Top 10 Behind The Scenes Facts About The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

At the beginning of “Falcon and Winter’s Soldier’s” production, there were plans to shoot scenes in Puerto Rico. But everything changed when the island was hit by serious earthquakes. As Puerto Rico recovered from the tragic incidents, the production decided it would be best for everyone to move certain scenes to Prague. Dave Macomber, a stunt coordinator on the show, talked about plans to shoot Winter Soldier flashbacks in Puerto Rico. He also gave us a glimpse of what those scenes would’ve looked like on his Instagram. As they found new locations for that sequence and other scenes, Puerto Rico continued its road to recovery.

The layered and hilarious performance Julia Louis-Dreyfus gave as, deep breath, Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine made us very excited to see more of her. But we still have tons of questions about what her role will be in the MCU. Co-executive Producer Zoie Nagelhout revealed that Val is meant to be seen as a more morally gray version of a certain Sam Jackson character. Hearing that the contessa occupies a similar role to the Avengers founder opens up so many possibilities. Val’s already recruited John Walker's U.S. Agent, a man who feels like an edgier version of Captain America. Maybe she’s starting up a team like the Dark Avengers. If so, will Val recruit another member during her upcoming “Black Widow” appearance?

Sam Wilson was originally born and raised in New York City in the comics. But the show altered his origin so that he grew up in Louisiana. A big driving factor contributing to this hometown switch is the fact that Anthony Mackie was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. Every scene that takes place there feels incredibly authentic. The combination of Anthony Mackie's natural performance and extensive real-life background there made Sam feel like a real person.
Although the showrunners could’ve followed the comic origins like they do for so many other heroes, their choice to incorporate Mackie’s hometown led to a richer and more authentic show.

Although we know Madripoor is a shady city, its unique design and exciting dance scene had us wishing we could visit. While its located on an Indonesian island on the show, the scenes were actually shot relatively close to Sam’s home. Production Designer Raymond Chan turned an Atlanta town into Madripoor by looking to other cities. While he based some street designs on a location he saw in Vietnam, the bridge was inspired by a structure in Mozambique. By blending those two cities and more elements into one fantastic design, Chan made us believe a small Atlanta town was the larger-than-life location of Madripoor. Here's hoping that we see the fantastic work that went into creating this fictional city again in a future MCU project.

Seeing Sam don his comic accurate Captain America suit was one of the best parts of the entire series. It turns out that making it look good took more effort than the audience might realize. Whenever Anthony Mackie would move his head, the cowl would bend and stretch a little. The post-production department had to touch up the shots to make the headpiece stay in one place. And since Mackie wasn't constantly walking around the set with red lenses in real life, they had to digitally add those onto his face as well. All their hard work definitely paid off. The new Captain America is now one of the best dressed superheroes in the MCU.

“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” was originally going to premiere before “WandaVision.” But while the former show was filming in Prague in March 2020, the onset of the covid-19 pandemic caused production to shut down. While the crew waited to return, editors worked with the footage they had and creatives prepared to shoot in locations they’d only seen virtually. They were finally able to return to filming while following all the safety precautions in late 2020. Throughout the “Marvel Studios: Assembled” episode, multiple people said the challenges bought everyone closer together. Knowing that they completed such a big project in an unprecedented time of adversity is remarkable.

There have been many rumors swirling that a storyline was cut from the series because it shared similarities with the covid pandemic. In a recent interview with the “Fade to Black” podcast, the show's head writer Malcolm Spellman seemed to dispel that notion. He said that while some aspects of the story didn't make the final cut, it wasn’t due to similarities to the pandemic.
Spellman’s currently trying to get this plotline adapted into comics. But who would the book run follow? We could get more insight on Sharon, learn more Eli Bradley or even follow Joaquin Torres on his journey to become the next Falcon. No matter who or what this missing storyline is about, fans definitely want to know more.

While actors could easily have stunt doubles perform all the fights, multiple cast members from “The Falcon of The Winter Soldier” seemed eager to jump into the combat themselves. Throughout the “Marvel Studios: Assembled episode” we see several scenes of actors throwing punches and pretending to take hits. Although all of them are impressive, Emily VanCamp deserves a special shout out. Her fight scene against the bounty hunters in episode 3 was one of the best action sequences of the series. And behind-the -cenes we got to see her actually performing a few of these complex and cool moves. Seeing the actors really throw themselves into these fights makes the action even better than it already was.

Falcon’s flying scenes consistently looked awesome. While the camera cut away at the right time to cover Mackie’s “takeoffs”, wires often kept him in the air. The most impressive flight sequence came when Falcon went to rescue a kidnapped hostage from Batroc in mid air. After creating a mock-up of the scene with computer graphics, the team brought in real flying experts. Some of the footage we see was recorded with head mounted cameras. Later on, those shots were blended with CGI, other aerial footage and Anthony Mackie on a green screen. The end result is a breathtaking scene that feels exhilarating every time you watch it.

In the second episode, Falcon, Bucky, John Walker and Battlestar have to fight Karli and the Flag-Smashers atop a moving truck. After working out the details of the scene by superimposing visual effects on stunt performers, they put performers on fake trucks for some shots. They also collected some footage of real stunt people on moving trucks. The production also used digital effects to create the road, trees and all the flying effects. Once again, the team was able to build an exciting scene that looked seamless and felt visceral. It not only served as a great introduction for Karli, but an example of the action-packed heights Marvel can reach on a television show.