‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’: What’s Next For S.W.O.R.D. After Marvel’s ‘WandaVision’?
WandaVision brought back some fan-favorite characters of the Marvel movies, like Darcy (Kat Dennings) and Jimmy Woo (Randall Park). It also introduced a new arm of S.H.I.E.l.D. called S.W.O.R.D. There are many more Marvel series on Disney+ and movies in the works, beginning with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. So will S.W.O.R.D. feature in them?
Marvel Chief Creative Officer Kevin Feige spoke at a press conference for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier on March 14. Feige was asked directly about the future of S.W.O.R.D. Here’s what he said. New episodes of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier premiere Fridays on Disney+.
What is S.W.O.R.D. in Marvel?
S.W.O.R.D. stands for Sentient World Observation and Response Department. They came in to deal with WestView as an extra-terrestrial threat. Given that future Marvel movies and series include The Eternals and Moon Knight, let alone Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, a Marvel fan can imagine the need for S.W.O.R.D. Keep in mind, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was originally intended to air before WandaVision.
“Well, again, you can always look at the comics, right?” Feige teased. “We always take our lead from what has happened before. Those organizations come and go in various forms over the years, so they always could. The new organizations like S.W.O.R.D. that you saw in WandaVision, yes, there’s always an inherent need for certain above-board or shadows organizations sometimes in the MCU.”
‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ might deal with more grounded threats than S.W.O.R.D.’s purview
Marvel’s latest series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, stars Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan). Even though Falcon can fly, they are two of Marvel’s earthbound heroes and are likely to remain that way.
“The characters of Bucky and Sam are essential to the MCU,” Feige said. “As they change or as they evolve, or whatever they go through could and should have a big impact on the MCU. Not everything is world-shattering to the point of bringing in some giant element to the comics that it’s never been in before, or smashing the earth in two and creating two plants, right? There can be character shifts that have massive, massive, implications for the stories we’re telling in the future. So it will be a combination.”
‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ will deal with U.S. Agent
Wyatt Russell joins The Falcon and the Winter Soldier as John Walker, aka U.S. Agent. Fans of the Marvel comics may predict what becomes of U.S. Agent, but Marvel may have some twists up their sleep too.
“The cast is prologue, the clues are everywhere in what has led to this moment,” Feige said. “Certainly, that character and that name, sometimes it’s just a name, but oftentimes, we do pull of course from the lineage of their biography from the comics and then tweak it as is appropriate for the point of time that we’re introducing those characters in the MCU. Stay tuned over the course of the series.”
