Falcon & Winter Soldier Showrunner Was Surprised by Shows Ending Title

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier's showrunner was apparently surprised by the show's ending title. The Disney+ series stars Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson (a.k.a The Falcon), a character he has played for nearly seven years since his first appearance in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Since then, Wilson has gone on a long journey within the MCU. He started off as Steve Roger's friend and superhero helper but later became a true Avenger in his own right. At the end of Avengers: Endgame, Rogers passes his shield to Wilson, encouraging him to take his place as Captain America.

The show explores Wilson's hesitation to become the next Captain America. He feels that the shield doesn't belong to him, and he fears the racial backlash that a black Captain America might face. This is the entire premise of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier as audiences watch Sam Wilson grow to accept the responsibility that comes with carrying the shield. Once more, Bucky Barnes (a.k.a The Winter Soldier), sees his own character grow from being a disgruntled ex-murder to leaving The Winter Soldier persona behind entirely.

All of this character growth is illustrated in the title card at the very end of the final episode. Instead of reading The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, the card reads Captain America and The Winter Soldier. This further solidifies Wilson's new identity after an action-filled episode of him in his new Captain America suit. Despite this new title, some were still wondering why the title didn't change Bucky's name from The Winter Soldier to The White Wolf, the name the Dora Milaje gave him in Wakanda. Showrunner Malcolm Spellman talked to Inverse about his reaction to the title card. Apparently, he was surprised by how it made him feel:

    "I’ll be honest: I discovered that title change when I was watching a cut of the episode, and it wrecked me. I haven’t spoken to Marvel about whether they considered changing Bucky’s name too, but my gut tells me the reason it still says “and the Winter Soldier” is simply because they wanted to play with the poetry of a title you’ve been hearing. If they had changed too much it maybe wouldn’t have felt the same, but I truly don’t know what discussion went into it. I just know it landed heavy with me."

The Falcon becoming the next Captain America is a huge plot point for the MCU. Not only are audiences getting another Captain America, but they are getting another Captain America movie. Clearly, Marvel has big plans for Sam Wilson going forward now that Steve is no longer around. This could spawn a whole new Captain America trilogy if Captain America 4 is as successful as Chris Evans' movies.

Little is known about this new movie, but it would not be surprising if characters from The Falcon and The Winter Soldier were to appear. The show left many lingering storylines and teased a lot of new characters that will most likely show up again in future MCU projects. Viewers still don't know what Val plans to do with John Walker or if the Flag Smashers are truly disbanded. They likely won't get many answers for some time as Phase 4 of the MCU is already scheduled out through the end of next year.