The most surprising thing about the ‘Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ finale

The final episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is finally available on Disney+, bringing us to the conclusion we’ve been expecting even before the first episode hit the streaming service in mid-March. Spoiler alert, but not really since everyone knew it was coming: Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) is the new Captain America. The show explored Sam’s doubts about accepting the iconic role and showed us the kind of damage that the wrong kind of Captain America can do to the US and to the world. That itself was one of the factors that convinced Sam to accept the role and take on the responsibility that Steve gave him, without actually stopping to ask whether or not his friend wanted it.

In other words, Sam becoming Captain America in the Falcon and the Winter Soldier finale isn’t really a spoiler. It’s something we all expected from the TV series. But now that I've seen the finale, I’ll have to contradict Kevin Feige, Marvel’s driving force behind the MCU’s massive success. As Feige said, Disney+ shows might not be mandatory watching to understand the bigger storyline that is unfolding. We could see the Falcon with Captain America's shield in one of his hands, flying to save the day, and we know it’s the new Captain America coming to the rescue. But I think Feige is wrong — this show is mandatory. You absolutely must watch The Falcon and the Winter Soldier before you see the new Captain America in any other Marvel adventure.