The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

American streaming television miniseries

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is a television miniseries airing on Disney+ based on the Marvel Comics characters Sam Wilson / Falcon and Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier.

Lieutenant Torres: You see these guys? These are the guys you gotta worry about. I've been stumbling onto their manifestos on message boards. Call themselves the Flag-Smashers.
Sam Wilson: Is that a new thing? Bad guys give themselves bad names?
Torres: There's a lot worse names than that one. But basically, they think that the world was better during The Blip. Trust me, it wasn't.
Sam: Trust me. Every time something gets better for one group, it gets worse for another.

Sam: [speaking at the Smithsonian] Steve represented the best in all of us. Courageous, righteous, hopeful. [looks at a poster of Captain America] And he mastered posing stoically. [audience laughs] The world has been forever changed. A few months ago, billions of people reappeared after five years away, sending the world into turmoil. We need new heroes. Ones suited for the times we're in. Symbols are nothing without the women and men that give them meaning. And this thing ... [picks up the shield and regards it] I don't know if there's ever been a greater symbol. But it's more about the man who propped it up, and he's gone. So today, we honor Steve's legacy. But also, we look to the future. Thank you, Captain America. But this belongs to you.

James Rhodes: Crazy that nobody's gonna be carryin' the shield.
Sam: Hey, we went for seventy years without anybody carryin' it when Steve was on ice. So, I think we'll be all right.
Rhodes: That was a different time, Sam. [after a silence] I see you're gonna make me ask. Why didn't you take up the mantle?
Sam: When Steve first told me about the shield, the first words I said were, "It feels like it belongs to someone else." That someone else is Steve.

Dr. Raynor: Rule number two?
Bucky Barnes: [mock-considering] What was rule number two?
Dr. Raynor: Nobody gets hurt. It's a big one.
Bucky: Then why isn't it rule number one?

Bucky: All right, give me a break. I'm trying, okay? This isn't...[sighs] This is new for me. I didn't have a moment to deal with anything, you know? I had a little...calm in Wakanda. And other than that, I just went from one fight to another for ninety years.
Dr. Raynor: So, now that you've stopped fighting, what do you want?
Bucky: ... Peace.
Dr. Raynor: That is utter bullshit!
Bucky: You're a terrible shrink.
Dr. Raynor: [voice trembling] I was an excellent soldier, so I saw a lot of dead bodies, and I know how that can shut you down. And if you are alone, that is the quietest, most personal hell.

Leah: You know how you call a guy whose wife died a "widower"? Or, if your parents die, you're an orphan. There's no word for someone whose kids die. Because it's the worst thing that could happen.
Sam: You don't have to trust Redwing. But I'm gonna go see if he's right. 'Cause I have a feeling they (the Flag-Smashers) might be part of the Big Three.
Bucky: What big three?
Sam: The Big Three.
Bucky: What Big Three?
Sam: Androids, aliens and wizards.
Bucky: That's not a thing.
Sam: That's-that's definitely a thing.
Bucky: No, it's not.
Sam: Every time we fight, it's one of the three.
Bucky: So who are you fighting now, Gandalf?
Sam: Ev- How do you know about Gandalf?
Bucky: I read The Hobbit. In 1937. When it first came out.
Sam: So you see my point?
Bucky: No. I don't. There are no wizards.
Sam: Doctor Strange.
Bucky: -- is a sorcerer.
Sam: Ah-ah. [chuckles] A sorcerer is a wizard without a hat.

Lemar Hoskins: I'm Battlestar. John's partner.
Bucky: "Battlestar"? [yelling to the driver] Stop the car!
[The driver complies and pulls over at an intersection. Bucky gets out of the jeep and starts walking away.]
John Walker: Look, I...I get it, okay? I get the attitude, I do. You didn't think that the shield was gonna end up here. I get it, Bucky. [to Sam] And I'm, I'm not trying to be Steve. I'm not trying to replace Steve. I'm just trying to be the best Captain America I can be. That's it. It'd be a whole lot easier if I had Cap's wingman on my side.
Sam: [scoffs] It's always that last line. [gets out of the jeep and follows Bucky]

Kid: Hey, it's Black Falcon! What's up?!
Sam: Just Falcon, kid.
Kid: No, no. My daddy told me it's Black Falcon.
Sam: Is it because I'm black and I'm the Falcon?
Kid: [subdued] Well, technically, I mean, yes.
Sam: So are you, like, "Black Kid"?
[The kid rolls his eyes and looks away. Sam laughs.]
Sam: [to the kid's friend, chuckling] I got him, right?
Kid: [in good humor] Whatever, man.

Bucky: I'm not a killer anymore.
Isaiah Bradley: You think you can wake up one day and decide who you wanna be? It doesn't work like that. Well, maybe it does for folks like you.

Bucky: Why'd you give up that shield?
Sam: Why are you making such a big deal out of something that has nothing to do with you?
Bucky: Steve believed in you. He trusted you. He gave you that shield for a reason. That shield, that is... That is everything he stood for. That is his legacy. He gave you that shield, and you threw it away like it was nothing...
Sam: Shut up.
Bucky: So maybe he was wrong about you. And if he was wrong about you, then he was wrong about me.
Sam: ...You finished?
Bucky: Yeah.
Sam: All right, good. Maybe this is something you or Steve will never understand. But can you accept that I did what I thought was right?
Sam: I've seen that book. It was Steve's when he came out of the ice. I told him about Trouble Man. He wrote it in that book. Did you hear it? What'd you think?
Bucky: I like 40's music, so...
Sam: You didn't like it?!
Bucky: I liked it.
Helmut Zemo: It is a masterpiece, James. Complete. Comprehensive. It captures the African-American experience.
Sam: [nonplussed, having to defend Zemo] He's outta line, but he's right. It's great. Everybody loves Marvin Gaye.
Bucky: I like Marvin Gaye.
Sam: Steve adored Marvin Gaye.

Zemo: You must have really looked up to Steve. But I realized something when I met him. The danger with people like him, America's Super Soldiers, is that we put them on pedestals.
Sam: Watch your step, Zemo.
Zemo: They become symbols. Icons. And then we start to forget about their flaws. From there, cities fly, innocent people die, movements are formed, wars are fought. [to Bucky] You remember that, right? As a young soldier sent to Germany to stop a mad icon. Do we want to live in a world full of people like the Red Skull?

[Sam, Zemo and Bucky are entering Madripoor. Sam is dressed in a garish suit.]
Sam: We have to do something about this. I'm the only one who looks like a pimp.
Zemo: Only an American would assume a fashion-forward black man looks like a pimp. You look exactly like the man you're supposed to be playing: the sophisticated, charming African rake named Conrad Mack, a.k.a. the Smiling Tiger.
Sam: He even has a bad nickname.

Bucky: So what are you doing here?
Sharon Carter: I stole Steve's shield, remember? [to Sam] I also took the wings for your ass so that you could save his [Bucky] ass from his [Zemo] ass. Unlike you, I didn't have the Avengers to back me up. So...I'm off the grid in Madripoor.
Sam: Hey, don't blow that smoke at me. I was on the run, too.
Sharon: "Was." "Is." Big difference.

Sam: I'm sorry I didn't call. But after the Blip and the chaos, I just...
Sharon: Look, you know the whole hero thing is a joke, right? I mean, the way you gave up that shield, deep down, you must know it's all hypocrisy.
Zemo: He knows. And not so deep down.
Zemo: The desire to become a superhuman cannot be separated from supremacist ideals. Anyone with that serum is inherently on that path. (Karli Morgenthau) will not stop, she will escalate until you are forced to kill her. Or she kills you.
Bucky: Maybe you're wrong, Zemo. The serum never corrupted Steve.
Zemo: Touché. But there has never been another Steve Rogers, has there?

Karli Morgenthau: So you want me to stop because people are getting hurt, right? But Sam, what if I'm making the world a better place?
Sam: It's not a better place if you're killing people. It's just different.
Karli: [grins] You're either brilliant or just hopelessly optimistic.
Sam: [chuckles softly] Well, can't I be a little bit of both?
Karli: No.

Zemo: Sam, you can't hold out hope for Karli. No matter what you saw in her, she's gone. And we cannot allow that she and her acolytes become yet another faction of gods amongst real people. Super Soldiers cannot be allowed to exist.
Sam: Isn't that how gods talk? And if that's how you feel...what about Bucky? Blood isn't always the solution.

[Walker and Hoskins are getting their asses kicked by Ayo and members of the Dora Milaje while Sam, Bucky and Zemo just watch.]
Sam: We should do something.
Bucky: [shouting to Walker] Looking strong, John!
Sam: Bucky...

Walker: If you had the chance to take the serum, would you do it?
Hoskins: Hells, yeah.
Walker: You wouldn't be worried about how it might...how it might change you?
Hoskins: I mean... Power just makes a person more of themselves, right? Karli Morgenthau. Steve Rogers.
Walker: And me?
Hoskins: You already have three Medals of Honor. You consistently make the right decisions in the heat of battle.
Walker: Yep. Three badges of excellence to make sure I never forget the worst day of my life. We both know that the things that we had to do in Afghanistan to be awarded those medals felt a long way from being right. Being Cap is the first time I've had the chance to do something that actually feels right.
Sam: Listen, it was the heat of the battle, okay? If you explain what happened, they may consider your record. We don't want anyone else to get hurt. John ... You gotta give me the shield, man.
[Walker regards them for a moment.]
Walker: [softly] Oh. So that's what this is. You almost got me.
Sam: You made a mistake.
Walker: You don't wanna do this.
Bucky: Yeah, we do.

Torres: Anyway, all we can do now is sit tight and just chill. Sometimes, there's nothing to do until there's something to do.
Sam: That's bizarrely wise.
Torres: [grins] Well, I'm a bizarrely wise man, Sam.

Valentina Allegra de Fontaine: [walking up to Walker and his wife] Well, these boots are not made for walkin'. Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. Actually, it's Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. I know it's hard, but I don't like to repeat myself, so you can just call me "Val". But don't call me "Val", just keep it in your head.

Sam: You know Karli won't quit.
Bucky: Ah. You call me when you have a lead and I'll be there. [picks up his bag] Not necessarily as a team.
Sam: Nope.
Bucky: We're not that good.
Sam: Definitely not.
Bucky: We're professionals.
Sam: Definitely.
Bucky: And, uh, we're partners.
Sam: Co-workers.
Bucky: But we're also a couple of guys with a mutual friend.
Sam: Friend's now gone.
Bucky: So we're a couple of guys.
Sam: I can live with that.
Bucky: Perfect.

Sarah Wilson: God, I missed you so much. There's a fight out there, and then there's our fight here, and bro, you have taken them both on. So you really gonna let Isaiah Bradley get in your head? You gonna let him decide what you do next?
Sam: Isaiah's been to Hell and back. If I was in his shoes, I'd probably feel the exact same way. But what would be the point of all the pain and sacrifice if I wasn't willing to stand up and keep fighting?
Sam: [over the radio] Do I hear Sharon?
Bucky: Unfortunately.
Sharon: Hey, Sam. I thought I'd get the band back together.
Sam: Thank you. You're risking a lot coming here.
Sharon: I hear pardons aren't all they're cracked up to be anyway.
Bucky: Depends on the therapist.

Karli: Aren't you tired of fighting for the wrong side, Mr. Barnes?
Bucky: [scoffs] I've done this before, kid. I know how it ends.
Karli: It doesn't matter if I don't survive this. I'm fighting for something bigger than myself. And with all the bodies you've collected, have you ever been able to say the same?
Bucky: You don't think I ever fought for something bigger than myself? That's all I ever tried to do. And I failed twice.

[The remaining Flag Smashers are lured into a trap through their own phone app by Bucky and Walker.]
Walker: "Mercy bears richer fruit than strict justice."
Bucky: It's a great app. Thank you.
[The Flag Smashers are taken into custody by ground troops.]
Bucky: Lincoln? Really?
Walker: Great man. Great quote.
Bucky: Not when you say it.

Sam: How did it feel to be helpless? If you can remember how it was like to be helpless in the face of a force so powerful, it can wipe out half the planet, then you would know you're about to have the same impact. This isn't about easy decisions, Senator.
Senator: Y-You just don't understand...
Sam: I'm a Black man carrying the Stars and Stripes! What don't I understand? Every time I pick this [the shield] up, I know there are millions of people out there that are going to hate me for it. Even now, here, I feel it. The stares, the judgment. And there's nothing I can do to change it. Yet I'm still here. No Super Serum, no blonde hair or blue eyes. The only power I have is that I believe we can do better. We can't demand people step up, and we don't meet them halfway. You control the banks! Shit, you can move borders! You can knock down a forest with an e-mail. You can feed a million people with a phone call. But the question is, who is in the room with you when you're making those decisions? Is it the people you're gonna impact? Or is it just more people like you? I mean, this girl died trying to stop you, and no one has stopped for one second to ask why. You gotta do better, Senator! You gotta step up! Because if you don't, the next Karli will! And you don't wanna see 2.0. People believed in her cause so much that they helped her defy the strongest governments in the world. Why do you think that is?! Look, you people have as much power as an insane god or a misguided teenager. The question you have to ask yourself is, "How are you gonna use it?"

Isaiah: I ain't gonna lie. You're special.
Sam: Thank you.
Isaiah: I mean, you ain't no Malcolm, Martin, Mandela, but...
Sam: [grins] No argument there. But I know what I gotta do.
Isaiah: So. A black Captain America, huh?
Sam: Damn right.
Isaiah: The fight you takin' on ain't gonna be easy, Sam.
Sam: Yeah, I might fail. Shit, I might die. But...We built this country. Bled for it. I'm not gonna let anybody tell me I can't fight for it.

Cast

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