Did you like the chemistry between Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan in “Captain America: Civil War”—Sam Wilson, aka Falcon, bickering and hating on Bucky aka the Winter Soldier with strong comedic results? The odd couple was one of the highlights of ‘Civil War,’ and it turns out Marvel noticed. The company is putting a Falcon and Winter Solider limited series into development from one of the writers of FOX’s “Empire” for Disney’s upcoming streaming service
News of a Falcon and Winter Soldier series comes off the heels of the report of a series for Wanda, the Scarlet Witch (Elisabeth Olsen) and another one for Tom Hiddleston as Loki.
Malcolm Spellman, a producer/writer on “Empire,” who was also supposed to be an executive producer and writer for HBO‘s now-presumably-nixed TV series, “Confederate,” is developing the show for Marvel and its upcoming presence on Disney’s as-of-yet-unnamed streaming channel and rival to Netflix due in 2019.
No details on the series have been released, but given the relationship and dynamic evinced in ‘Civil War,’ akin to a kind of love/hate buddy comedy, one will assume that tone won’t be that far off the mark. Falcon’s also been seen developing his own identity outside of Captain America, seen defending the Avengers base in “Ant-Man” and then using his reconnaissance and spy skills to track down Scott Lang and eventually recruit him for Cap’s team in ‘Civil War.’ Both characters were first introduced in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” (Bucky before that in “The First Avenger” but not in his modern form) and fought as enemies hence where the bad blood between them comes from.
What’s potentially exciting is the idea of supporting characters getting their own spotlight. Many have assumed characters like Falcon, Winter Soldier, Hawkeye, War Machine, et al. were too small to lead their own movie and this line of thinking isn’t off the mark. But given the freedom of limited series narratives—no big box office returns needed, nor massive theatrical marketing budgets—there’s a strong possibility many of Earth’s mightiest heroes might get their due on the Disney streaming channel. Each series is expected to feature six to eight episodes (perhaps learning something from Marvel’s overly long Netflix shows).
Unlike Marvel’s shows on Netflix—“Daredevil,” the recently canceled “Iron Fist” and “Luke Cage”— the series’ expected to appear on the streaming channel won’t be run by what’s known as Marvel TV lead by Jeph Loeb (who also oversees all the Marvel shows on ABC, Hulu, etc.). The Marvel limited series with characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be overseen by Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige, good news for many of the fans not convinced by shows like “Runaways” and the non-starters like “Inhumans” canceled very early into their runs.
Interestingly enough there have been rumors of a Hawkeye project in development with Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) handing over the Hawkeye torch to Kate Bishop, a young female protégé from the comics. This rumor, a narrative where Hawkeye trains a new pupil would make sense as a limited series project so it will be worth keeping an ear out if that ever comes to fruition. Some have already begun speculating that “13 Reasons Why” star Katherine Langford, who recently joined the cast of “Avengers 4” it was revealed, could be playing Bishop. Time will tell, but the limited series is an exciting prospect for those wanting to spend more time with some of the more memorable characters in the MCU without having to worry about box office pressure. [Variety]