Everything You Need To Know About 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' For Its 10th Anniversary

By Brian Richards | Marvel Movies | April 6, 2024 |

By Brian Richards | Marvel Movies | April 6, 2024 |

When Captain America: The First Avenger opened in theaters in 2011, it was a critical and box office success. Not only did it make it easier for die-hard comic book fans to forget all about the low-budget, direct-to-video version of Captain America, it also blessed our screens with Chris Evans as the Sentinel of Liberty. His performance showed us why Steve Rogers would be chosen to receive the Super Soldier Serum, and why the Howling Commandoes would follow Captain America into battle against the Red Skull, or against anyone else, without hesitation. This led to The Avengers in 2012, which showed Cap leading Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in a life-or-death battle against Loki and the Chitauri, with the fate of New York City (and all of Earth) hanging in the balance. The Avengers was a monumental success for Marvel/Disney, which gave them the incentive they needed to keep going with the money-printing machine that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After the release of Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World in 2013, Captain America: The Winter Soldier opened in theaters on April 4, 2014.

Two years after the events of The Avengers, Steve is living in Washington, D.C., where he strikes up a friendship with Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), a former Air Force Pararescue specialist working as a counselor for the Department of Veterans Affairs, and now works for Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) at S.H.I.E.L.D. alongside Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a. Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson). Steve and Natasha conduct a rescue mission that pits them against a group of ruthless pirates, which ends with Steve questioning the motives of both Fury and Natasha, and also questioning himself as to whether he can continue fighting in a world that he doesn’t entirely recognize. When Fury is attacked by a mysterious assassin called the Winter Soldier, Steve finds himself targeted by his colleagues at S.H.I.E.L.D. for suspicion of treason, and must team up with both Natasha and Sam to uncover how S.H.I.E.L.D. has actually been infiltrated by the terrorist organization known as HYDRA. Unfortunately for Steve, it will also lead him to confront the Winter Soldier, and his world being turned upside down, when he learns the shocking truth of who the Winter Soldier really is: Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), his lifelong best friend thought to have perished in World War II.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier remains one of the MCU’s most popular and successful entries, and it’s not hard to see why. The film takes place in a universe where superheroes and supervillains do exist and where its protagonist and antagonist are both superpowered humans capable of inflicting and absorbing massive amounts of punishment. Still, it takes its inspiration from the political thrillers of the 1970s like Three Days of the Condor and The Parallax View by adopting a more grounded approach with the story it’s telling about how Cap is immersed in a world of tradecraft where secrecy and deception come naturally to all parties involved. (The casting of Robert Redford, who starred in Condor and All the President’s Men in the 1970s, also helped tremendously in conveying that approach.) There are no Giant Sky Beams threatening the world’s existence, but we get Cap and his colleagues trying to drag S.H.I.E.L.D.’s true nature into the light for the world to see, as well as stop Project Insight from becoming active, and targeting anyone who is viewed as a potential threat. Most of all, The Winter Soldier places Cap in a position where not only is his life at risk, but his integrity is put to the test, after he discovers that, much like Sydney Bristow in Alias, he works for the very enemy he thought he was fighting. But through Chris Evans’ consistently terrific performance, Steve reminds his friends, his enemies, and the audience why he became Captain America in the first place. His bravery, kind heart, refusal to unquestioningly follow orders, and willingness to do the right thing leads him to suit up, kick plenty of ass, and burn S.H.I.E.L.D. down to the ground, even if it means destroying the organization that was co-founded by the love of his life. If that isn’t enough, Steve refuses to fight back against Bucky in the film’s closing battle, and takes every punch that he dishes out, as Steve only cares about reminding Bucky of the person he used to be, and that their friendship still means everything to him.

The film also features some of the franchise’s most impressive and memorable action scenes: Cap, Black Widow, and the S.T.R.I.K.E. team’s rescue mission on the Lemurian Star (which ends with Cap going one-on-one with terrorist-for-hire Georges Batroc, played by former UFC Welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre); the elevator scene where Cap is ambushed by almost a dozen S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives attempting to take him down (“Before we get started…does anyone want to get out?”); and the relentless face-off between Cap and the Winter Soldier, which ends when Cap discovers his opponent is Bucky.

Another factor that works well in the film’s favor is that it doesn’t suffer from the reliance on bathos that other MCU films do, but it does have its moments to make viewers laugh. Steve carrying around a notebook to help him stay current on pop culture, and on things he might personally enjoy (Thai food, disco, Nirvana, the Rocky films, I Love Lucy); Sam’s frustration at Steve constantly leaving him in the dust during his morning jog; Natasha’s continued attempts to play matchmaker for Steve; and Steve being teased by Natasha for his lack of experience in kissing. Best of all, Cap’s costumes in this film (both his darker suit worn for stealth purposes, and his original World War II-era suit that he takes from the Smithsonian) look much better than what he wore in The Avengers.

Directors Joe and Anthony Russo have failed to win over critics with their most recent films, The Gray Man and Cherry, and have left some of them wondering just how talented they actually are outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But when they made Captain America: The Winter Soldier with writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, their work on the film was considered impressive enough by critics, fans, and Marvel/Disney that when Joss Whedon stepped away from the Avengers films after Age of Ultron, it was the Russos who were entrusted with the next two films that would change everything about the MCU: Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. This was one hell of a career boost, considering that their previous projects were directing episodes of Community, Arrested Development, and the rom-com You, Me, and Dupree.

Besides the writing and directing, the performances all deserve praise for what they brought to the table. Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, who remains cunning and dangerous as ever, and her bond with Cap deepens after he saves her life, which leads her to realize he’s one of the few people she can fully trust; Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson, a.k.a. Falcon, who quickly becomes one of Cap’s closest friends, and becomes an essential ally to him and Natasha in their fight against S.H.I.E.L.D.; Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, as he is forced to confront the brutal truth that his methods and his secrecy for the greater good have become leopards that will eat his face; Robert Redford as World Security Council secretary Alexander Pierce, the mastermind behind Project Insight who is willing to use it, and the Winter Soldier, to destroy anyone that would oppose HYDRA; and Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier, who was shown to be as intrepid and good-natured as Steve himself, only to have those qualities and his entire free will taken from him by HYDRA, and transformed into a terrifying example of what Cap would be without mercy or integrity.

The additional cast members include Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter (or as she identifies herself in the film, Agent 13), whose attraction to Steve comes second to her assigned duty to protect him, and lie about her identity while doing so (FYI: VanCamp was meant to have a much bigger role in the film, but her shooting schedule for the ABC series Revenge prevented that from happening); Frank Grillo as S.T.R.I.K.E. team leader/HYDRA agent Brock Rumlow, who will eventually become Crossbones, one of Captain America’s deadliest foes (for five whole minutes before getting killed off by Wanda Maximoff in his next onscreen appearance); the late Garry Shandling reprising his Iron Man 2 role as Senator Stern, also revealed to be working for HYDRA; Toby Jones reprising his The First Avenger role as Arnim Zola in the form of a S.H.I.E.L.D. supercomputer, and who monologues HYDRA’S plans to Steve and Natasha to distract them from an incoming airstrike; Maximiliano Hernández as Jasper Sitwell, whose true loyalties are aggressively revealed to Steve and Natasha, along with who Project Insight is willing to target for extermination, which includes Drs. Bruce Banner and Stephen Strange; and cameo appearances by Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, now elderly and suffering from Alzheimer’s; Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill, and just typing out the character’s name has angered me all over again about her fate in the colossal disappointment that was Secret Invasion; Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Pietro Maximoff, a.k.a. Quicksilver; and Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff, a.k.a. Scarlet Witch, back when the MCU refused to use the word “mutant” to describe them or their powers, and used “enhanced” instead.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier was followed in 2016 by Captain America: Civil War (or as some fans call it, The Avengers 2.5). It not only followed up on the blink-and-you-miss-it revelation that Bucky was responsible for the deaths of Tony Stark’s parents while he was active as the Winter Soldier, but it also introduced both Spider-Man (played by Tom Holland) and T’Challa, a.k.a. Black Panther (played by the late, great Chadwick Boseman) to the MCU. (Sadly, the MCU fans who were hoping for a relationship between Bucky and Natasha, known in the comics as WinterWidow, were left disappointed. Other fans who were hoping that Steve and Bucky would make out? Even more so.)

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier premiered on Disney Plus in 2021, and featured Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes butting heads while also working together to stop a terrorist group called the Flag-Smashers, and also dealing with John Walker (played by Wyatt Russell), who has been chosen to be the new Captain America.

Captain America: Brave New World is scheduled to open in theaters February 14, 2025. It will be the first big-screen adventure focused on Sam Wilson as Captain America (despite some complaints on social media from people who refuse to accept that Steve Rogers is no longer Captain America), and will also feature Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres, who will be taking over the mantle of The Falcon; Tim Blake Nelson as Samuel Sterns, a.k.a. The Leader; Liv Tyler reprising her role as Betty Ross, who, like Nelson, was last seen in The Incredible Hulk; Harrison Ford (replacing William Hurt, who died in 2022) as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, who has been elected President of the United States; and in the film’s most controversial decision, Shira Haas as Israeli superheroine Sabra, whose presence has led some fans to demand that the character be removed from the film, and Marvel Studios responding to the criticisms by saying that “…the filmmakers are taking a new approach with the character Sabra…” Whatever that approach will be is a mystery, as the film is reported to be undergoing extensive reshoots.

Looking back on the film a decade later, Captain America: The Winter Soldier remains a smart and entertaining thrill ride that many other Marvel films have failed to surpass in terms of quality. But it also became an unintentional and unfortunate prelude of things to come, as there have been far too many recent examples of government officials and their supporters attempting to dismantle and destroy anything that could potentially change things for the better, so they can watch the world burn, and feel even more comfortable when expressing their hateful opinions to the public while lighting the match. Unfortunately, there is no Captain America who will come to our rescue and stop this. The most that can be done is to remember his words to all of the S.H.I.E.L.D. members who had not defected to HYDRA, and encouraged them to fight back: “They almost have what they want. Absolute control…And it won’t end there…I know I’m asking a lot. But the price of freedom is high. It always has been, and it’s a price I’m willing to pay. And if I’m the only one, then so be it. But I’m willing to bet I’m not.” Now, more than ever, is a good time to remember that Captain America doesn’t like bullies, no matter who they are, and he punched Hitler in the face to prove it. What’s needed more than ever right now, in both fiction and real life, are people who are ready, willing, and able to express that very same sentiment.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is now streaming on Disney Plus.