Marvel's Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Earth-113599)

Marvel's Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a 2014 live-action film based on the iconic Marvel Comics superhero Captain America. Produced by Touchstone Pictures and Marvel Studios respectively, it is a follow up to 2011's Captain America and 2012's The Avengers. It is the twelfth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and was released May 2nd 2014.

Production

A sequel to Captain America was announced in late 2011. At comic con 2012 after The Avengers extremely successful gross of 1.5 billion dollars worldwide Kevin Feige had announced the entirety of Marvel's Phase 2 slate and had "Captain America 2" announced to occur after Thor: The Dark World in Spring 2014. Later in the year, it was revealed Joe Johnston would not be returning to direct the sequel and instead brothers Joe and Anthony Russo were hired to held the project, claiming a desire to make the film akin to a 1970s spy thriller. During pre-production they worked closely alongside writers Christopher Marcus and Stephen McFeely, who had pitched an idea for a Winter Soldier film for Marvel Studios back in 2008. Going off of their pitch and alongside Kevin Feige and Joss Whedon, the Russos officially announced the film would be titled The Winter Soldier and based on the comic arc of the same name. They in addition teased that this movie would be very influential to the Marvel Cinematic Universe for years to come. Chris Evans too had leaked in interview that the legendary comic book organization Hydra would be involved in the film somehow.

This was further validated when Robert Redford was cast as Agent John Bronson, a known alias for the S.H.I.E.L.D. Villain Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker. More casting news was released also confirming that Scarlett Johansson would be reprising her role as Natasha Romanoff and Samuel L. Jackson as Director Nick Fury. Anthony Mackie was also casted as Sam Wilson, or the Falcon, one of Captain America's known sidekicks in the comics. To the excitement of many fans, the Russos were also reported (and later confirmed by Jeph Loeb) to be working alongside Marvel Television, a subsidiary of Marvel Studios, on ways to reference the currently airing ABC Marvel television shows Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter in the movie, starting the twitter hashtag #ItsAllConnected.

Principle filming began in mid 2013 and the movie was released worldwide on May 2nd 2014.

Cast

• Chris Evans as Steven "Steve" Rogers/Captain America

• Sebastian Stan as James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes/Winter Soldier

• Robert Redford as Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker/Agent John Bronson

• Georges St-Pierre as Georges Batroc/Batroc the Leaper

• Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon

• Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow

• Samuel L. Jackson as Director Nick Fury

• Emily VanCamp as Agent Sharon Carter

• Maximiliano Hernandez as Agent Jasper Sitwell

• Cobie Smulders as Agent Maria Hill

• Frank Grillo as Agent Brock Rumlow

• Powers Boothe as Albert Malick

• Jenny Agutter as Constance Hawley

• Bernard White as Nagendra Singh

• Alan Dale as Desmond Rockwell

• Haley Atwell as Peggy Carter

• Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson (Cameo)

• Garry Shandling as Senator Robert Stern (Cameo)

Plot

The movie starts in Brooklyn 1930, a young Steve Rogers is running through his school being chased down by bullies. He tries to fight back at them, but they pin him down and he screams for help. It then shows on a nearby court a young Bucky Barnes is playing Basketball by himself until hearing him, curious he runs over and tells the bullies to leave him alone, eventually fighting them away and helping Steve up. They introduce themselves and Steve says he needs to head home and Bucky asks him if he wants to play a game of Basketball with him. Steve tells him he doesn't know how but Bucky offers to teach him, he smiles and then accepts.

PRESENT DAY

One day after the Battle of New York, Nick Fury is talking to his secretary and good friend Agent John Bronson both of them commenting on how the world will never be the same now. Captain America meanwhile is helping S.H.I.E.L.D. with the rebuilding effort, giving Agent Brock Rumlow advice on how to take apart the Rock Troll ships and weapon remains. Director Nick Fury goes up to him and hands Steve a notebook, he asks what it's for and Fury tells him it's a list of a few things he should watch to get more of a feel for how the world's changed. He's should make good use of his down time. Steve wonders what he means by that, and Fury tells him he didn't think they'd freeze spend six months thawing out the greatest soldier of all time just have him sit around. He's going to work for S.H.I.E.L.D. doing what he does best, saving the world. Captain America tells him he's looking forward to it.

It then shows a montage of Steve doing miscellaneous missions for S.H.I.E.L.D. while in on break he's watching I Love Lucy episodes, Martin Luther King Jr's I Have a Dream Speech, the Moon Landing, the Fall of the Berlin Wall, and even The Empire Strikes Back where Darth Vader admits to being Luke's father. It then shows him listening to Disco music while he cleans his Shield, trying Thai Food and enjoying it, browsing the internet, and playing video games on a Nintendo Wii.

TWO YEARS LATER

It shows Sam Wilson jogging around Washington D.C. while constantly being lapped by Captain America. He eventually stops to catch his breath by a tree and he introduces himself. Steve tries to do the same, but Sam claims he know who he is. They get to talking and he explains how he used to be a pilot before becoming an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Now he's working with experimental pararescue technology like the EXO-7 Falcon. Steve is impressed claiming he's heard of the "Falcon" until Black Widow in a Van pulls up and tells Steve he's needed for a mission. He asks her if his friend Sam can come with them, he tries to signal her to say no, but Natasha tells him he could actually be useful. Steve says great and gets in the car, Wilson follows along and gives her a dirty look, Natasha says she wasn't being cute they actually need some wings.

In the middle of the Indian Ocean inside a quinjet, Sharon Carter is telling everyone their mission. Save the kidnapped civilians from a notorious pirate Georges Batroc. She goes into detail claiming he has a reputation for strange fighting techniques, which include intense leaping. As everyone gets adjusted Captain America soon takes his leave and jumps out of the quinjet right through the clouds into the water, Rumlow asks if he was wearing a parachute and Sharon claims he wasn't. He climbs onto Batroc's boat and begins defeating his henchmen, using a magnet on his wrist to call his shield back. Eventually telling Falcon the deck's clear and to fly out. He attaches his wings and begins flying by shooting the windows with his bullets and dispersing everyone outside, allowing Captain America to sneak in and save the civilians. Black Widow then parachutes down and takes out the confused soldiers, before being leaped on and hurt by Batroc. Captain America then comes out and easily trounces him in a fight. The quinjet soon afterwards lands and Rumlow along with Sharon and Sam start escorting the civilians onboard to be taken to safety. While Black Widow goes onto the main deck and makes a copy of all the ship's information onto a special flashdrive.

Steve asks what she's got there and Natasha tells him it was a personal task from Fury to make a copy of the ship's intel on trade routes, other pirates, terrorist organizations Batroc conversed with, etc. He asks how much information he wants and she tells him with Fury, the more the better. At the Triskelion, Captain America enters his office and asks him about the flashdrive, why he didn't tell any of them about it and how it could've sabotaged saving innocent people. Nick tells her he was compartmentalizing, it was a delicate task and she's been working for S.H.I.E.L.D. longer than he has. Steve sighs saying in his time it wasn't so complicated. Nick Fury asks if he's sure, he's read the SSR files and the "greatest generation" weren't always so nice. Steve explains that he knows, but that they always trusted each other like comrades. Nick stays quiet, and then says he wants to show Steve something.

They take an elevator to the lower levels and he shows Steve just how much new technology and advances S.H.I.E.L.D. has been making recently. That they've been getting more funding than ever from the Government now that the Avengers are the world's key defense against superpowered threats. Brilliant scientists, engineers, diplomats are looking at them as more than just some kooky FBI knockoff. He goes on saying that these last few years after New York have had some of the lowest rates of enhanced based crime in all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s history. Nick says life is good, maybe he has to keep a few secrets for that it to stay like that, but is it really too big of a price to pay for this. Steve puts his head down and admits he was wrong, maybe he still isn't quite used to this world yet. Nick tells him to take a few days off, clear his head he's earned it. Steve takes the elevator back upstairs and runs into Sharon Carter, who says her Aunt has been asking about him, and Steve says he'll visit soon.

Later, it shows John Bronson walking through the halls of the Triskelion computer center making sure everything is in order, until running into Natasha Romanoff working on the grid screen map and says that he heard about her recent mission in the Indian Ocean, congratulating her and asking how it went. Black Widow comments outside of almost getting killed by a pirate with an affinity for jumping, it was a standard carry out and protect mission. He listens thoroughly and then says how he needs Fury's Flashdrive to copy its information into the archives. She hands it to him and he goes into a personal lab plugging it in. While looking into it he finds a bunch of different locations and names listed on there, in addition to an individual folder on it called The Winter Soldier. Bronson clicks on it and when he sees everything inside makes a concerned look on his face. Later, it shows Steve at Peggy Carter's house where they talk about her life after the war, and how he had saved the man who would become her husband. Saying how it's unfair she got to live a full life and he didn't. They talk more and Steve says part of the reason he stayed in the first place was because she founded S.H.I.E.L.D. As they keep talking though, Peggy's alzheimer's catches up to her and she is surprised to see Captain America unfrozen, completely forgetting their conversation. He goes along with it and tells her he "couldn't leave his best girl" not when she owes him a dance. He soon helps the elderly woman up and they begin slowly dancing together in the room.

Afterwards, he takes Peggy to the Smithsonian Institution walking through the Captain America exhibit. They split up and Steve quietly explores the museum. Suddenly, a child recognizes him and Steve smiles at the speechless youngster. He then walks over to the memorial for Bucky Barnes and hears the narration documenting he and Steve's history as lifelong friends, and him being the only Howling Commando to die in service of stopping the Axis Mundi. Back at the Triskelion, John Bronson meets Nick Fury in the hallway and asks him about the contents of the flashdrive saying that the Winter Soldier was just McCarthyist propaganda, he isn't real. Nick says he knows the Winter Soldier wasn't connected to the Soviets, he opens up virtual documents showing Bronson the evidence that he's connected to another terrorist group that had been under their noses this whole time. Only thing he's been able to find out about them is their name, Hydra. He then goes on to say S.H.I.E.L.D. is big enough they can afford to search some dead ends, better safe than sorry. John says he's been at Nick's side for decades, supported his rise to Director because he's the most ruthless man he's ever met. Warning him he shouldn't get sloppy just because the going might be easy for now. Nick says he appreciates his advice but he'll take his chances, the reason that he saved the world as many times as he did was because he listened to his gut and exhausted every possibility of a threat, terminating it before it even happens. Bronson backs down, and says in exchange for this he wants Iron Man to show up at his niece's birthday party.

Nick later begins driving his van and calls Maria Hill who's interrogating Batroc. They talk about the information she's getting out of him and Fury insists there was a lot of valuable data stored on his ship, that Batroc is probably hiding something from her. Maria says if he thinks it's so easy he can come do her job, and he claims he just might before getting knocked off the road. Disoriented, Nick sees someone outside who begins aggressively punching at his window, Maria on the ground is desperately asking if he's alright on the other end of the phone line. The second the glass breaks Nick drops a smoke bomb and successfully reboots the engine. Driving forward he picks up the phone and tells Hill to get to D.C. as soon as possible, there's been an assassination attempt on his life. She asks who it is and soon after, Nick sees standing in front of his car a mysterious man in a black veil with a metal arm, muttering to Hill The Winter Soldier. Camera shows under the automobile a magnetic bomb attaches and blows it upside down.

The Winter Soldier slowly begins walking over to the flipped van until Fury pulls out a special device that allows him to carve his way through the pavement away from the assassin's wrath! It then shows Steve Rogers walking into his apartment while hearing music, he quickly gets his shield out and begins slowly walking only to see Nick Fury sitting inside. Steve asks what he's doing there and Fury explains that his house burned down, careless accident cooking dinner, he just needed somewhere to stay for the night and... well, Captain America couldn't say no to him. While saying that though he writes out Someone is after me. Works for Hydra. Ears everywhere. Will explain later. Steve goes along with it until Nick is shot to the ground by a barrage of bullets. As he lays bleeding on the ground, Black Widow comes in and says he called her for protection and if Cap knows what's going on, he says he does and he's going to catch who did this. He runs out of the apartment while Natasha calls an ambulance. Captain America chases the Winter Soldier across a dozen building before throwing his shield at him, which he gracefully catches and hurls right back to him.

At the hospital, Captain America and Black Widow watch his critical surgery alongside Maria Hill (who just showed up) as they see Nick Fury flatline right in front of them. Hours later, Natasha looks over Fury's body heartbroken along with Steve behind her. Neither of them say anything, until Maria Hill comes in and says she'll figure out what to do with the body they should both get back the Triskelion, S.H.I.E.L.D. is still moving as it would any other day. They both walk out into the hallway and Black Widow puts herself together to walk out the door, until Steve asks her what's going on and she says she doesn't know, she only pretends to know everything. Steve then says she can at least answer what Hydra is, and why that metal armed assassin was after Fury. Natasha explains that ever since the Battle of New York, there's been an uptick of high profile murders. She and Fury were looking into it and found parallels to an old mystery back in Russia. One time on guard duty at the Kremlin someone went after one of the generals, shot a bullet right through her into him. Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists but the ones that do call him the Winter Soldier. Captain America brings up that's why they wanted the Flashdrive from Batroc's ship, and she tells him exactly.

So far all they could dig up was that the Winter Soldier is connected to a terrorist group called Hydra. Cap asks why they haven't done anything and let it get this bad, she claims they've been trying. This isn't like the Ten Rings or some other group of overglorified bandits, Hydra is good, they hide in plain sight. Something's been making them show themselves though. Captain America promises her he'll get to the bottom of it and walks out the door. At the Triskelion, Captain America is walking through the lobby until he's approached by Agent Jasper Sitwell telling him he's sorry for what happened to Director Fury. Everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D. is in shock over it and he thanks him for that. It then shows upstairs, Secretary Bronson is talking to the S.H.I.E.L.D. High Council holograms pleading his case on becoming the new Director. Constance Hawley rejects it but Albert Malick agrees, saying that Bronson has shown a lot more restraint and care for the well being of the world's nations, he would be a great head for S.H.I.E.L.D. Rockwell and Singh have mixed feelings until Captain America opens the door and is disgusted that Bronson seems to be pining for Fury's position literally the day after his death. John delays the meeting and asks Steve if they can talk in his office about this.

In his office, Bronson is looking out the window and says he almost shed a tear when he found out what happened to Nick. There's a part of him that wants to act, but he knows politics are complicated and that to build a better world, sometimes even means tearing the old one down. Captain America says with respect to him, when his friend died in 1945 the Howling Commandos didn't let politics stand in the way. They did avenged one of their own by sacking the Red Skull's base in Switzerland. John asks who he wants to go after to avenge Fury, and he says the Winter Soldier, and Hydra. Bronson asks another question, what does Steve know about Hydra. He says there an undercover terrorist operation that Nick and Natasha Romanoff were looking into. He found out something he shouldn't have and they killed him. Bronson says they worked with him for a long time, but he really should've stuck to aliens and superpowers. Cap takes out his shield and realizes Bronson is one of them. He snickers and says how he's got brains and brawns, how that's fair. He then looks right at Captain America and says his real name is Wolfgang Von Strucker.

Steve says he knows that name, it was one of the Axis Mundi's supporting families. He tells him it was. He has a deep respect for the society the Nazis wanted to create, and feels the same way about the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin. That Hydra was created by people from those two nations. The Von Struckers, the Zemos, the Malicks, Nazis and Soviets alike all slowly started to realize how in spite of minor ideological differences they all knew how to save the human race. That humanity can't be trusted with it's own freedom, but the empires at the time were too involved in their own egos and pride they'd never work together. So they founded their own Political Party, slowly shaping history with their Winter Soldier, they infiltrated multiple high ranking positions until the time was right to strike. S.H.I.E.L.D. is bigger than it's ever been and he's on his way to the top Hydra's new world order will finally arise. Captain America says he can stop him right here and now. Von Strucker asks if that would be a good idea, killing an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. sacrificing his status and being a fugitive for the rest of his life. He doesn't think a boy scout like him he could handle life like that. Captain America tells him this isn't over and storms out of the room. Von Strucker then goes to his phone and says it's time to "clear house" Captain America is onto them.