The Falcon and the Winter Soldier saw the Dora Milaje in action, raising the question of how powerful they are, especially when compared to the Avengers. The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase 4 has officially begun now that the Infinity Saga is over, and kickstarting this new wave was WandaVision. Phase 4 will not only cover the movie side of this universe but also TV shows, as these will directly connect to the movies, and next in line is The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
Set around six months after the events of Avengers: Endgame, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier follows Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) as he decides whether to take the mantle of Captain America or not, and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), who continues to struggle with his dark past as the Winter Soldier. In addition to that, Sam and Bucky will have to deal with a radical group known as the Flag-Smashers and John Walker (Wyatt Russell), the man the government chose to be the new Captain America. In an effort to bring the Flag Smashers down, Bucky helped Baron Zemo (Daniel Brühl) escape as he has information and connections that can come in handy, but this drew the attention of the Wakandan government, who sent the Dora Milaje after Zemo.
Their mission to find the leader of the Flag Smashers, Karli Morgenthau (Erin Kellyman), took Sam, Bucky, and Zemo to Latvia, where Bucky came across Ayo (Florence Kasumba), a member of the Dora Milaje who let him know they had come for Zemo, as Bucky had made a big mistake by letting him out. Bucky promised her he would give them Zemo as soon as their mission is complete, but things didn’t go as planned. After a battle in which Walker took a vial of Super Soldier serum with him, the Dora Milaje arrived to take Zemo with them, but as Walker refused to hand him over, a fight between Walker, Lemar Hoskins/Battlestar (Clé Bennett), and the Dora Milaje happened, with Sam and Bucky joining as the Wakandan warriors had the upper hand, but they didn’t make much difference.
The Dora Milaje fought two Avengers (among those one Super Soldier), Walker, and Hoskins, and did so without much effort. The Dora Milaje are an elite group of female bodyguards and Wakandan special forces led by Okoye (Danai Gurira), and they are highly trained combatants. The members of the Dora Milaje are expert warriors trained in many fields of combat and they are also quite skilled in the use of weapons like vibranium spears, as seen in the aforementioned battle in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. With each member going through this intense training, the Dora Milaje as a team are very powerful, as seen not only in Black Panther but also in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. However, episode 4 of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is the first time viewers got to see them fighting more closely and proved that they are stronger and more skilled than trained soldiers like Sam, Bucky, Walker, and Hoskins.
Of course, how their skills would compare to those of other Avengers with actual superpowers and those who can use magic is unknown, but they would surely give them a big fight and wouldn’t back down. There’s a reason why the Dora Milaje are so important in Wakanda, and they might very well be the most powerful, non-superpowered team in the MCU, and there’s a lot more to see and learn about them.