Captain America
The Winter Soldier
Film · 2014 · 136 minutes · Phase Two
Two years after the Battle of New York, Steve Rogers struggles to adjust to modern life while working for S.H.I.E.L.D. alongside Natasha Romanoff. When Nick Fury is attacked and S.H.I.E.L.D. is compromised from within, Rogers uncovers a Hydra conspiracy that has secretly festered inside the agency since the end of World War II. Pursued by the mysterious assassin known as the Winter Soldier, Rogers, Romanoff, and new ally Sam Wilson must bring down Hydra's plan before it can eliminate millions of perceived future threats.
Follows on from
- The Avengersdirect-sequel — Picks up Steve Rogers' story two years after the Battle of New York, still adjusting to the modern world and working for S.H.I.E.L.D.
- Captain America: The First Avengerdirect-sequel — Continues Steve Rogers' personal story from his WWII origin, and reintroduces Arnim Zola — captured by Rogers in this film — as the architect of Hydra's decades-long infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D., a twist revealed within Winter Soldier itself.
Leads to
- Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Season 1crossover — Episodes 16-17 ('End of the Beginning' and 'Turn, Turn, Turn') tie directly into the film's exposure of HYDRA inside S.H.I.E.L.D., and the collapse of the agency reshapes the final six episodes.
- Captain America: Civil Warside-story — Establishes Bucky Barnes's identity as the brainwashed, trigger-word-programmed Winter Soldier and Steve Rogers's personal loyalty to him — both of which are prerequisites for Civil War's plot, where Zemo reactivates Bucky's programming and Cap's effort to protect him drives him to break with Stark and the Accords.
- New World Order — S01E01side-story · optional — Bucky's therapy sessions have him confronting the specific crimes he committed as the brainwashed Winter Soldier, the identity and backstory established in this film.
- The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: Season Oneside-story — Bucky's arc as the brainwashed Winter Soldier and his path toward redemption, central to this season, originates in Winter Soldier.
- The Falcon and the Winter Soldierside-story — Builds on Bucky's history as the brainwashed Winter Soldier and his ongoing effort to make amends, a central, sustained plot thread first depicted in this film.
- What If... the Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier? — S03E03timeline-branch — Diverges from the Winter Soldier's established Hydra/Red Room brainwashed-assassin identity by having Red Guardian intervene to stop Bucky Barnes mid-mission, branching the timeline from that point.