Who Is Karli? Falcon & The Winter Soldier’s Flag-Smasher Explained

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode 1 introduces the group known as the Flag-Smashers, but who is the group's leader, Karli Morgenthau (Erin Kellyman), and what's her history? The Disney+ series set in the MCU pits Falcon/Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) against a variety of villains, of which Morgenthau and the Flag-Smashers are one, with Helmut Zemo (Daniel Brühl) and potentially John Walker, the new Captain America, being the others. Each of them is drawn from a background in the comics, with the MCU making changes for them to fit the existing narrative.

In Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode 1, Sam Wilson is made aware of the subversive group the Flag-Smashers by his military side-kick Joaquín Torres. He reveals to Sam how the organization works, gathering, masking up, and obscuring crimes committed by the group's leadership. The Flag-Smashers' first act is to rob Gasel Bank in Zurich, Switzerland, with many masked people providing a distraction so the main culprits, including Karli Morgenthau, to escape. It's revealed that several of the Flag-Smashers have super-soldier powers, such as strength and durability.

Episode two of the show explores the Flag-Smashers' actions further, with Sam and Bucky teaming up to investigate a lead that they're running smuggling operations in Germany. The two investigate and discover that there's actually a team of eight Flag-Smashers, each of whom appears to have super-soldier enhancements. They also meet Karli Morgenthau herself, who provides more background in the episode as the group escapes and makes its way through safe houses and continues its operation. So who is Karli Morgenthau, leader of the Flag-Smashers on the Disney+ show The Falcon and the Winter Soldier?

Karli Morgenthau Is The Flag-Smashers' Leader

Karli smiling at Bucky in Falcon Winter Soldier

Karli Morgenthau is an anarchist and anti-patriot, alternately referred to as Flag-Smasher while leading a group of the same name. She wears a black mask featuring a red handprint while fighting or operating illegally, a disguise that's also used by her followers. Karli appears to have a range of powers similar to other super-soldier characters like Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers/Captain America, and operates a network of vigilantes across European borders, performing illegal activities such as smuggling medicine and robbing banks in order to achieve their goals.

As the leader of the Flag-Smashers, Karli wants the world to return to the way it was before the Blip, when the Hulk brought back the billions of people killed by Thanos with the Infinity Gauntlet. The Flag-Smashers, according to their motto, want "One world. One people," without borders, and appeared to be ramping up operations to achieve their goals, with Karli saying:

"We can't let the same assholes who were put back in power after the Blip win. The GRC care more about the people who came back than the ones who never left. We got a glimpse of how things could be. I need to know that you're all committed, because after tomorrow, there's no going back."

Karli Morgenthau's Comics Origin & Powers

The Flag-Smasher and Captain America from Marvel Comics

The comic character upon whom Karli is based is a Captain America villain called Karl Morgenthau, and the MCU has made a number of significant changes to the character in its interpretation. He was created by Mark Gruenwald and Paul Neary, and first featured in Captain America #312 in December 1985. Karl's diplomat father was killed by a crowd rushing the Latverian embassy. Karl had intended to also become a diplomat but, on his father's death, was radicalized and decided to achieve his goals of world unity through violence, relying on a significant inheritance to fund his agenda. He also carried an oversized spiked mace as his weapon of choice.

His main targets were symbols of national pride and power – such as flags and embassies and Captain America himself. Karl would have several altercations with Captain America and go on to join the organization U.L.T.I.M.A.T.U.M. Its name stands for Underground Liberated Totally Integrated Mobile Army To Unite Mankind. At one point, Karl Morgenthau/Flag-Smasher teamed up with the new John Walker version of Captain America, and at another – as leader of U.L.T.I.M.A.T.U.M. – was defeated by Punisher and Moon Knight. After Karl's death in the comics another character, Guy Thierrault, also working for U.L.T.I.M.A.T.U.M., took up the moniker and pursued Karl's anti-nationalist agenda.

How The MCU Has Changed Flag-Smasher

Captain America with Falcon and The Winter Soldier & The Flag Smashers

The MCU has updated Flag-Smasher as a character, as well as tweaking her ideals to fit into the post-Blip era of the MCU. In the comics, Karl Morgenthau/Flag-Smasher was a single person, but in the MCU Karli leads an organization known as the Flag-Smashers. Karli's motivations also stem directly from the fallout of the Blip, and a return to nationalistic principles across the world, including stronger borders. Further, Karli's major nemesis will be Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes, rather than Captain America. It's yet to be revealed if John Walker's new Captain America will somehow team up with the Flag-Smashers, though he is off to a terrible start with Sam and Bucky. In the MCU, several of the Flag-Smashers, including Karli, have been augmented by super-soldier serum and exhibit extreme strength and durability. While the character in the comics was funded by a vast inheritance, the Flag-Smashers' first-episode bank robbery suggests Karli doesn't have the same financials as her origin in the comics.

Who Plays Karli Morgenthau In Falcon & The Winter Soldier?

Erin Kellyman as Enfys Nest in Solo A Star Wars Story

Karli Morgenthau, aka Flag-Smasher, is portrayed by Erin Kellyman on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. She's most well-known for playing another masked character in a Disney property: Enfys Nest in Solo: A Star Wars Story. She also appeared as Éponine Thenardier in a 2019 BBC adaptation of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. Erin Kellyman is also due to appear in the upcoming The Green Knight, alongside Dev Patel, which was delayed from release in 2020 when SXSW, where it was due to premiere, was canceled because of restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Kellyman's Star Wars character also first appeared as a villain to the main cast of Solo. With the conflicting morals of the MCU post-blip, it'll be interesting to see where her character of Karli Morgenthau/Flag-Smasher fits in with the other villains on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

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