The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is full of everything that makes the MCU special:
action, superpowers, witty jokes, and, of course, a ton of Easter eggs for the attentive fan.
Here are a few you might've missed in Episode 2, "The Star-Spangled Man."
Just before Bucky Barnes and Sam attempt to jump the Flag Smashers,
the two have one of many hilarious exchanges in an abandoned warehouse.
Bucky's stealthy behavior prompts Sam to call him the White Panther as a joke, referencing the time
Bucky spent in Wakanda after the events of Captain America: Civil War. Bucky quickly corrects him,
"It's actually White Wolf."
This confuses Sam for a moment, but the scene moves on without further discussion.
We first see Bucky referred to as the White Wolf in the second post-credits scene from Black
Panther. Some village children refer to Bucky by this name while he is residing in Wakanda
under the watch of Shuri. T'Challa later calls Bucky this name during Avengers: Infinity War,
before giving him a new vibranium arm for the impending battle against Thanos' army. The Falcon
and the Winter Soldier marks the first time we've heard Bucky refer to himself as the White Wolf.
In the comics, the Winter Soldier and the White Wolf aren't the same character. Instead, the White
Wolf is Hunter, T'Challa's adopted white brother. King T'Chaka takes Hunter in as an infant after he
crash-lands in Wakanda with his parents, who don't make it out of the wreckage alive. He eventually
becomes the leader of the Wakandan secret police, and takes on the White Wolf moniker.
While John Walker, the new Captain America, is practicing for his first big interview,
he's greeted by a friend who gives him a pep talk. Later,
this man officially introduces himself as Lemar Hoskins to Sam and Bucky after
the tractor trailer highway battle, and even reveals his hero name, Battlestar.
First appearing in 1986's Captain America #323, Hoskins was a wrestler until he was granted
superhuman abilities by the Power Broker. His bond with John Walker is strong: The two are picked by
the government to be the new Cap and Bucky. This explains why our Bucky gets angry at the mention
of Battlestar and hops out of the car when he and Sam talk to the pair after the highway battle.
In the comics, Hoskins is part of a group called the Bold Urban Commandos, AKA the Buckies. The
Buckies and Walker, known at this time as Super-Patriot, battle Steve Rogers and lose.
Some time after this, the government taps Walker to become the new Captain America, and Hoskins as
the new Bucky. The latter eventually dubs himself Battlestar. In 1989's Captain America #350, Steve
regains the mantle of Captain America, prompting Battlestar to retire to his hometown of Chicago.
As an angry Sam and Bucky walk away from their highway battle defeat in "The Star-Spangled Man,"
Walker and Hoskins ride up on them. Bucky tells Walker that holding the shield doesn't mean he's
Captain America, and asks if Walker has ever jumped on top of a grenade.
"Yeah, actually, I have. Four times. A thing I do with my helmet, it's a reinforced…
it's a long story."
That's not exactly the same thing that our friend
Steve Rogers does in Captain America: The First Avenger.
While training in boot camp, Colonel Chester Phillips tosses a dead grenade
at a group of his recruits to see how'll they respond. Without hesitation, Rogers,
still weak and skinny at this point, dives on top of the grenade to absorb
the explosion and protect those around him. It's one of the character's most memorable
and moving heroic deeds, and Bucky's subtle invocation of it speaks volumes.
We meet Isaiah Bradley in "The Star-Spangled Man," after Bucky and Sam fail in their fight against
the Flag Smashers. In a brief conversation, we learn that Bucky and Isaiah have battled one
another in the past, and that the latter was actually able to rip off half of Bucky's arm.
First appearing in 2003's Truth: Red, White & Black #1,
Isaiah is sometimes known as the Black Captain America.
He and 299 other Black soldiers are experimented on as part of governmental efforts to replicate
the Super-Soldier Serum. Though Isaiah shows enormous bravery during World War II, he is
court-martialed and imprisoned for 17 brutal years. In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,
Isaiah reveals he was in jail for 30 years, during which constant tests were performed upon him.
Bucky lets Sam know that Isaiah is a hero, and as feared by HYDRA as Steve Rogers was.
"One of the ones HYDRA feared the most, like Steve."
Founded by Curtiss Jackson, Power Broker is both an organization and a man, first
appearing in 1978's Machine Man 7. Jackson aims to profit from making super soldiers,
despite the extreme riskiness of the process.
In the comics, the Power Broker transforms both John Walker and Lemar Hoskins into super soldiers.
Their superhuman strength is hinted at during the highway battle seen in "The Star-Spangled Man."
When Bucky mentions that the Flag Smashers are super soldiers, Hoskins acts surprised by the
term, as though he doesn't know such people exist beyond Steve Rogers and Bucky. This could be an
effort to throw Bucky off the scent, if Hoskins is, in fact, already a super soldier himself.
It's suspected that the Power Broker is responsible for the Flag Smashers' superhuman
abilities. But one of their members mentions "the Power Broker's men" are the ones coming after them
during the private plane escape scene. We don't yet know why they're being chased by the Power
Broker, but it could be an effort to de-augment them: Jackson's aid Dr. Karl Malus experiments
with that process on Battlestar in the comics. Luckily, Walker saves his pal in the nick of time.
As always, if you want to impress your friends with your Marvel Easter egg knowledge,
you need to pay close attention to any numbers that appear on screen.
At the end of "The Star-Spangled Man," there's a quick shot of Zemo in prison with the footage
noting that his cell number is 2187. No need to hunt through your back issues, though,
since this isn't actually a reference to Zemo's comic book origins. Instead,
it's a reference to a different story from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
In Star Wars: A New Hope, Princess Leia's cell number is 2187,
a number that reappears in The Force Awakens where it's used as Finn's stormtrooper designation.
Both appearances of the number are actually a reference to 21-87,
a National Film Board of Canada short that inspired a young George Lucas.
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