Where do we start?
Once again, Disney/Marvel took advantage of America's most-watched sporting event by promoting the next Marvel Cinematic Universe Disney+ series during last night's Super Bowl LV. The 30-second TV spot was better than the actual game, which featured the Tampa Bay Buccaneers trouncing the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9, showing us more from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. However, a spiffier extended trailer was immediately released online, giving us two full minutes of Sam and Bucky goodness.
The extended trailer opens with Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and James "Bucky" Barnes (Sebastian Stan) facing an unknown psychiatrist inside what appears to be an interrogation room. "So," she begins, "who would like to start?"
As we cut to Sam and Bucky aboard a military aircraft, dressed respectively in their Falcon and Winter Soldier uniforms, we continue hearing a voiceover from the psychiatrist. "Mr. Barnes, why does Sam aggravate you?" she asks.
"15 seconds to drop," says the Falcon, heading for the open hatch.
"So, what's our plan?" asks the Winter Soldier.
Saying nothing in response, the Falcon jumps out of the aircraft and soars away, noticeably aggravating the Winter Soldier, who mutters, "Great..."
We cut to a nighttime shot of the city of what appears to be Madripoor, a fictional island in Southeast Asia riddled with political corruption and all manner of crime. We hear a voiceover belonging to none other than Baron Helmut Zemo (Daniel Brühl), whom we last saw in the 2016 MCU film Captain America: Civil War. "Superheroes...cannot be allowed to exist," he remarks. "I have no intention of leaving my work unfinished."
Next, we see an explosion, followed by a quick glimpse of Erin Kellyman as a young woman who dons a black mask with a blood-red handprint belonging to an anarchist anti-patriotism group called the Flag-Smashers.
We then see Bucky watching some sort of military brass announcement while Sam looks sadly at a large banner of his friend, Captain America/Steve Rogers. "The wall's upside down right now," remarks Bucky in a voiceover.
The scene shifts to Sam hurling Captain America's shield at a tree, presumably for practice. This is immediately followed by a shot of Bucky catching the returning shield.
In a completely different scene, Sam asks someone off-camera, "Where do we start?"
As the song "Is You Ready" by Migos starts playing, we see fleeting glimpses of Sam investigating a stylish nightclub while Bucky fights several Russian and/or Eastern European men.
We cut to the Falcon soaring above a canyon, dodging several missiles trying to knock him out of the sky. "Buck, I have a plan," he says over an earpiece radio.
"Oh, yeah?!" asks the Winter Soldier, still aboard the aircraft from earlier. "What is it?!"
We shift to another scene, featuring former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp) stepping into view and aiming her gun at Sam and Bucky. "Here we go again, hunh?" she remarks. This is followed by a quick glimpse of Sharon fighting some men in the middle of some shipping containers.
We cut to a football stadium, holding some sort of patriotic ceremony featuring a high school marching band dressed in red, white and blue garb with a stylized "A" symbol. A figure who looks similar to Captain America, the U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell), marches out into the center of the field and high-fives the bandleader.
Fleeting glimpses follow of Bucky fighting more guys and the Falcon swooping into another aircraft to fight some guys, with the Falcon transforming his wings into a shield to protect himself from a hail of bullets. We see Sam hurl Cap's shield again, followed by another explosion.
A different scene featuring the Winter Solider fighting the Flag-Smashers atop two moving trucks, with Bucky falling off and having to save himself with his mechanical arm. Now hanging at the bottom of the truck, Bucky can only watch as the Falcon flies by and mocks him, saying, "That little girl kicked your ass." As an oncoming car quickly approaches, Falcon swiftly soars underneath both trucks to avoid a collision.
After the show's titles, we return to the interrogation room, with Sam and Bucky now directly facing one another as the psychiatrist watches from behind the table. "See?" she says. "That wasn't so hard." Sam and Bucky suddenly begin a stare fight, with the psychiatrist asking, "Okay, what are you doing? Are you having a staring contest?"
The two men continue, trying to outlast the other until the annoyed psychiatrist abruptly snaps her fingers between them. "Just blink, sweet Jesus...I mean, how old are you?"
In Bucky's case, that could prove to be an interesting response.
If you'd like to see the new trailer, you can check it out below thanks to the official Marvel Entertainment account on YouTube...
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is scheduled to be released on Disney+ on March 19, 2021.