The Falcon and The Winter Soldier: How many episodes, How long it be, Who play new Captain America

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is expected to land on Friday 19th March 2021. Photo: Comic Book

Some Marvel fans are gutted that the genre-bending WandaVision is officially over, but they don’t have long to wait until their next adventure through the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

What is The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s release date?

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has been bumped back multiple times throughout 2020 – however, Marvel has finally settled on an official date.

The spin-off series is now expected to land on Disney+ on Friday 19th March 2021 despite being initially announced as an Autumn release.

Of course, the coronavirus outbreak has wreaked havoc on countries all over the world, prompting all filming on Marvel’s Disney+ shows to be halted – including Falcon and Winter Soldier, which was mere weeks away from wrapping up, according to Radio Times.

After a lengthy delay, the series resumed filming in Atlanta towards the end of the summer, while the shoot reportedly wrapped in October (via Comicbook.com).

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will run for only six episodes, with producer Kevin Feige explaining why he landed on that duration while speaking at the Television Critics Association.

“Six hours is what we landed on as the best way to tell our story,” he explained. “Six hours, whether it’s six episodes or nine shorter episodes like WandaVision. The shows aren’t inexpensive, so the per-episode cost is very high and to get that bar I was talking about.”

How many episodes are there in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier?

Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan, as the Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Photo: Deadline

Unlike WandaVision, the Falcon and the Winter Soldier isn't expected to premiere with two episodes on the same day. It'll release an episode a week, with the sixth and final arriving in the third week of April. While this is fewer episodes than the Wanda and Vision sitcom, the expected episode runtime gives you a little extra, varying from 40 to 50 minutes, said Cnet.

Here's the full Falcon and the Winter Soldier release schedule, with the expected episode release times:

Episode 1: Available March 19 -- midnight PT/3 a.m. ET/8 a.m. GMT

Episode 2: Available March 26 -- midnight PT/3 a.m. ET/8 a.m. GMT

Episode 3: Available April 2 -- midnight PT/3 a.m. ET/8 a.m. GMT

Episode 4: Available April 9 -- midnight PT/3 a.m. ET/8 a.m. GMT

Episode 5: Available April 16 -- midnight PT/3 a.m. ET/8 a.m. GMT

Episode 6: Available April 23 -- midnight PT/3 a.m. ET/8 a.m. GMT

Who will play the new Captain America?

Photo: Youtube

A lot of familiar faces from the MCU are returning to their roles for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

First and foremost, Anthony Mackie’s back as Falcon, or Sam Wilson, who first appeared in 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier. As for the Winter Soldier himself, Sebastian Stan returns as Bucky Barnes, who made his MCU debut way back in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger. Both have appeared alongside each other in Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Endgame since – while Mackie had minor roles in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man, cited Games Radar.

There are some other recognizable faces joining them, including Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter and Georges St-Pierre as Batroc the Leaper. Both first arrived in the MCU in The Winter Soldier. Sharon popped up again in Civil War but hasn’t been seen since – so what she’s been up to is anyone’s guess.

Daniel Brühl is back as the villainous Baron Zemo, who appeared in Civil War and managed to spark a huge fight between Cap, Bucky, and Iron Man. Zemo was last seen imprisoned – but now he’s clearly free, and probably causing some serious trouble for our heroes.

A new addition to the MCU for the series is Wyatt Russell as US Agent or John Walker. From what we’ve seen so far, Walker has taken on the mantle of Captain America despite Steve Rogers choosing Sam. Expect some contention there.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier trailers

The first full-length trailer for Falcon and the Winter Soldier landed in February 2021, teasing the buddy cop dynamic between its two titular heroes as well as re-introducing Emily VanCamp’s Agent 13 on top form.

Marvel is still holding out on showing us Daniel Brühl as Baron Zemo, complete with a comics-accurate purple mask, but we do get a good look at Erin Kellyman’s mysterious and dangerous new villain.

A couple of months earlier, Marvel had released a shorter first-look promo which shows Falcon hesitant to take over as Captain America whilst taking on a new set of villains alongside the Winter Soldier.

What's the plot?

We last saw Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes at the finale of Endgame, when their friend Steve Rogers gave Sam a new role. As CNET's Mike Sorrentino points out, the logo for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier show incorporates Captain America's shield, which is a clue to where the story is headed. We also know that Bucky will have to adjust to life in the modern world without Rogers, and he and Sam will be facing down an anarchist group called the Flag-Smashers. Not only that, but an old foe will resurface as Daniel Brühl reprises his role as Baron Zemo. And if the trailer is any indication, Sam and Bucky might have some teamwork issues to resolve.