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 Secretary 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 tells him 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 not 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.