That opening action sequence alone was on par with something you'd see in a big screen Marvel movie.
Mortgage repayments.
Long therapy sessions.
Bad first dates.
Selling fish.
Lots of stuff happened in the first episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier that would have you believe that it isn't quite the story we were expecting, but it also kicks off with an incredible action sequence, featuring Sam Wilson in full on aerial acrobatic mode while approaching the border of Libya.
Director Kari Skogland is helming all six of the series' episodes, and is the singular directorial vision behind all of those action sequences.
Skogland has previously worked on some big TV shows (The Handmaid's Tale, House of Cards, The Walking Dead), but nothing to the scale of a Disney and Marvel production.
On the first episode of TBR Spotlight: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier[LISTEN from 11.55 below], Rory and Eoghan break down that incredible opening action sequence, which saw the return of another character previously seen in the MCU:
JOE recently had the chance to chat to Skogland about the action scenes in the show, and the cinematic influences behind them:
"Malcolm Spellman [head writer] and I, and the writing team, and the Marvel executives as well, but really it was mostly Malcolm and myself, looked at the classics from the eighties. The Lethal Weapons, 48 Hours.
"But also, because I wanted it to have a really big spectrum for the performances and not just the comedy, I looked at Midnight Cowboy and Easy Rider. I also looked at big, epic action, whether it be from David Lean or Ridley Scott. I really filled the synapsis with imagery, that I put into a pot and mixed up.
"Most important though, as you'll see as the series unfolds, all of the action sequences, which are big and epic, they also need to be emotionally charged, they need to understand the characters.
"The opening action scene is the bait, but because we're going to be getting to know these characters, every action sequence that we go on now, it is going to be a different story, because you understand where they're coming from.
"You know that Bucky doesn't want to fight, because right now, that is his issue, because he is trying to figure out who he is going to be in the world. How he is going to relate. He's 106 years old, and he's now got his mind back. And he's got the PTSD off of that.
"And Sam, in the back of his mind, he's got his family issues. He seems to be able to save the world, but he can't save his family. So the minute you inject those character dynamics into the comedy of it and the action of it, I think they become really charged, with a whole new layer to know, which you can't really in the movies because you just don't have the time to be with them.
"So hopefully, not only did we reference epic things and we had the licence to execute them, but I hope we injected another layer into them as well."
The second episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier debuts on Disney+ on Friday, 26 March.
Clip via Disney Ireland
