H.I.E.L.D., bringing the narrative up to Chris Evans while The Avengers was still shooting. After The Avengers wrapped, members of the Marvel Studios team embarked upon another one of their Creative Retreats where what would become known as Phase Two of the MCU was mapped-out and discussed. On this retreat were Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Jeremy Latcham, Stephen Broussard, and Nate Moore. It was on this retreat that Nate Moore pitched his vision for what a Guardians of the Galaxy film might look like, but Jeremy Latcham ended up being assigned to that project. Nate Moore meanwhile was assigned to work on the Captain America sequel, while Stephen Broussard would co-produce Iron Man 3 and Craig Kyle would co-produce the Thor sequel.
From there, Nate Moore began working with Captain America: The First Avenger co-writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, who’d agreed to return to write the Captain America sequel. It was Nate Moore who pitched the idea of bringing Sam Wilson / The Falcon into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in this film.
At the 2012 San Diego Comic Con, as part of the Marvel Studios panel, Kevin Feige announced that the Captain America sequel would be titled Captain America: The Winter Soldier and furthermore announced a release date of April 4, 2014, and the hiring of Joe Russo and Anthony Russo to direct the film.
In March of 2013, Marvel Studios filmed the Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter short film over the course of 5-days. Directed by Louis D’Esposito, the One-Shot starred Hayley Atwell, who reprised her role as SSR Agent Peggy Carter from Captain America: The First Avenger and matched her up against the chauvinistic John Flynn (portrayed by Bradley Whitford) and saw her embark upon a rebellious mission to retrieve the Zodiac serum. The One-Shot also featured cameo appearances from Dominic Cooper (as Howard Stark) and Neal McDonough (as Dum Dum Dugan), and ended with Stark calling Peggy and telling her that he wanted her to help him run the upstart S.H.I.E.L.D. On the MCU Timeline (the Sacred Timeline), the Agent Carter One-Shot should be viewed after Steve Rogers goes into the ice in Captain America: The First Avenger and before he wakes up in the modern world in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. The short was Marvel Studios’ fourth One-Shot following The Consultant, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer, and Item 47.
Chris Evans trained in parkour, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and karate between The Avengers and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo wanted to show that as an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Rogers had gotten himself up to speed on various modern styles of fighting.
On April 1, 2013, filming on Captain America: The Winter Soldier began in Los Angeles, California. In May, filming moved to Washington, DC, after which filming moved to Cleveland, Ohio where filming concluded on June 27, 2013.
Captain America’s blue and white stealth suit in Captain America: The Winter Soldier was based on a suit that the Steve Rogers character wore while Bucky Barnes was serving as Captain America in the Marvel comics.
In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff / The Black Widow wears a necklace in the shape of an arrow throughout the film. This is an homage to her dear friend and fellow Avenger Clint Barton / Hawkeye.
Lola VFX, who worked with Marvel Studios on the “Skinny Steve” scenes in Captain America: The First Avenger, returned to work on Captain America: The Winter Soldier, for scenes involving a brief WWII flashback as Steve Rogers reflected upon his training at Camp Lehigh, and for the bedside scene that Steve shared with a sick and elderly Peggy Carter. Hayley Atwell reprised her role as Peggy Carter from Captain America: The First Avenger in that scene, which involved digitally transposing the facial features of an elderly actress onto the face of Atwell.
In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Toby Jones returned to reprise his role as Hydra scientist Arnim Zola from Captain America: The First Avenger. This time around, Zola resembled his comic book counterpart much more closely as his consciousness had been preserved within a complex computer system stationed at Camp Lehigh in New Jersey. Zola’s role within the plot of The Winter Soldier was a big one, as it was revealed that it was he who had the idea to covertly rebuild Hydra within S.H.I.E.L.D. after being recruited by the organization as part of Operation: Paperclip. It was also Zola who oversaw the brainwashing of Bucky Barnes and the fitting of Barnes’ cybernetic arm, transforming the former Howling Commando into the Fist of Hydra.
In Captain America: The First Avenger, Gary Shandling reprised his role as Senator Stern from Iron Man 2. Shandling was revealed in this film to be a Hydra loyalist, which served to explain his obsession with Tony Stark and his Iron Man armor in that film.
In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Agent Jasper Sitwell name-drops Doctor Stephen Strange when he is rattling of Hydra’s grand plan to Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson, and Natasha Romanoff. Many viewers have confused this reference as contradicting the established MCU Timeline (the Sacred Timeline), as Doctor Strange, at this point in time, would have yet to begin studying the Mystic Arts. However, there is no contradiction, for the algorithm Zola created in the film was written to deduce both current and future threats based on the information available to it. The program therefore deduced that Strange had the potential to emerge as a threat to Hydra’s plans, as it likewise did with millions of others, which was why he was targeted for termination.
In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Winter Soldier co-creator Ed Brubaker cameos as one of the scientists helping to reprogram Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes.
Stan Lee makes his 9th MCU cameo appearance in this film, working as a security guard at the Smithsonian. Stan did not have any part in the creation of Captain America, Bucky Barnes, or The Winter Soldier, but he was behind the decision by Marvel to bring Captain America back as a Man Out of Time and an Avenger in 1964.
The mid-credits scene for Captain America: The Winter Soldier introduced The Twins: Wanda Maximoff and her brother Pietro Maximoff into the MCU. Wanda and Pietro – otherwise known as The Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver respectively – were traditionally mutants in the Marvel comics that were the twin children of the mutant Master of Magnetism Magneto. Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson were cast by Marvel Studios to portray The Twins. Though 20th Century Fox owned the film rights to all of Marvel’s mutants at the time, a loophole pertaining to Wanda and Pietro’s days as members of The Avengers allowed Marvel Studios to bring the characters into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the condition that they not be referred to as mutants, nor as the Children of Magneto. On May 23, 2014, with the release of X-Men: Days of Future Past, 20th Century Fox introduced their own version of Quicksilver (portrayed by Evan Peters), referred to as “Peter Maximoff” and did so complete with a tease that he was the son of Magneto (portrayed by both Michael Fassbender and Ian McKellen in the film). Some six-years later in the Disney+ series WandaVision, Evan Peters would be cast by Marvel Studios to portray a faux version of Quicksilver, pretending to be Pietro Maximoff and mingling with Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda while under the spell of Agatha Harkness.
On July 2, 2013, The Walt Disney Company announced that a deal had been reached with Paramount Pictures that landed the home video rights to 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger at Disney. This would end up being a very significant deal years later with the launch of the Disney+ streaming service.
On July 20, 2013, Marvel Studios returned to San Diego Comic Con where in Hall H, a full panel was presented for Captain America: The Winter Soldier which included Kevin Feige, Directors Joe and Anthony Russo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Emily VanCamp, and Frank Grillo. Also at the event, the aforementioned Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter short film was screened to much acclaim. Disney CEO Bob Iger was so impressed with the One-Shot, he proposed the idea of a television series revolving around the character, which eventually became ABC’s Agent Carter. Marvel Studios worked closely with Marvel Television on the production of Agent Carter (the first episode was directed by Louis D’Esposito, written by Christopher Marcus and Stephen McFeely, and Kevin Feige was given a production credit), the series was later confirmed as non-canon to the MCU Timeline (the Sacred Timeline) in 2023 with the release of the book Marvel Studios – The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline, as none of the events that transpired in ABC’s Agent Carter were alluded to beyond the casting of actor James D’Arcy (who portrayed Edwin Jarvis in the series) in that same role in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.
The first teaser trailer for Captain America: The Winter Soldier was released in October-2013. The trailer received 23.5-million views during its first 24-hours of release, which nearly translated to 1-million views per hour. The first televised trailer for Captain America: The Winter Soldier aired during the NFL’s Super Bowl XLVIII on February 2, 2014.
Harley Davidson and Chevrolet were promotional partners with Marvel Studios for Captain America: The Winter Soldier. On March 7, 2014, Captain America (not Chris Evans) began making appearances at Disneyland in California as part of a meet-and-greet experience titled Captain America: The Living Legend and Symbol of Courage. On April 1, 2014, Chris Evans and Sebastian Stan rang the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier set a record for the highest-grossing opening weekend ever in the month of April and was the seventh highest-grossing film of 2014.
On January 7, 2015, at the People’s Choice Awards, Chris Evans won the Award for Favorite Action Movie Star for his role as Steve Rogers / Captain America in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
My Captain America: The Winter Soldier Review
I look back on Captain America: The Winter Soldier to this day sort of in awe that this film actually exists. At the time of its release, there had never been anything quite like it within the comic book movie genre and it holds up to this day as one of my most favorite Marvel Studios productions. If you’ve read this far, you know my feelings on writer Ed Brubaker and his brilliance, and those feelings are part of the reason I love this film so much. Captain America: The First Avenger did a great job of capturing the spirit of Brubaker’s work as it applied to Cap, but in The Winter Soldier, that was cranked-up to maximum level! The costume worn by Sebastian Stan looked like the character had leaped off the comics pages. The glasses and face mask were tweaks, but they worked and made the character look all the more mysterious and intimidating, driving home that amazing moment in the film when Cap removes the mask and recognizes Bucky; another scene that was very true to the comics!
It’s an awesome thing as a fan to love a character that you’ve only seen drawn or read about and then see them be brought to life appropriately. For years and years, it was really rare to see the history, the look, the feel, the attitude, and the powers / abilities of comic book characters be adapted faithfully, and I’m old enough to still remember – and not miss – those days. For The Winter Soldier however, he was brought to life perfectly, dating back to 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger, emerging as a testament to Kevin Feige and his team’s respect for the source material, their appreciation for the characters in their films, and their respect for the fans of those characters. Bucky Barnes / The Winter Soldier is amongst my Top-5 favorite Marvel characters, so him being gotten right was very important to me, and I went into this film with extremely high expectations, and still walked out overwhelmed by just how good it was!
Stealing the show for me was Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America. Steve sits just above Bucky on my Top-5 Marvel characters list, and I’ve written in detail about my appreciation for the character in previous review posts that you can check-out in the archives if you wish. I loved Cap coming into this film, but I think this was the movie that made a lot of other people grow to appreciate Captain America. This film was less about Steve’s patriotism which was on full display during The First Avenger and more about his strict moral code. Captain America: The First Avenger went a long way to present Steve Rogers as akin to the character he was created to be when Joe Simon and Jack Kirby first introduced him. He was a soldier. This was expanded upon by Joss Whedon in The Avengers when Tony Stark took issue with Steve’s “follow orders first” attitude, but even before Steve went into the ice, he was always willing to choose the “right thing” over “orders”, as evident by his solo mission rescue of those hundreds of troops behind enemy lines in Italy (one of which was Bucky). Tony misjudged Steve a bit when he first met him and Tony underestimated Steve’s inner drive and personal conviction, which he would learn all too much about in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier was an incredible follow-up to Steve Rogers’ arc, which began in The First Avenger and continued in The Avengers. Steve emerged from the ice in a world that he didn’t understand, but more importantly in a world that he no longer related to. He took back up the mantle of Captain America and went to work for S.H.I.E.L.D. because that’s what he thought was the right thing to do. All he ever wanted was the opportunity to serve his Country, and with everyone he knew either dead or in their nineties, he decided to cling to that familiar goal. After all, his beloved Peggy Carter helped found S.H.I.E.L.D., and his first mission for the agency involved the same Cosmic Cube that had powered Hydra’s weapons. As he settled into his role however, he learned that S.H.I.E.L.D. had its fair share of secrets and that life had gone on in some very troubling ways. Nonetheless, he fought alongside The Avengers, found strength in their courage and success, and decided to stay on with S.H.I.E.L.D. beyond the Battle of New York.
By the time we catch-up with Steve in The Winter Soldier, all of this is starting to come to a head, and he reaches a breaking point during the raid on the Lemurian Star. Tired of the secrets, misdirection’s, and compartmentalization, Steve angrily confronts Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Nick Fury, desperate for answers to ease his troubled mind and the gut-feeling keeping him awake at night. Fury allows Steve a peak through the door, but Steve is horrified by what he sees, uttering the memorable “This isn’t freedom. This is fear” line. Those words propel Steve down a tumultuous path that sees him labeled a Fugitive from S.H.I.E.L.D. and on to one of the biggest swerves in MCU history.
S.H.I.E.L.D. being infiltrated by Hydra was a plot device championed by Kevin Feige and it took not just this movie but the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole by storm. S.H.I.E.L.D. had been carefully injected as sort of the centerpiece of the MCU throughout Phase One, and the Hydra reveal meant that Marvel Studios was now tearing all of that completely down. There was going to be no restructuring, no re-organizing, and no resurrection. S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra with it, was no more.
This story was told with a lot of thought and a lot of attention to detail. Various real-life events (such as Project: Paperclip and the Cold War), conspiracy theories (secret societies and government agendas), and hot-button news stories (government surveillance and the complexities of the digital age) were drawn from to weave together a thrilling and disturbing plot narrative that was backed by some of the greatest action sequences in comic book movie history.
Beginning with the raid on the Lemurian Star, this scene is one of my most favorite Captain America sequences that has ever been put on film. I loved that it was shot at night and the stealth suit and shield looked awesome! Watching Cap wield the shield during this sequence was immensely satisfying and the Russo’s did some really incredible and innovative things with the shield being wielded as an offensive weapon. The fight between Cap and Batroc (portrayed by UFC star Georges St-Pierre) was awesome as well, as the hand-to-hand combat between the two was well choreographed and very exciting.
The next scene I have to mention is the Nick Fury car chase sequence. My goodness was this suspenseful, and Samuel L. Jackson was amazing here as Nick Fury! Knowing this was shot quite practically and having seen some of the behind-the-scenes stuff from it makes me appreciate this sequence all the more. It was fast and chaotic, and the music was perfect, and it culminated in The Winter Soldier’s haunting emergence. This was just so well done!
That brings me to the elevator fight. It’s really difficult for me to single out a favorite scene from this film, but if I had to, this would be it. Again, this was so suspenseful, and intense. The little details that the Russo’s captured here from the sweat trickling down the faces of the nervous S.H.I.E.L.D. / S.T.R.I.K.E. Agents, to the change of expression on Chris Evans’ face as he begins to realize the ramifications of the situation that he has found himself in. These little moments culminate in the “Before we get started, does anyone want to get out?” line from Cap, which was just perfect, and then, the fight is on, and it’s everything you’d think a 10-on-1 fight between trained mercenaries and one Super Soldier inside a glass elevator would be! It’s amazing and also stands to this day as one of Cap’s greatest moments on film. I also have to throw Cap singlehandedly bringing down a Quinjet following his elevator escape as a moment that added to the pure adrenaline rush that was this scene.
As the title of the film suggests, this movie really comes down to Captain America vs The Winter Soldier. Steve vs Bucky. And this is where the emotional depth of the film really comes in. Bucky Barnes is the big brother that Steve Rogers never had. Bucky Barnes is the best friend that Steve has ever had. Bucky and Steve have risked their lives for one another, they literally fought a war together, and Bucky is Steve’s single greatest regret from the life he lived before going into the ice. The hand-to-hand combat stuff here is wonderful, complete with Steve’s shield wielding and Bucky’s complex knife-work but go back and look at the faces of Steve and Bucky when Barnes loses his mask. Look at the utter disbelief and confusion on Chris Evans’ face – he looks like he’s lost his breath! The eyes of Sebastian Stan meanwhile are somehow both empty and deep at the same time. This sequence was fully loaded with strong acting, superb stunt work, and astounding choreography, and it ends with Captain America on his knees in broad daylight being handcuffed while a gun is pointed at his head!
Captain America vs The Winter Soldier: Round Two served as the fight that the entire film had been leading to. The Winter Soldier was fighting on behalf of Hydra to stop Captain America from preventing Hydra’s grand plan (the launch of three next-generation Helicarriers linked to a network of targeting satellites, using an algorithm designed by Arnim Zola to identify and eradicate current and potential threats to Hydra) of coming to fruition. This is an emotional showdown, as Steve simply doesn’t want to fight Bucky. All Steve can see when he looks at The Winter Soldier is his friend, and eventually, after bruises, broken bones, bloodshed, and even gunshots – and the culmination of a successful mission – Steve finally gets through to Bucky, and for at least a moment, during which Sebastian Stan’s expression is one of pure horror – Bucky remembers who Steve is. This realization provokes Bucky to fish Steve out of the water before quietly slipping away into the shadows.
Being a Super Soldier and all, Captain America goes on to make a full recovery, but he is now driven by one goal that becomes all the more urgent after Natasha Romanoff gets Bucky’s Hydra file into Steve’s hands: Find The Winter Soldier. Save Bucky Barnes.
The excellence of Chris Evans throughout this film cannot be overstated. He was noble, driven, defiant, and pretty much a badass, with a lot of these character aspects never being really experienced by the viewing public before. Sebastian Stan’s Winter Soldier on the other hand established himself as one of the MCU’s greatest villains in this film. After one-dimensional vengeance-seeking bad-guys like Ivan Vanko (Iron Man 2), Aldrich Killian (Iron Man 3), and Malekith (Thor: The Dark World), Marvel Studios’ greatest villain at the time: Tom Hiddleston’s Loki (Thor, The Avengers, and Thor: The Dark World) finally had someone to compete with. In his performance, Stan was cold and calculated but also emotional and tragic, creating an antagonist with both depth and purpose.
There are so many other things I loved about this film beyond the Steve and Bucky story though. Hearing Gary Shandling and freaking Robert Redford utter “Hail Hydra” was surreal and just a reflection of the amazing times that we live in. Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / The Black Widow was great from start to finish in this film, and she delivered some of her best fight sequences in this movie as well, not to mention boasting great chemistry with Chris Evans. She was especially good during Nick Fury’s (supposed) death scene. I also thoroughly enjoyed Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson / The Falcon. The Arnim Zola reveal as a Living Computer was just too cool for me not to geek-out about. Kudos to the Russo’s and Marvel Studios for that! And even then, I just knew that blink-and-you-miss-it newspaper headline and redaction that revealed that Howard and Maria Stark were murdered by The Winter Soldier was going to come back to bite Bucky and Steve in some awful way. The elderly Peggy with (what I assume was Alzheimer’s disease) was heartbreaking. I cried watching Steve at her bedside and I cried when Nick Fury’s time of death was read, and I cried when Bucky realized who Steve was … I cried a lot during this film in fact, but I also cheered, and I also jumped; I felt joy, and sadness, and I felt dread, and I felt nervous. This film was a gauntlet of emotions that had a little bit of everything. It was an MCU masterpiece!
Then came the mid-credits scene! After all of that, Marvel Studios introduced Wanda and Pietro Maximoff! Wanda (known to comic book readers as The Scarlet Witch) is my second-favorite Marvel character of all-time, behind only Loki, and I will write more about her in my forthcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron review.
At the time of its release, Captain America: The Winter Soldier eclipsed The Avengers as my favorite Marvel Studios film. It was the greatest comic book movie I’d ever seen.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Highlights of Captain America: The Winter Soldier:
Chris Evans is Steve Rogers
Sebastian Stan is The Winter Soldier
Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / The Black Widow
Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson / The Falcon
Perfect Comics-to-Film Adaptation
Elevator Fight!
Raid on the Lemurian Star
Nick Fury Car-Chase Sequence
Hand-to-Hand Combat Sequences
Innovative Use of Cap’s Shield as a Weapon
Chemistry between Chris Evans and Sebastian Stan
Tear-Jerking Peggy Carter Alzheimer’s Scene
Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce (Hail Hydra)
Gary Shandling as Senator Stern (Hail Hydra)
Hydra Uprising / Fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. Plot Points
Arnim Zola Returns as a Living Computer!
Mid-Credits Scene introducing Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Notable MCU Concepts and Characters Introduced:
The Winter Soldier. Hydra Uprising / Fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. Alexander Pierce. The S.H.I.E.L.D. S.T.R.I.K.E. Team. Frank Grillo. Sharon Carter. Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker. Pietro Maximoff and Wanda Maximoff.
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