A Brief Introduction To Every Character Found In Marvel’s ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’

[note: some major spoilers below; don’t read if you like surprises]

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Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Marvel’s second Captain America movie and latest installment in their ongoing expansion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, hit cinemas last week, and unlike Thor: The Dark World, it’s bigger and better than the original in every way. While the film manages to expand the universe further than ever before, the scope of the story is stripped back to focus on a localised threat — national security — and the result is pure espionage, spy-thrilling action at its best, like a Bourne and Jack Ryan film rolled into one.

The best thing about Marvel Studios’ post-‘Phase 1’ origin films is that they can now start exploring all types of genre films, with a range of characters we’re beginning to know and love. But what makes The Winter Soldier one of Marvel’s more interesting films to date is they’ve introduced more original comic characters than ever before. Whether these are just cameos or intentional seeds planted for a later date is something that’s really only known by a handful of people, including Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, who’s been doing a lot to promote the latest film. Over the weekend, Feige revealed that Marvel have developed a “map of films” that extends as far as 2028.

So with at least another decade of films projected, now might be a good time for those of you who are new to the Marvel Universe to familiarise yourself with some of the franchise’s latest additions; looks like they might be around for some time…

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Steve Rogers

Alias: Captain America, Cap
Played by: Chris Evans
Background: Born in the ‘20s, Rogers was The First Avenger. He gained powers from a ‘Super Soldier Serum’ and was frozen in time, waking in the modern day.
Superpowers: Super strength, speed and agility; good morals and leadership ability
Fun fact: Captain America Comics #1 is one of the most valuable comics, with a near-mint issue estimated at $115,000.
Will we see him again, and where? Yes, he’s already confirmed for Joss Whedon’s upcoming The Avengers: Age Of Ultron (2015), and will likely get a third solo film (Chris Evans is not retiring from acting after all).

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Natasha Romanoff

Alias: Black Widow
Played by: Scarlett Johansson
Background: Romanoff is an ex-Russian spy, who now works for S.H.I.E.L.D
Superpowers: Highly-trained spy/assassin; nice leather wardrobe
Fun fact: Romanoff has a sordid past, and her loyalties to both S.H.I.E.L.D and The Avengers are often in question.
Will we see her again, and where? Yes, Scarlett’s already confirmed for a post-baby appearance in Whedon’s The Avengers: Age Of Ultron, and there are rumours that she may even get her own solo film.

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Nick Fury

Alias: None
Played by: Samuel L. Jackson
Background: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D
Superpowers: Cool as ice; one eye
Fun fact: Fury is white in the early comics, and originally drafted as a James Bond-style super spy. It’s also known that Fury takes a formula that stops him aging, and he’s actually over 100-years-old.

Will we see him again, and where? Yes, most likely in the next Avengers.

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Maria Hill

Alias: None
Played by: Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother)

Background: Pretty boring, actually.
Superpowers: None
Fun fact: She replaces Nick Fury as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D at the request of Tony Stark (aka Iron Man).
Will we see her again, and where? Probably, but who knows?

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Alexander Pierce

Alias: None
Played by: Robert Redford
Background: Head of the World Security Organisation
Superpowers: None
Fun fact: In the comics, Pierce is a young field agent.
Will we see him again, and where? Doubtful, it’s unlikely that ROBERT REDFORD would do this kind of gig regularly.

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Sharon Carter

Alias: Agent 13
Played by: Emily VanCamp (Revenge)
Superpowers: None
Fun fact: Niece to Peggy Carter (Cap’s love interest from the first film); she’s also Cap’s love interest for a while, too.
Will we see her again, and where? Yep, in the third Captain America film, and possibly for a glimpse in The Avengers.

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Sam Wilson

Alias: Falcon
Played by: Anthony Mackie
Superpowers: None, but can fly with the use of a harness
Background: Works as a community volunteer and befriends Steve Rogers
Fun fact: Falcon is Marvel’s first ever African-American superhero. He first featured alongside Captain America in September 1969.
Will we see him again, and where? Definitely. Based on fan-response, he may get a cameo in the new Avengers, otherwise he’ll be in the next Captain America.

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Bucky Barnes

Alias: The Winter Soldier
Played by: Sebastian Stan
Background: Childhood friend of Steve Rogers. Presumed dead, but returns brainwashed as The Winter Soldier.
Superpowers: Has a bionic arm for super-strength, and is also a skilled acrobat fighter.
Fun fact: He takes the identity of Captain America in Steve Rogers’ absence.
Will we see him again, and where? Yes, in the third Captain America.

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Brock Rumlow

Alias: Crossbones
Played by: Frank Grillo
Background: Corrupt S.H.I.E.L.D agent, who’s secretly working for HYDRA

Superpowers: None; expert at hand-to-hand combat
Fun fact: Joins a group called Thunderbolts, alongside Marvel favourites Deadpool, Punisher and Elektra
Will we see him again, and where? Maybe. They make a point at the end of the film of showing Rumlow’s badly burnt body, so odds are he’ll reappear as Crossbones.

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Georges Batroc

Alias: Batroc the Leaper
Played by: Georges St-Pierre
Background: Mercenary; worked with HYDRA for some time
Superpowers: None; martial arts expert
Fun fact: One of his writers described Batroc as “Jean-Claude Van Damme, but in the 1960s.”
Will we see him again, and where? Unlikely, this was just a cameo for the fan boys.

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Baron Strucker

Alias: None
Played by: Thomas Kretschmann
Background: One of the leaders of HYDRA
Superpowers: None; highly intelligent (obvious by the fact he wears a monocle).

Fun (but maybe not so “fun”) fact: Strucker was a Nazi, and worked for Hitler during WWII.
Will we see him again, and where? Yep, Kretschmann is already confirmed for the next Avengers film as one of the main villains.

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Pietro Maximoff

Alias: Quicksilver
Played by: Aaron Taylor-Johnson

Background: To be revealed!
Superpowers: Super-speed
Fun fact: He’s the twin brother of Wanda and Magneto’s son (from X-Men)
Will we see him again, and where? Yes, and in two different forms actually. The first film version of Quicksilver will appear in Bryan Singer’s upcoming X-Men: Days Of Future Past (where he’s played by Evan Peters).

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Wanda Maximoff

Alias: Scarlet Witch
Played by: Elizabeth Olsen
Background: To be revealed!
Superpowers: Probability hexes; reality alteration; chaos magic (you know, kind of like a… witch)
Fun fact: Twin sister to Pietro and daughter of Magneto; marries an android called ‘The Vision’
Will we see her again, and where? Yes, photos have already been revealed of her on-set for The Avengers: Age Of Ultron.

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Captain America: The Winter Soldier is now showing in cinemas nationally.

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Chris is a Melbourne-based writer who regularly contributes to various magazines, websites and on his own blog, Writesleft.com. He also started a neat little website that reviews films in the form of limerick poems, called The Limerick Review.