The Falcon and the Winter Soldier director Kari Skogland revealed when the series would take place in the MCU timeline and explained how this would affect the overall story. Disney+'s upcoming Marvel series will be the studio's second after the massive success of WandaVision. Falcon and the Winter Soldier will follow the titular heroes as they navigate a post-Blip world and new threats arise in the wake of the Avengers defeating Thanos at the end of Endgame. The series will also tackle the much-loved characters of Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson, who, until now, had been relatively minor players in the MCU.

Falcon and the Winter Soldier will also explore the aftermath of Steve Rogers' retirement as Captain America. Although Cap wishes to pass the shield down to Sam Wilson, the US government has other plans. The series will introduce John Walker (Wyatt Russell) as another Captain America and one of the many antagonists Sam and Bucky will face in the six-episode series. In a post-Blip world, this will carry extra weight, and Skogland explains why this is a vital facet of the story Marvel wants to tell.

Related: Falcon & Winter Soldier Can Finally Show How Much Wakanda Changed Bucky

The director told Collider that Falcon and the Winter Soldier would take place six months after the Blip, which will factor into how the characters react to the various global threats that arise during the series. Skogland explained the complicated feelings everyone would be dealing with after the Blip, with a mixture of joy at everyone returning after their five-year disappearance and the political and socio-economic ramifications of half the population disappearing. She explains that Falcon and the Winter Soldier will hone in on the authentic response people would have to this world-shattering event.

Everything narratively was informed by that event for us. It meant that we're just past the shock of it. We're just past the joy of it — because we're imagining that there would be a lot of joy, in people returning. Now we're into the reality of it, which is complicated. With half the population Blipped away, you've got different economic circumstances, different border circumstances. Different countries were cooperative, that weren't before. Neighbors are cooperating, who weren't necessarily getting along before. People moved into houses that they didn't own before. Everything changed. Now we're into that moment. We're past the surprise of it and now we're into the realities of it. I think that makes for a very different place in the story, because we can get not only grounded about it, but we can drill into how people respond to that. Some of it's good and some of it's not so good.

Falcon and the Winter Soldier sounds like the MCU's most grounded property in quite some time by all accounts. Early reactions praised the series for its return to this aspect of the MCU after the more cosmic adventures of the Avengers: Infinity War and  Endgame two-hander. The global ramifications of an event like the Blip could be easy to gloss over as the MCU switches gears and looks to the future, so it's reassuring to know that the franchise won't just forget such a massive event.

WandaVision, for all its acclaim, was very much focused on its story about Wanda Maximoff's grief and could not focus on the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame in this way. With its more down-to-earth heroes and a global adventure, Falcon and the Winter Soldier will be more equipped to tackle this global trauma, and it sounds like it will be all the better for it. It's easy to forget the human side of the MCU's tragedies when the series is focused on its larger-than-life heroes. That the studio is not forgoing this story opportunity portends good things for its second, highly-anticipated original show.

More: Everything We Know About The Falcon & The Winter Soldier TV Series

Source: Collider

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