Bucky is unconventionally so; his past as the Winter Soldier and struggles to return to normal life result in him having No Social Skills, which is best seen in the first episode both with his date with Leah and when he confronts Senator Atwood. His bickering with Sam is also endearingly childish, and it's revealed he was a fan of The Hobbit back in the 30s Specifically... In 1937, which is when the book was released in the U.K.. indicating he was a bit of a geek. All of this makes him strangely quite adorable in an awkward way.
Bucky joins the Wilson family barbeque at the end by bringing a store-bought cake (that he clearly dropped at least once) and a deliberately hammed-up walk that is as adorable as it is goofy.
Torres is very goofy and sweet, and his idea of notifying Sam about the Flag-Smashers has him begin by taking an awkward selfie of his beat-up face.
Zemo is a Machiavellian criminal mastermind, a lethal former black-ops operative, as well as a rich, well-connected Baron... who also is a big fan of Marvin Gaye, arguing his work perfectly encapsulates "the African-American experience". And let's not even get started on his awkward dance moves during Sharon's party.
John Walker's response to his new costume as U.S. Agent, a giddy and cheerful "It’s the same! But black!" followed by goofily thanking Val as she finds her way out.
Alternate Aesop Interpretation: Sam and Bucky's attitude towards John is one of many factors that convinces him to take the serum, which later leads to his murderous breakdown. One could view the Aesop as "If someone claims a position that you wanted, don't give them a hard time".
Dr. Raynor. Is she a good therapist giving Bucky some much-needed Brutal Honesty and Tough Love? Or is she an unprofessional, passive-aggressive bully?
The banker in the first episode. Was his refusal to give a loan to Sam and Sarah racially motivated, or was he just being cheap due to the technicalities of Sam's financial situation after being dusted?
Bucky's comment about being turned off by "tiger photos" on dating apps. A general joke about being out-of-touch with modern conventions? Or, given that "tiger photos" are primarily associated with male profiles, a joke about Bucky listing himself as interested in men, either accidentally or deliberately? Yet others see it as a way for him to reject Leah gently by pulling a Sorry, I'm Gay, since he was reluctant to go on the date in the first place. Yet more fans jokingly interpret it as Bucky being a furry.
After a major argument with Sam in the therapist's room in Episode 2, Bucky snarks at Dr. Raynor by asking her to remind him of Rule #2 of his pardon ("Don't hurt anyone"). Was it meant in the literal sense where Bucky was threatening Zemo that he might not be able to hold back around him, (especially since he was already in a bad mood, and because he had just admitted that one of his fears was that he wasn't above this kind of cruelty? Or was it a reference to "hurt" having a Double Meaning, and him understanding that he had hurt Sam's feelings, and being regretful about it?
In episode 1, when Raynor asks Bucky to give her his phone as a trust-building exercise, he hands her a flip phone which she notes has very few numbers. However, in episode 4, he can be seen scrolling through what's clearly a smartphone of the news of Karli's bombing. Is it just a Series Continuity Error? Was he being honest in the first episode, and the smartphone is him borrowing from Sam? Or was he deliberately lying to Raynor because he in fact did not trust her?
Ayo's comment that “Dora Milaje have jurisdiction wherever the Dora Milaje find themselves to be”. Is that the resolute statement of a Determinator who has a duty to perform regardless of the rules, or an arrogant boast from someone who believes that they are above international law? It seems intended to be the former based on a post on the official Marvel Instagram that expressed agreement ("as they should"), however, reaction from viewers, as evidenced by the comments under this post, has been more divided.
When Walker incredulously laments being defeated by the Dora Milaje in Episode 4, he says "They weren't even Super Soldiers". Evidence that he proudly believed he could take on any non-super opponent, and the encounter bruised his ego? Or the horrified realization, of someone who believes he's expected to protect America from a new generation of super-soldiers, that he's barely even capable of taking down Badass Normal opponents, and may not be able to live up to his duties?
The ending of Episode 4 where Walker executes an unarmed surrendering prisoner have hit a surprising amount of emotion from both sides. One side sees it as an unforgivable act of Police Brutality, as it is unequivocally murder and not self-defense, and it shows he's utterly unworthy of being Captain America. Another side sees it as Walker proving more Anti-Hero than hero but still justified in that Nico had just helped kill Lemar, was part of a terrorist group that had just blown up a government building with people inside, and had been trying to assassinate Walker himself. Nico was also superpowered and thus how "unarmed" he really was is debatable (arguing that just because someone doesn't have a weapon doesn't mean that they are harmless). A third group believes that the optics of equating Walker's actions with RL police brutality is devaluing actual police brutality because Nico is genuinely guilty as well (if not directly, then at minimum by association) as potentially still a threat, while real victims are primarily innocent victims that are racially profiled. Even then, is it still an extrajudicial execution and evil or just what many people would do if their own best friend was just killed?
Whilst Sharon's reveal to the audience as the Power Broker was shocking to some, various elements of their new status quo as a master manipulator and underworld double agent don't totally add up unless you resort to the possibility that they were lying about their past for a longer time than the show indicates.
Zemo claims to have known of the Power Broker for years, prior to his incarceration, which would imply Sharon would have had to have been the Power Broker long before her stated reasoning for moving to Madripoor and becoming a high-end smuggler in the first place; Zemo at no point indicates that he recognises her as such, which is in-character for him, but also makes the reveal make less sense. Taken at face value, they would have to have been Evil All Along at least as far back as the events of Civil War, possibly even as far back as The Winter Soldier, thus contradicting their prior characterization and making a nonsensical mess of their actions and motives in previous appearances. One alternative explanation that is not suggested by the show but which is capable of reconciling with the above is that Sharon is not the first Power Broker but just the most recent one, as there have been two Power Brokers in the comics, and that they may have ascended the ranks via a case of You Kill It, You Bought It; this explanation has yet to be confirmed or denied.
On that same note, Sharon claims to have been in hiding in Madripoor following the events of Civil War and that she remained a fugitive from the government due to her aiding and abetting Steve Rogers, and that the Avengers essentially abandoned her and didn't contact her in the interim; however, in Endgame, Carter is prominently featured in a photo montage displayed on a holo-interface of Avengers-adjacent individuals who were confirmed to be Snapped, suggesting she was dead that whole time and this is a Retcon. Then again, in fairness, this also included Scott Lang, whose whereabouts were similarly unknown at the time, meaning some fans interpret her explanation of laying low as meaning she she was believed missing and later a victim of the Snap. As Sam and Bucky were Snapped in earnest they don't have a place to question her explanation. The latter was eventually confirmed by the show director who stated that Sharon survived being Snapped... but that raises just as many questions and fails to confirm or deny how long she was the Power Broker or whether the Avengers had been keeping track of her.
The above Continuity Snarl, plus other conflicting details, leads to some fans believing that this Sharon Carter is not the same Sharon previously seen, and one popular theory is that she will be revealed in Secret Invasion to be a Skrull infiltrator (so far, this remains to be seen). There's also no indication that she's aged in line with Unsnapped individuals such as Cassie Lang or the surviving Unsnapped members of the Avengers, who would all technically be their own age plus five years older than their Snapped peers, though there were other characters that didn't age noticeably but just changed their look in the intervening years.
Being a show with nationalistic themes starring an African-American superhero and an Anti-Villain who fights for refugees, the show pulls no punches when it comes to systematic racism towards black people and the many nefarious things America's government tends to get away with. The US government and its politicians are shown committing many atrocities both onscreen and off, even after Sam rescues them.
The series is also very aggressive with its centrist politics and portraying political radicalism in an unflattering light, mostly via turning Karli and the Flag Smashers into Strawman Political types, resulting in audiences criticizing the show for having made the antagonists incomprehensible in order to present this message. The Flag Smashers are typical Bomb-Throwing Anarchists but with little concern regarding their exact motivations and ultimate end goals, or even what their ideology actually is, broadly pulling from a vague and contradictory mishmash of schools such as anarchism and Marxism-Leninism.note So contradictory, in fact, that the two groups have often regarded each other as archenemies throughout history because of their significant ideological differences. The only consistent trait the Flag-Smashers have is their willingness to use violence to achieve their goals, when historically plenty of radical movements were non-militant and pushed for violent methods as a means of last resort.
The storyline about the people returned to life by Bruce is heavily reminiscent of real world immigration debates with equally few pulled punches.
Applicability: Zemo's speech about why he wants to destroy the Super-Soldier serum and anyone who attempts to recreate it mirrors real-world arguments about both nuclear proliferation and gun control. The serum is a weapon with no inherent morality of its own, and most people aren't Ideal Heroes like Steve Rogers and therefore can't be guaranteed to use the power it gives wisely, as the Flag Smashers and John Walker both demonstrate. It's worth noting, however, that he only presents one side of the argument: the serum is far from the only means of Super-Empowering in the MCU, and therefore one might reply that having it around gives a well-proven avenue for producing countermeasures to potential rogue supers (à la the "good guy with a gun" argument), which frankly was the whole impetus for the Avengers Initiative in the first place.
Award Snub: Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Daniel Bruhl, and Carl Lumbly were all shut out of the Emmys. What really makes it sting is that Don Cheadle somehow got a nomination for about a minute of screen time with nothing you can point to as exceptional acting. Even Cheadle himself was quick to say he didn't understand it. Lumbly's snub was considered the worst by many in the fandom, seeing as he might have been nominated were it not for a rule that barred him from entering the guest category, meaning he had to compete with far larger roles amongst the supporting actor contenders.
Dr. Raynor the therapist. One portion of the fandom likes her for being a former soldier who doesn't take crap from two Avengers, while another finds her woefully incompetent and a poor match for Bucky.
Sharon Carter became this after the last episode being revealed her to be the Power Broker. Some think that her being given a case of Adaptational Villainy makes her interesting and more relevant going forward after being mostly sidelined as a hero in the Captain America films. Others believe that her performing a Face–Heel Turn completely goes against her characterization.
John Walker. Many people believe that he’s a troubled, confused man who is ultimately heroic at heart despite having big shoes to fill as Captain America and see his brutal murder of Nico in Latvia as part of an emotional breakdown after losing his best friend. Others see him as an unsympathetic Idiot Hero whose initial clinginess to the title of Captain America, and his attempts to justify his aforementioned killing of Nico while being stripped of his army rank makes him an Entitled Bastard.
Karli Morgenthau. Some saw her as a sympathetic villain, with some even justifying her actions. Others, on the other hand, saw her as a terrorist willing to endanger the lives of civilians who happen to be in the way of her goals (something that even her fellow Flag-Smashers were against). There are others who simply found her an annoying or boring character and wished for the antagonist role to be filled by the much more complex John Walker. A third camp admits to not liking her much as a character, but still broadly sympathizes with her motives, backstory, and goals in spite of it, considering her characterization a casualty of the fairly obvious changes the show made after COVID and feeling that the Jumping Off the Slippery Slope moments the story uses to argue against her viewpoints don't feel organic to make her properly villainous.
Ever since the possibility of Steve Rogers retiring as Captain America came up in the MCU, fans were arguing about if Bucky Barnes - as he did in Ed Brubaker's acclaimed run in the 2000s - or Sam Wilson - as he did in Nick Spencer's more controversial run - should take up the mantle. It got worse when the end of Avengers: Endgame established Sam was chosen by Steve as his successor, while a lot of fans felt it should have been Bucky. Come this series and while many fans actually liked the show's handling of a black man taking on the role of Cap, also giving Sam a good chunk of Character Development till he accepts the title, others still argue Bucky should be chosen due to being Steve's oldest friend and having actual superpowers akin to him. They also point out that Sam himself even doesn't want to be Captain America in the series.
John's killing of Nico. The show's evident position, echoed by some viewers, is that it's excessive force against a man who was effectively defenceless and trying to surrender, and a sign that John is slipping over to the deep end. However, other viewers argued that Nico is an international terrorist who has just aided in the murder of Battlestar and John, tasked on stopping him and his crew, is well within his rights.
Captain Obvious Reveal: Many fans correctly guessed that Sharon Carter was the Power Broker before it was officially revealed in Episode 6. She has a distrust for everything superhero, runs an illegal trade of weapons and artwork, contacts the criminal Batroc to hire him for something (revealed to be spying on Karli), is very ruthless in how she fights the Flag Smashers, and doesn't use an iPhonenote Apple is notoriously stingy about letting villain characters be seen using their products. There's also the fact that the Power Broker's gender wasn't revealed, and is only referred to as male due to assumptions rather than hard evidence. Some fans felt it would actually have been more surprising if she wasn't the Power Broker, by the time the final episode rolls around there are so few possibilities left that it logically could not have been anyone else.
John Walker ultimately proves that he is a good man and a hero at heart when he chooses to abandon his Roaring Rampage of Revenge against the Flag Smashers to save the lives of the GRC members the group took hostage.
The unforgettable sight of the bloody Shield aside, from a different point of view it's quite cathartic to see John finally quit his charade of a nice guy and end Nico an international terrorist, who had just been an accomplice in the murder of his best friend.
Isaiah Bradley getting an exhibit at the Smithsonian that includes a statue of him and a plaque telling his story so the whole world will know about the good he did during the Korean War and the injustices he suffered at the hands of the U.S. government.
Draco in Leather Pants: Zemo is charming and Affably Evil, yes, and he did care deeply about his family, but he's still a Token Evil Teammate with a checkered past as a member of a stand-in version of an infamous real-life perpetrator of war crimes, and who engages in extreme methods that leave behind collateral damage to accomplish his goals of Disproportionate Retribution. But because he's attractive, his fans tend to gloss over it in favor of portraying him as a tortured woobie whose revenge is justified, who is more straightforwardly heroic than Karli (who does have a noble goal despite her villainous methods, methods that Zemo himself utilized in Civil War), an innocent victim of abuse by Sam, or even a gentle lover whose efforts to deliberately upset Bucky are treated as sweet courtship if not outright Romanticized Abuse.
Joaquin Torres is first seen in a sidekick-like role for Sam, and he became an immediate fan-favorite due to his geeky, likable personality, with many considering him to be the "younger brother" to Sam as far as their dynamic goes. The fact he's also Sam's Legacy Character in the comics helps, as this brings the possibility of a Hispanic superhero to the MCU's future. Heck, the showrunner admitted he would've been given a "giant storyline" if the show was 10 episodes long.
Isaiah Bradley has garnered just as spirited praise being a truly tragic character that doesn't shy away from the US' racial discrimination, with Carl Lumbly doing an excellent job selling the sheer pain he's gone through. Many fans love the idea of seeing a prequel series showing his past as the first black super-soldier in the MCU who fought the Winter Soldier and won.
John Walker's wife, Olivia, has quite a few fans despite her short screentime, for being a genuinely loving and supportive presence to John, even standing by and encouraging him after he's stripped of the mantle and becomes a pariah.
Overall, the theory-heavy nature of WandaVision's social media impact has resulted in many fans developing theories that fit this mold, with the most outlandish usually spinning off of Madripoor's surprise appearance to speculate on early appearances of such characters as Wolverine and Omega Red, which would lead to the introduction of the concept of mutants in the MCU. The fact that the sign for Wolverine's 'Princess Bar' appears briefly in Episode 3 had the predictable effect.
Many theorized that Zemo's purple mask is supposed to resemble Thanos, either as a form of idolization or to taunt the Avengers about their greatest failure. Episode 3 goes some way to disprove this, as Zemo has the mask in one of his cars, showing he had it long before Avengers: Endgame.
Erin Kellyman playing a member, possible leader, of the Flag Smashers and was widely theorized to secretly be Songbird, Sinthea Schmidt, or any number of female superheroes or villains, before it was revealed she is playing a Gender Flipped version of Karl Morgenthau, the comic version of Flag-Smasher.
When the official twitter account of the 2019 Inhumans-series tweeted the official trailer for this series it led some fans to believe it would somehow include the Terrigen Mist to bring The Inhumans officially into the MCU. Of course, no Inhumans-connection is seen in the series.
Baron Helmut Zemo's return to the MCU is nothing short of glorious. Not only does he retain his manipulative and nefarious personality, but he also gets to indulge in his Old Money connections to drive many vintage Cool Cars, fly a private jet across the world, and wear expensive and stylish clothes while forming an Enemy Mine with Bucky and Sam to defeat the Flag-Smashers. It also helps that we get to see more of his combat skills than we did in Civil War, giving us some cool scenes of him fighting while wearing his iconic purple mask and coat. We also see that he is an Anti-Villain, sincerely committed to his ideal of no-super-soldiers-ever because of their tendency for Beware the Superman (except for Steve and, as Zemo himself comes to admit, Bucky).
The Power Broker, aka Sharon Carter, is ultimately revealed to have effortlessly orchestrated all the events of the series from the shadows, starting from nothing to become first a powerful crime lord, and ultimately getting a full pardon and her old job back to enable her even more control over the whole world. It also helps that Emily VanCamp is able to give the same kind of smirking, manipulative performance she perfected in Revenge, after her prior appearances as Sharon had been criticized for being bland and forgettable.
Karli Morgenthau is very skilled, charismatic, and competent as a Big Bad facing multiple experienced Marvel heroes (and villains) despite still being in her teenage years. While she’s not really evil, this arguably adds to her coolness as a villain because her arguments are so persuasive that Sam actually agrees with them in the end (just not her methods), and gives a well-deserved "The Reason You Suck" Speech to apathetic world leaders thanks to what he learned from Karli and her movement.
"Faptain" ("Fake Captain") America, for John Walker.
Likewise he's also known as Walmart/Costco/Party City/Great Value Cap after knockoff brand stores.
Sugar Daddy Zemo Explanation The reveal of Zemo's hidden wealth and willingness to spend for Sam and Bucky has led the fandom to dub him this. His fur collar coat only adds to the image.
Fandom-Specific Plot: A few fic writers posted their own takes on the scene where Zemo fake-sells the Winter Soldier to Selby going in a darker direction, given the Sex Slave implications and the Mind Game Ship going on from Zemo towards Sam and Bucky.
Some viewers, particularly ones from Indonesia and the overall Southeast Asia region at large, criticized the Television Geography depiction of Madripoor in the series (which is a Vice City supposedly located in the Indonesian archipelago, and is presumably a parody of Singapore). They noted the lack of actual Southeast Asian locales in the city; and how Madripoor itself looks more like a parody of East Asian cities like Hong Kong with slight Western influences, rather than being based on any actual Indonesian or Singaporean metropolitan areas. This is somewhat a result of the showrunners following Madripoor's depiction in the comics a little too loyally, as all these issues are present in the comic book depiction of the country, which more-or-less tends to just be super-Las Vegas with some Asian influences.
The Villain Has a Point plot was seen as revolutionary when done with Killmonger in the first Black Panther film, as he was seen as a change of pace from the 2-dimensionalthrow-away villains of previous films. Unfortunately, Killmonger served a very specific purpose as a Tragic Villain and a Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist who was all-but said to be motivated by rationalized revenge rather than any of his pseudo-revolutionary rhetoric. While Killmonger did have a point, he was still a total sociopath who never intended to make the world better, and he served as a wake-up call for T'Challa, who did try to create a positive change by ending Wakanda's isolationism. Meanwhile, as noted under Rooting for the Empire, Karli Morgenthau's anarchistic leanings are never shown to have any real downsides until she blows up a building to "send a message." Ostensibly, this was to critique the self-mythologizingthat comes withbeing a metahuman, and likely made more sense in its original context, but due to the extensive cuts and rewrites as a result of the COVID pandemic, in the final product it came off as a needlessly illogical Kick the Dog moment to make her seem unsympathetic. And, in the end, Sam doesn't even take up her cause so much as publically guilt-trip a bunch of politicians with a speech filled with empty platitudes before flying away, making him come off as a Broken-System Dogmatist. There's a reason why this show is accused of promoting an aggressively centrist message.
With The Boys. Both fanbases note similarities between the two shows. Namely, the plot involves a supposed All-American Face who's heavily marketed and is secretly mentally unstable, a serum that gives people superhuman abilities and is being illegally distributed, and tackles serious issues such as racism, especially racial profiling and police brutality.
Also with Watchmen (2019). Fans of both shows noted how they are conspiracy thrillers that tackle the themes of superhero legacies and racism in both the past and present.
Genius Bonus: One of the paintings in Sharon's office, "The Raft of the Medusa" by Theodore Gericault represents the struggle of sailors abandoned by their captain, with a black man in the lead. It was not well received back when it was painted.
Reception of the show among Filipinos and Filipino-Americans who have been able to see it (if they're not pirating it, of course) is pretty positive—especially considering many notable Shout-Out moments in the show, such as: 1) the use of Filipino rap artist Shanti Dope's song "Amatz"; 2) the Badass in Distress GRC council-member who argued against repatriation (and even helped Sam rescue the helicopter she's in) being a retired PAF officer; and 3) the Flag-Smashers' gripes resonating with this audience as a near-parallel to the Filipino immigrant worker experience.
Zemo is extremely popular with Eastern European and Russian fans due to his actor having made his name in a film about life behind the Iron Curtain and now playing a hammy, flamboyantly European member of Ruritanian nobility.
The trailers for this show play up Sam and Bucky's dislike of one another as a Friendly Rivalry, in particular with their staring contest which is Played for Laughs. The series proper shows that the dislike isn't just them goofing off, as they genuinely have a hard time working together throughout the first two episodes, and their therapy session is much more serious and unhappy.
When John Walker complains that the Dora Milaje are overstepping their bounds, Ayo smugly replies that the group has jurisdiction "wherever [they] find themselves to be", emphasizing how powerful internationally the group is. This becomes far less amusing after Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has the Dora Milaje infiltrate Massachusetts in an attempt to take Riri Williams to Namor, which causes a massive international incident and severely diminishes Wakanda on the world stage.
Sebastian Stan's depiction of Bucky crying tears of joy in "The Whole World Is Watching" as Ayo helps cure him of the Winter Soldier programming won the hearts of many viewers.
While some of Sam and Bucky's Homoerotic Subtext is clearly intentional, such as the scene of them in couples' therapy and the scene of them rolling down a field of flowers together, interestingly there's Ho Yay involving a character that hasn't even appeared in the show, Steve Rogers:
More than a few professional critics have described Sam and Bucky's catty behavior (and even their more serious arguments) as coming off as like two people who used to date the same person in the past (Steve) and are still hung-up enough on him to try to outdo each other as to who was the better partner.
While any explicit Ship Tease is reserved for Bucky and Sam's sister Sarah, the Good-Times Montage of Bucky and Sam bonding by working on Sam's family boat together plays out closer to a Falling-in-Love Montage instead, complete with the two getting very touchy-feely with one another in places, and Bucky's initial proposal to stay at a hotel being a form of Hint Dropping about his interest in getting to Meet the In-Laws. The way they declare they will be there for each other in the end of episode 5 also has a bit of a He's Not My Boyfriend-ish vibe.
In episode 3 when Zemo is caught reading Bucky's notebook, the book he's found storing it in is titled Das Nein in Der Liebe ("How to Say No to the One You Love"). A Freeze-Frame Bonus reveals that the exact page he placed Bucky's notebook over is the end of a chapter called "Gleichgeschlechtliche Phantasien bei Heterosexuellen"note "Same-Sex Fantasies in Heterosexuals". That combined with him creepily fondling Bucky's face later in the episode following his subjecting Bucky to a minor case of Go-Go Enslavement, plus his tendency to manipulate and deliberately antagonize Bucky over his violent Winter Soldier past despite later revealing he actually considers him the one (known) Super Soldier he respects, can come off as Zemo being a Stalker With AVillainous Crush on Bucky.
In the very last moments of the show, during the portion where Bucky is showing off in front of Sarah and ostensibly flirting with her, if you listen closely to his dialogue underneath the background music, what he's actually talking to her about is his desire to cohabitate with her brother, innocuously or otherwise.
Bucky: Sam and I were gonna move in together. The truth is, I would do it, it's just he's not good at sharing anything.
When Carl Lumbly was announced to be joining the cast, speculation was that he would play Isaiah Bradley, and it would pave the way for Eli Bradley to appear in the MCU. Cue Episode 2, where both of them appear.
Many fans speculated that Zemo help Sam and Bucky rather than being an antagonist, at least to start with.
Following the reveal that Sharon Carter has become a criminal, fans suspected that she might be the Power Broker. The final episode reveals that to be the case.
The character of Donya Madani is entirely a Posthumous Character, with her only two appearances being limited to the announcement of her death and her later funeral. The fairly blatant case of They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character on display, along with her being played by Veronica Falcón, a well-known actress in her own right, led fans to suspect that Madani was going to feature more prominently in the original plans for the show until the Troubled Production caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic forced the showrunners to cut most of her scenes. An interview with Falcón confirmed this to indeed be the case, and that Madani was going to appear in four of the originally-planned number of episodes the show was going to have.
Sharon has become a cold-blooded criminal mastermind, but she's also clearly had it rough in the time since Civil War, and her disillusionment with heroism comes from a personal place of hurt.
Karli is a dangerous young super soldier, but she clearly is a survivor of a complicated situation, following the result of "The Blip," when the GRC tries to deport her and her allies, and she loses the only mother figure she's ever known.
Nico is part of the radical Flag Smasher terrorist group, but seeing him beaten to death by John Walker is just horrifying and somewhat upsetting to watch, especially since he wasn't the one responsible for killing Lemar.note That said, he was fully complicit in trying to kill Walker and indirectly led to Lemar's death.
LGBT Fanbase: Naturally, being a continuation of the Captain America franchise which is itself known for having a large LGBT Fanbase. Seemingly an Intended Audience Reaction, since the show's premise as a Buddy Cop Show about Sam and Bucky's growing bond put Homoerotic Subtext front-and-center as a selling pointnote For example the "couples' therapy" scene, which was featured prominently in pre-release trailers, plus Bucky having several scenes implying he might be bisexual or related Rainbow Lens subtext. This got the show in some hot water when the showrunner Malcolm Spellman engaged in a debatable case ofBait-and-Switch Lesbians on the subject of whether Bucky's frequently-debated sexuality would get explicit confirmation in this show or not.
Like You Would Really Do It: In "Truth", Bucky takes out a gun and acts like he's about to shoot Zemo with it before revealing that it's unloaded and letting all the bullets in the magazine fall to the ground. Even ignoring that this scene was repeatedly shown in advertising, many doubted that they were going to kill off a popular and beloved villain just like that.
John Walker was embraced by the fandom as a perfect mix of his comics self's role of Inadequate Inheritor to Captain America's mantle and a surprisingly humanisedAnti-Villain antagonist, whose journey down the wrong path is born from his all-too-tragic and relatably-human foibles as well as the actions of those around him. Many praised Wyatt Russell for striking the right balance between his character's opposing sides. Though the hate has started to die down after the series finale, which firmly establishes him as a good-intentioned anti-hero who will ultimately do the right thing when push comes to shove.
The fans instantly went nuts for the surprise appearance of Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. After decades of Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist roles, Julia Louis-Dreyfus now has this kind of performance down to such an exact science that her every facial and vocal inflection is a joy to watch.
The "Power Broker", in reality Sharon Carter, is in charge of Madripoor and formerly the boss of Karli Morgenthau. Seeking revenge on the government which abandoned her, Sharon hires former HYDRA scientist Wilfred Nagel to recreate the Super Soldier Serum before being betrayed by Karli. Managing to find Karli's location at one point, with Karli only barely escaping, Sharon later kills Selby when she reveals too much information to the heroes and uses it to gain their trust, tricking Sam into agreeing to get her a pardon. Breaking Batroc out of prison, Sharon has him infiltrate the Flagsmashers to spy on them. Joining Sam and Bucky in their fight against the Flagsmashers, Sharon repeatedly shows her cunning, at one point planting a bomb full of poison gas on a Flagsmasher before killing Karli, while making it look like she did it to save Sam. Though left without a way to make more Super Soldiers, Sharon ends the show in a position that will allow her access to weapons to sell on the black market, telling her allies to "Start lining up buyers."
Mind Game Ship: Shipping Zemo with Sam and Bucky surged after Episodes 3 and 4, not in spite of but because he's stringing the two along so openly. He simultaneously plays mind games with Sam as he expresses great appreciation for his integrity, and emotionally extorts Bucky and even cradles his face suggestively at one point.
Misaimed Fandom: Many people online praised John Walker's tenure as Captain America, seeing him as a tough, no-nonsense soldier who gets the job done, even when it comes to brutal actions such as murdering a surrendering terrorist. This ignores that this completely destroys Walker's public reputation, and gets him dishonorably discharged as a result.
Narm: Nico's death counts as this. While it is mostly horrific and somewhat tragic, Walker's face◊ is hard to take seriously. The quick cuts as he brings the shield down, make it even more weird, as does the dramatic shot if Nico's bloodied hand falling to the ground. As if the viewer's needed confirmation of his death.
Nico saying: "It wasn't me!" repeatedly, despite the fact that Walker is clearly aware of this. He even asks loudly: "WHERE IS SHE?"note Karli.
Walker's Heel–Face Turn in the final episode is not unearned, but the way he goes from vengeful vigilante to quipping Lincoln with Bucky, as if nothing bad ever happened.
Bucky waking up on the floor, shirtless, in his living room with a television playing sports is more in line with what one would expect out of a bachelor waking up after a night of hard partying, but it being preceded by Bucky having a nightmare about his days under HYDRA and the following scenes showcasing how he tries (and fails) to fit into society make it somber and far less amusing. It's also just a very realistic depiction of PTSD and how many vets live after returning to civilian life.
Valentina's entrance comes with incredibly dramatic direction that builds up to showing her face, which was supposed to play off our already being familiar with her from Black Widow (2021), and comes off a bit weird when it's the first time we've seen her. But the fact that it's A-list actress Julia Louis-Dreyfusnote Who, unlike similar unadvertised popular actors like Cheadle, Lumbly, and WandaVision's Evan Peters, somehow managed to not get her involvement leaked prior to her episode actually comes close to justifying the presentation all by itself.
In the final episode, Zemo breaks the fourth wall by smirking directly at the camera after hearing on the radio that his plan to wipe out the Flag Smashers has succeeded. It's a very cartoonish moment that notably clashes with the series' otherwise fairly serious tone, but Zemo is such a charismatic and entertaining villain that it adds to his charm rather than detracting from it.
No Yay: Zemo suggestively grabbing Bucky's face in episode 3 as he explains to Selby that Bucky will do anything she says, is an incredibly uncomfortable moment due to the molestation vibes and the implications of Sex Slavery, both past and present.
Rhodey makes a small cameo in this show's first episode, where he witnesses Sam give up Cap's shield to the Smithsonian, and inquires about it shortly afterward. While his screentime is minimal, Rhodey nonetheless makes his presence felt, and gives an interesting perspective on whether Sam giving up the shield was a good thing.
From "Power Broker", the man who spat in John Walker's face and brushed him off saying "Do you know who I am?!" with "I do, and I don't care" has received a ton of attention from fans (to the point of the scene ending up trending on Twitter), primarily because his response matches the sentiments of many of these fans.
Also from "Power Broker" is Dr. Wilfred Nagel, the man who created the second super soldier serum. Despite only appearing for one short scene before being gunned down by Zemo, Nagel somehow manages to give some interesting exposition on his work in an unnerving way that highlights his lack of social skills while also taking pride in his work.
To an extent, some fans fuse the two trios above to have an ot4 (Sharon/Sam/Bucky/Zemo) which has few moments as well, with some joking that they make up a new Cap/Barbershop Quartetnote After the previous OT 4 of Steve/Sam/Bucky/Natasha.
In the Captain America films, Sharon was disliked for replacing Peggy as Steve's love interest while barely getting any screentime, causing their relationship to come off as being Strangled by the Red String. Her reappearance in this show meanwhile makes her a more independent character from Steve and Peggy, while also giving her more sympathetic moments by addressing how rough the last few years and Steve's abandonment have been for her. Making her the Power Broker and revealing she was Evil All Along has generally not gone over well, as many see it as They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character.
Helmut Zemo was a Base-Breaking Character in Civil War, owing to having his barony and iconic mask being Adapted Out in favour of him just being a Magnificent Bastard, with some really disliking the changes while others liked that they kept the cool stuff about the characternote Common Knowledge didn't help, as many of things people were mad about being erased were actually traits that belonged to his father, such as being a WW2-era Nazi Officer and HYDRA leader, due to the two having being given the Composite Character treatment in past adaptations and Helmut Zemo recently taking over HYDRA in the comics. Here, not only is his mask and barony included (albeit, the former only for a brief Mythology Gag), but Zemo in general shows a great deal of characterisation, making him oddly likeable and endearing despite being a criminal mastermind with a strong hatred of superhumans. While there's still some issue with people conflating him with his comic book father's roots, many are now really hoping for a Thunderbolts project to follow so that he can continue to be developed and be a lead character somewhere.
Ron the Death Eater: It comes with the territory of being a Base-Breaking Character, but there is a decent-sized fanbase who see John Walker as a completely irredeemable monster, treating the moment where he kills Nico as his Moral Event Horizon. This is despite the fact that Walker's action was out of grief (even if misplaced) at the loss of his best friend. Walker is ultimately a flawed man with a lot of baggage, but from what some of his detractors say, you would think that he is a Hate Sink character.
Rooting for the Empire: Due to the Flag-Smashers having understandable motivations and being deliberately portrayed sympathetically in the show, there is a sizable contingent who argue that the Flag-Smashers are the heroes, and that the Avengers', GRC's, and world governments' mishandling of the Snap, the Blip, and its accompanying fallout makes them the "true" villains. Interestingly, the show itself gives a sympathetic portrayal to this position: while Karli's Jumping Off the Slippery Slope and increasing Moral Myopia make her an outright villain, her basic goals of uniting the world, giving a voice to people overlooked by their governments, and stopping the GRC from essentially mass-deporting survivors of the Snap are all ones that Sam openly agrees with. He even gives a speech to the senators and GRC near the end of "One World, One People" calling them out for not stepping up to help their citizens more, and telling them they need to listen to people like Karli before someone else gets desperate enough to follow her lead and turn to terrorism.
One of the biggest fan complaints coming out of Captain America: Civil War was that Zemo, despite being a generally well-received villain, had the lion's share of his character traits from the comics Adapted Out, turning him from an aristocratic supervillain and skilled combatant to a lone terrorist who never fights the Avengers directly. His reappearance here splits the difference by bringing in more elements of his comics counterpart, revealing that he actually is a Baron with vast financial resources, having him don his signature purple mask and ermine-trimmed coat, and allowing him to show off his fighting abilities in Madripoor against the Power Broker's thugs.
Captain America: Civil War had some fans dissatisfied that Bucky never got any kind of personal payback against Zemo. This show takes great pains to rectify that, with Bucky regularly showing that Zemo can't control him anymore, and ultimately giving him the exact same treatment as T'Challa in making clear he could kill Zemo but chooses not to.
Steve's ending in Avengers: Endgame, in which he goes back in time to marry and live with Peggy Carter, was very divisive for a number of reasons. While the show avoids directly condemning him for his actions and upsetting those who did enjoy his ending, for those who felt it was actually an Esoteric Happy Ending, the show deconstructs some of the more controversial aspects by showcasing several of the more negative Surprisingly Realistic Outcomes of Steve's actions on those he left behind, validating interpretations of the ending as more bitter than sweet.
Steve giving the shield to Sam over Bucky without telling Sam beforehand, as the official explanationnote that Bucky was simply too Ax-Crazy and Sam was the next best choice, seemingly dismissing the fact that Bucky was explicitly mind-controlled the whole time and the entire purpose of his stay in Wakanda was to ensure something like that could never happen again left a bad taste in people's mouths, and because there seemingly was little setup beforehandnote In the comics, Bucky famously took over the role of Captain America for a while when Steve Rogers was presumed dead after Civil War. Each of the Captain America films had at least one moment of Bucky conspicuously wielding the shield himself, possibly in reference to this storyline and which many fans saw as foreshadowing. Sam would not become Captain America in the comics until Captain America: Sam Wilson in 2015, meaning the films would not have had time to properly foreshadow it. The show's primary storyline serves as a Decon-Recon Switch of this decision, pointing out that Steve's choice was made from a place of ignorance and placed an irresponsible burden on Sam, before showing exactly why, in various detailed ways, Sam is indeed the most appropriate successor completely on his own merits, as well as providing Bucky with a more palatable motive for turning it down.
Steve's decision to leave Bucky behind despite their Undying Loyalty to one another, which many fans felt was out-of-character and extremely unlikely. While this show doesn't entirely explain what exactly happened to Steve, it does clarify that he at least discussed it with Bucky ahead of time and that Bucky doesn't hold it against him. Bucky's refusal to condemn him is explained as partially the result of rose-colored glasses due to Steve's kindness to him, which not everyone else in-universe shares. At any rate, the loss of Steve from his life in fact does hurt him deeply, which is a much more logical result than Endgame first suggested.
After some complaints from fans that Bucky never really showed what his new vibranium arm can do and was reduced to a mere gunman in Infinity War and Endgame's fight scenes, Bucky is primarily a hand-to-hand combatant in the series proper and rarely uses guns. His vibranium arm is also shown to be far more durable than his original arm, with some shots putting emphasis on this by demonstrating him blocking giant steel beams and using it to cushion a two-hundred-foot fall. Also, when Sam questioned his apparent lack of use of the vibranium arm, Bucky explained that being right-handed, he tends to forget that his left arm is made of vibranium.
As revealed in Episode 4 by Lemar, Bucky is officially considered an Avenger after merely fighting alongside them in the previous movie and not really being considered one.
Shocking Moments: The death of Lemar Hoskins, not only because of the Surprisingly Realistic Outcome of a normal person colliding into a pillar, but also because of John's subsequent breakdown, where he murders a Flag Smasher with Cap's shield. The end result is the first time explicit bloodshed is shown in the MCU.
Signature Scene: The shot of John Walker holding Cap's shield smeared with the blood of the Flag-Smasher he killed in public, symbolizing how the mantle of Captain America and the ideals Steve fought for are now tainted with Walker's vengeful action.
Slow-Paced Beginning: The showrunner stated they approached it like making a single movie that just happened to be released in six parts, and it definitely shows in how Sam and Bucky don't have a scene together until the second episode, despite the show being developed thanks to the actors' chemistry in the films.
Special Effect Failure: During Sam's training montage in "Truth", it's obvious that it's a stunt double doing the backflips, not Anthony Mackie.
Stoic Woobie: Bucky is very emotionally withdrawn, but it's because he's gone through a lot as the Brainwashed and Crazy Winter Soldier, which he remembers every moment of. He deeply hates himself for the things he's done and is desperately trying to make amends, but he can't even bring himself to tell a man he's befriended that the reason he did so is because his son was someone Bucky previously killed as the Winter Soldier. Rather than use his stoicism to make him seem badass, it's instead used to make Bucky feel all the more in need of a hug.
John Walker's insistence on charging in and taking Karli Morgenthau during a time of grief in "The Whole World is Watching" gets him called out as being too rash by every member of the cast, including his partner Lemar Hoskins. However, Walker has not spent the past few episodes following every lead to retrace her steps like Sam and Bucky have and is simply following up on her having just blown up a relief building in the previous episode. From his perspective, Karli and the rest of the Flag Smashers have just revealed themselves to be a bunch of Bomb-Throwing Anarchists, and his treating her as a dangerous criminal not worth reasoning with is understandable. That being said, Bucky and Sam do eventually concede to a ten-minute limit on Sam's attempt to talk her down, realizing that they can't completely refute Walker's argument either. It's when Walker gets impatient that things go sideways. This however does seem to prove him wrong, as while denying her peace to mourn is understandable if one just views her as a terrorist, attacking a Super-Soldier head-on without a solid plan is very stupid, tactically.
Some viewers noted that, regardless of whether Sam had a point during his speech, the GRC senators themselves also have a point when they explained that the process of dealing with the aftermath of people reappearing en-masse across the world is an extremely complicated issue and that it isn't fair for the people who reappeared only to find someone else living in their family homes and ended up homeless just because they became victims of the Snap, a topic that Sam didn't really have a clear solution for except guilt-tripping the senators into doing better. Also, while Sam has a point that the senators labeled the Flag-Smashers as terrorists to avoid asking why they would do the things they did, the fact is a spade is a spade, and the Flag-Smashers' actions are still acts of terrorism which endangered many lives with the intent of manipulating the geopolitical landscape with an unpredictable outcome.
Skipping over Bucky to have Sam become Captain America after Steve is this for some, especially as Bucky's tenure as Captain America is a highly regarded, award-winning era of the comics, whereas Sam's run as Captain America was a far less well-received, due to many finding it tone-deaf to tell a story about the struggles of a black man but without any black creators involved, and the fact Sam was more-or-less portrayed as an ineffective Failure Hero who never overcome the public's dislike of him. Though people aren't opposed to Sam becoming Cap, many feel this more-or-less leaves Bucky with nothing to do now but continue to be a sidekick.
Sharon Carter's Adaptational Villainy has not gone over well with comic fans, due to just finding it a huge waste of her character, who many feel was already shafted by the MCU. Having her become a villain more or less feels like Derailing Love Interests to make Steve ending up with Peggy seem more justified, and just adds to the feeling of insult towards her character.
Lemar Hoskins/Battlestar. Many were disappointed when in "The Whole World is Watching" he was unceremoniously killed by Karli. He spends most of the series simply as John Walker's Number Two and Morality Pet, not really being able to truly be his own character. Especially given his interesting comic history, some were bummed he was never able to fulfill his potential as Battlestar. For many, it seemed his death only served the purpose of giving John Walker a reason to go Ax-Crazy, essentially fridging his character.
Joaquin Torres is a friendly and well-meaning air force friend of Sam's who's the first to warn him (and the audience) of the threat the Flag-Smasher pose, and even tries to fight them head-on at one point. Yet, he doesn't end up doing much on the show after the first two episodes, with only the prospect of him becoming the second Falcon keeping him from completely falling under the radar. Malcolm Spellman lampshaded this in an interview, explaining that Torres would've had a significantly bigger role if TFATWS had ten episodes instead of six.
Sharon Carter is brought back and given more to do independent of being Peggy Carter's niece/Steve's love interest, but despite much hype and indication that she would be a major character, she factors into the overall plot very little. Then she's revealed to be the Power Broker and Adaptational Villainy and Evil All Along come into play; for many it was a huge waste of her character's potential in the MCU, never mind a huge disservice to the comic character. Given the sudden jarring shift and the significant amount of Continuity Snarl involved and OOC behaviour from Sharon, some fans speculate that this is actually setting up a further twist to come, possibly in the upcoming Secret Invasion series.
The other Flag Smashers are shown openly questioning Karli's methods and being concerned that she's Jumping Off the Slippery Slope on multiple occasions, seemingly to hint at them changing sides, but at no point do they call her out on this and they ultimately remain loyal to the end.
In the first two episodes a big deal is made out of the fact that Bucky has to abide by three rulesnote Don't do anything illegal, don't hurt anyone, make sure to tell everyone he is no longer the Winter Soldier but Bucky Barnes as a condition of his government pardon for his deeds as the Winter Soldier. In episode 3 he is forced to violate all three as part of his cover of pretending to have reverted, and a lot of attention is drawn to the fact that civilians caught him on film doing it, but the three rules never come up again.
John Walker Jumping Off the Slippery Slope is something built up across the first five episodes, with both his increasingly jerkish behaviour, poor tactics, and growing humiliation from repeatedly losing to the Flag-Smashers driving him to more extremes. It seems the anti-Steve Rogers thing was building up to him becoming an Anti-Villain or Soldier Boy-esque dark parody of Captain America, or possibly a challenge to Sam when the latter becomes Captain America. However, this ultimately goes nowhere, he shows up at the end and is seemingly welcomed back by Sam and Bucky, and the fact he'd proven unfit for service is never brought up.
Similarly to the Walker example above, it is repeatedly hinted throughout the first five episodes that Zemo will betray Sam and Bucky and become part of the series' Big Bad Ensemble. However, he pretty much drops out of the story after destroying the super soldier serum and allowing himself to be arrested by the Dora Milaje, and is almost completely absent from the final episode, with his only contribution being the assassination of the remaining Flag-Smashers via his butler. Quite a few viewers were disappointed that he didn't get to play a larger role in the series' finale and believe that he would have made for a much more compelling antagonist than Karli and the other Flag-Smashers.
Isaiah has an interesting backstory, but we never get to see any of it. Rather than showing how he was treated, we are told what he went through. This is especially egregious for fans of his original miniseries that shows his horrible treatment without pulling any punches. It would have been hard to watch, but it would have been honest.
Rhodey's brief appearance in the first episode was a pleasant surprise to many, though Don Cheadle was listed in the cast before this, as well as him admitting he'd play a role in the show several days before the first episode released.
Most people weren't expecting to see the return of Georges Batroc in the opening minutes of the first episode.
Comic fans definitely didn't expect Joaquin Torres, AKA the second Falcon, to be in the show, given how relatively recent his character is and greatly underutilized he's been since then.
Episode 2 also introduces Lemar Hoskins, AKA Battlestar, John Walker's best friend and sidekick. Given how rarely he's shown up in the comics for years, it would have been very easy to have him Adapted Out.
Most people were hoping for but not expecting Isaiah Bradley to make an appearance, especially since he had been absent from the comics for a long time due to copyright issues, but his adaptation is surprisingly faithful to his comic counterpart, complete with the racially charged, Tuskegee Experiments allusions.
In a strange case of an Unexpected Setting, the usually X-Men-associated Madripoor being adapted to a general crime haven for a series about characters not usually associated with the locale could count.
The ending of "Power Broker" gives us a character that absolutely was not spoiled by the trailers, previews, or cast lists: Ayo, the second in command of the Dora Milaje, who was sent to extract Zemo. Her appearance implies that Wakanda is now tied up in this plot as well, which is equally surprising.
Though the character doesn't actually appear, the criminal Sam briefly poses as at Selby's club is a gangster named Conrad Mack who is better known as Smiling Tiger. While Smiling Tiger actually is an existing Marvel Comics villain, he is extremely obscure and was part of an equally obscure team of villains whose only role of note was fighting the New Warriors, a hero team whose members have yet to even appear in the MCU. Talk about a deep cut.
Another deep cut in Episode 5 is Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus) who is a relatively minor character in the comics, notable mostly for being a former SHIELD agent, paramour of Nick Fury, and Leviathan Sleeper Agent.
Her appearance is even more of a surprise than originally intended, as she was supposed to make her debut in Black Widow (2021). However, release date shuffles brought on by COVID lockdowns led to The Falcon and the Winter Soldier coming out first, making this Val's first appearance instead.
Isaiah Bradley quickly establishes himself as a man who endured a great deal of suffering. He did everything for his country to become the next super soldier only to be tossed aside and turned into a lab rat. It's hard to blame him for wanting to be left alone in peace.
Mr. Nakajima, who is clearly devastated over the loss of his son (who was one of the Winter Soldier's many victims). Anyone who has lost a child can really sympathize with him.
WTH, Costuming Department?: Many fans have found John Walker's Captain America costume to be very unflattering, particularly the way the helmet emphasizes his nose, jawline, and ears. Some have theorized that this was anIntended Audience Reaction, demonstrating that this "Cap" is a cheap knockoff of Steve, which, in all fairness, has merit, given that his costume in the series is very similar to the one U.S. Agent traditionally wears in the comics (which is also helped out a lot by the fact that Walker is played by an actor who had in fact originally auditioned to play Steve before Chris Evans was cast). Either way, the actual comics-accurate U.S. Agent costume he gets in the series finale is much better looking.
that expressed agreement ("as they should"), however, reaction from viewers, as evidenced by the comments under this post, has been more divided.
