Marvel's movies to watch in order before The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

List of movies to watch before the release of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Photo: Collider

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was supposed to be Marvel’s first Disney Plus show, but it didn't go that way. That honor instead went to WandaVision, an utter delight, which bowed first, after pandemic-induced delays led to a switch in the streaming schedule. So, now, Falcon and the Winter Soldier is only just premiering this week, and not in August 2020 as originally planned

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier looks much more like the MCU movies than WandaVision, which was a cross between sitcom homage and grief drama. The trailers and TV spots all play up the action scenes featuring Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), as well as the humorous banter between the … grudging allies? Reluctant companions? What do you call the friend of your friend who is neither your enemy nor your pal?

Sam and Bucky have a long history in the MCU, dating back to 2011’s Captain America, but they’ve both played supporting parts to their much more famous mutual friend. One or the other has appeared in eight MCU movies (though, sometimes for just one scene) and usually (though, not always) alongside Steve Rogers.

Here is the list of movies you may want to watch before The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Captain America: The First Avenger

Photo: TechRadar

The first Captain America film should be the first entry on your watch list, according to Pocket-Lint.

This movie obviously serves as the introduction point for Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), but it also shows Sebastian Stan’s debut as Bucky Barnes. While he doesn’t yet get the title of “The Winter Soldier” in this film, it does provide an origin story for the bond between Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers and Bucky, which is crucial to know. Their shared relationship is a big uniting theme in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier.

It’s also worth knowing in case Chris Evans makes a cameo in his old Cap getup.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Time to meet both the Falcon and the Winter Soldier. At the end of The First Avenger, Steve had woken up after 70 years in the frozen waters of the Arctic. He then teamed up with the other Avengers to win the Battle of New York. Now, two years later, Steve is working for S.H.I.E.L.D. in D.C.. There, he befriends Sam Wilson, an Air Force veteran who later reveals he’s testing the EXO-7 Falcon military flight suit, said Tom's Guide.

After an assassin called the Winter Soldier takes out S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury, Steve uncovers a Hydra conspiracy within the organization and goes on the run. During an ambush, he recognizes the Winter Soldier is actually his old friend, Bucky, who was brainwashed and experimented on by Hydra. Steve refuses to fight him and falls into the river, but Bucky ends up saving him before disappearing. In a post-credits scene, Bucky visits his own memorial at the Smithsonian Institute.

Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Photo: Medium

Civil War is clearly a must-watch because it gives us our only glimpse into what a Falcon and Winter Soldier team-up would look like. Basically, they’re not friends, they don’t particularly like one another, and Spider-Man beats them both up. It’s also been revealed that Daniel Bruhl will reprise his role as Baron Zemo for The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. William Hurt will return, too, as Thadeus Ross for the new Disney+ series.

We expect the two lead characters will find a way to co-exist in the show, but this does set up The Falcon and The Winter Soldier as the MCU’s answer to the buddy-cop genre. We’ll just say it: We’re absolutely here for the Marvel version of Lethal Weapon.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

At an Avengers party, we saw Steve and Sam briefly discuss the ongoing work on their “missing person case,” referring to Bucky. So, they’re still out there looking for him, though Bucky clearly does not want to be found.

Ant-Man

Sam is now a full-fledged Avenger, after being trained by Steve at the end of Age of Ultron. He meets Scott Lang aka Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) when the latter breaks into Avengers headquarters to steal a device needed for a heist. The two fight, but Ant-Man manages to prevail. Sam is embarrassed but intrigued, so he decides to keep tabs on this new super-powered player.

Ant-Man and The Wasp (2018)

This might seem like another random movie you need to watch before The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, but an internet sleuth claimed to have spotted the villain of this film during filming for The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in Atlanta.

That villain is Ghost, played by Hannah John-Kamen. If you haven’t seen the Ant-Man sequel in a while, her real name is Ava Starr, and she has the power to phase in and out of solid objects following exposure to the Quantum realm by experiments her parents performed.

Shield trained her as an assassin, but it was eventually revealed that her powers were also killing her.

This led the Ant-Man team to send Scott (Paul Rudd) into the Quantum realm to find a cure for Ava, but Thanos did his snap instead. We still don’t know what happened to Ava following the Blip, but it’d make sense for her to show up.

Black Panther (2018)

Photo: Detroit Institute of Arts Museum

On its surface Black Panther might seem like a random addition to this list, but hear us out: Bucky Barnes has spent a lot of time in Wakanda trying to regain control of his mind, and we see Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa gift him a new vibranium arm in one of this film’s end-credit scenes.

We know the pair of lead characters will face off with the government on some level as well in the new Disney+ series, with the casting of Wyatt Russell as the government’s choice for the next Captain America and the return of William Hurt as Thaddeus Ross. All that just makes us think we could see the two Avengers flee to Wakanda at some point in the series or call on someone like Letitia Wright’s Shuri to help them out of a jam.

Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2020)

Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes are in both in the most recent Avengers films, but why they’re worth revisiting before The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is really more about the world the new series is going to take place in…

The “present-day” in the MCU is currently 202,3 thanks to the five years between Thanos’ snap and the surviving Avengers bringing everyone back. The new Disney+ series represents only our third post-Endgame outing in the MCU, and we expect what’s become known as the Blip will factor in heavily.

Ant-Man and The Wasp (2018)

This might seem like another random movie you need to watch before The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, but an internet sleuth claimed to have spotted the villain of this film during filming for The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in Atlanta.

That villain is Ghost, played by Hannah John-Kamen. If you haven’t seen the Ant-Man sequel in a while, her real name is Ava Starr, and she has the power to phase in and out of solid objects following exposure to the Quantum realm by experiments her parents performed.

Shield trained her as an assassin, but it was eventually revealed that her powers were also killing her.

This led the Ant-Man team to send Scott (Paul Rudd) into the Quantum realm to find a cure for Ava, but Thanos did his snap instead. We still don’t know what happened to Ava following the Blip, but it’d make sense for her to show up.

Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)

Photo: Daily Motion

Far From Home takes place eight months after the Avengers brought everyone back. We aren’t sure where exactly The Falcon and The Winter Soldier will be set in the MCU, but there are questions in Far From Home that The Falcon and The Winter Soldier could answer.

The biggest of which involves one of the end-credits scenes from the sequel.

It’s revealed that Samuel L Jackson’s Nick Fury is actually floating through space, and the person we thought was him throughout the entire film is actually Talos, the shape-shifting Skrull from Captain Marvel. Maybe we will learn when these two switched and, more importantly, why.

Optional: WandaVision (2021 - Disney+ series)

So, it’s too early to say if WandaVision and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier are going to be super connected to one another. There are small things that might be carried across the two series; like, we could learn more about the new Sword organization that’s responding to The Hex in WandaVision.

There’s also the potential for large changes coming in the final episodes of WandaVision that could have large-scale ramifications for the MCU and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier.

Read more: What More to Watch When WandaVision Comes to An End?