"Truth" is the fifth episode of the American television miniseries The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, based on Marvel Comics featuring the characters Sam Wilson / Falcon and Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier. It follows the pair as they return home after fighting with the Flag Smashers, while John Walker faces consequences for his actions. The episode is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films of the franchise. It was written by Dalan Musson and directed by Kari Skogland.
Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie reprise their respective roles as Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson from the film series, with Emily VanCamp, Wyatt Russell (Walker), Erin Kellyman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Florence Kasumba, Danny Ramirez, Georges St-Pierre, Adepero Oduye, and Daniel Brühl also starring. Development began by October 2018, and Skogland joined in May 2019. Louis-Dreyfus is introduced as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine in a surprise cameo appearance, which had been alluded to by the creative team beforehand. Filming took place at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, with location filming in the Atlanta metropolitan area and in Prague.
"Truth" was released on the streaming service Disney+ on April 16, 2021. Viewership was estimated to be the highest for the series. Critics praised the focus on characters and themes, while Louis-Dreyfus's appearance also received positive responses. The episode received a Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award nomination for its stunt performers.
Plot After using Captain America's shield to kill one of the Flag Smashers in public, John Walker flees the scene. He is pursued by Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes, who demand that Walker hand over the shield. He refuses, and destroys Wilson's wingsuit in the ensuing fight. Wilson and Barnes take the shield from Walker, breaking his arm in the process. Wilson leaves his damaged wingsuit with Joaquin Torres and asks him to continue looking for the Flag Smashers.
Barnes finds Helmut Zemo at a memorial in Sokovia and hands him over to the Dora Milaje. While Ayo advises him not to return to Wakanda for some time due to his decision to work with Zemo, she agrees to ask the country for a favor on Barnes's behalf. After Walker receives an other than honorable discharge and is stripped of his role as Captain America, he is approached by Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. She tells him that taking the Super Soldier Serum and killing the Flag Smasher were the right actions to take and says she will contact Walker in the future. Walker visits the family of his dead partner, Lemar Hoskins, and falsely claims that he killed the man who murdered Hoskins.
Wilson returns to Baltimore to visit Isaiah Bradley. They discuss Bradley's past as a Black super soldier who was experimented on by the government and how he was imprisoned after rescuing fellow soldiers who had also been experimented on. Bradley states that a Black man would never be allowed to become Captain America and nor should one want to. Wilson returns home to Louisiana and helps his sister Sarah fix the family boat, with assistance from several locals. Barnes arrives to help, and delivers a briefcase from the Wakandans to Wilson. Barnes helps Wilson train to use the shield and the pair agree to move on from their pasts and work together.
The Flag Smashers plan an attack on a Global Repatriation Council (GRC) conference in New York City. They are joined by Georges Batroc, who wants to kill Wilson and was released from prison by Sharon Carter. When Torres contacts Wilson and tells him the Flag Smashers have been detected in New York City, Wilson chooses to intervene and opens the Wakandan briefcase. In a mid-credits scene, Walker builds a new shield from scrap metal and his Medal of Honor.
Production Development By October 2018, Marvel Studios was developing a limited series starring Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson / Falcon and Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films. Malcolm Spellman was hired as head writer of the series, which was announced as The Falcon and the Winter Soldier in April 2019. Spellman modeled the series after buddy films that deal with race, such as 48 Hrs. (1982), The Defiant Ones (1958), Lethal Weapon (1987), and Rush Hour (1998). Kari Skogland was hired to direct the miniseries a month later, and executive produced alongside Spellman and Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige, Louis D'Esposito, Victoria Alonso, and Nate Moore. The fifth episode, titled "Truth", was written by Dalan Musson. It takes its name from the comic book Truth: Red, White & Black by Robert Morales and Kyle Baker, which tells the story of the character Isaiah Bradley, a Black man who became Captain America after being imprisoned and experimented on.
Writing Spellman said this episode was where the series "just gets real", while Moore said it ties together the series' various plot threads and "gets to be the culmination of the theme" of legacy. Skogland said Wilson's gaining of Captain America's shield in the episode allowed him to understand that "what defines a hero today is not the same ideal as it was when [Steve Rogers] first picked up the shield". She sought to convey Wilson as accepting this "iconic historically white symbol" as a Black man through both public and private discussions. Wilson has several conversations about taking on the mantle of Captain America in the episode. Spellman described the character's visit to Isaiah Bradley as "confronting the dragon" with the shield as a "talisman". He said Bradley personified Wilson's doubts, especially as he is candid about his poor treatment at the hands of the U.S. government, and in stating his belief that America would not react positively to a Black Captain America. Spellman wanted this to be something that Wilson has to live with as he moves forward in the role. Spellman believed that Wilson's conversation with his sister Sarah was the "final straw" in encouraging him to become Captain America. He identified a moment in the scene in which she says, "I never thought you were running away", interpreting this as her giving him implicit permission to accept the role. Spellman wanted both Bradley and Sarah to have valid arguments for Wilson to consider, and he sought to have the "truth of the characters to make this journey difficult" which connects to the episode's title. Later, Barnes tells Wilson that he never considered the implications of a Black man becoming Captain America. Mackie said this was cathartic and a "huge turning point" for Wilson.
Discussing John Walker's character journey in the episode, Spellman wanted him to be "misguided at times and righteous at times" which he felt was exemplified in the scene where he lies to the family of Lemar Hoskins. Spellman said these lies represent the "brutal, personal toll" that Walker's other than honorable discharge inflicts upon him. Spellman decided to add the character Valentina Allegra de Fontaine to the series after looking for a member of the CIA or S.H.I.E.L.D. in the comic books who could be the one to "embrace [Walker] after all he's been through" and set him on his new journey. Co-executive producer Zoie Nagelhout felt de Fontaine was the perfect character to enter Walker's life in the episode, saying this was a way to "complicate what he's going through and give him a weird almost ominous light at the end of the tunnel". She continued that since Walker is someone who needs to have a purpose in his life, meeting de Fontaine excites him and creates a feeling of catharsis for him. Skogland said the episode's mid-credits scene, in which Walker makes a new shield using his Medal of Honor, references the character's previous comments to Hoskins about how receiving the medal had been the "worst day" of his life. She also felt the scene was about him "hanging onto a falsehood".
Casting The episode stars Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson, Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter, Wyatt Russell as John Walker, Erin Kellyman as Karli Morgenthau, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Florence Kasumba as Ayo, Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres, Georges St-Pierre as Georges Batroc, Adepero Oduye as Sarah Wilson, and Daniel Brühl as Helmut Zemo. Also appearing are Clé Bennett as Lemar Hoskins, Carl Lumbly as Isaiah Bradley, Desmond Chiam as Dovich, Dani Deetee as Gigi, Indya Bussey as DeeDee, Renes Rivera as Lennox, Tyler Dean Flores as Diego, Chase River McGhee as Cass, Aaron Haynes as AJ, Gabrielle Byndloss as Olivia Walker, Janeshia Adams-Ginyard as Nomble, Zola Williams as Yama, Elijah Richardson as Eli Bradley, Jane Rumbaua as Ayla, Salem Murphy as Lacont, and Noah Mills as Nico.
Ahead of the episode's release, Spellman teased that it would feature a big cameo appearance and said this would be a grounded character with a strong personality. He added that it would not be an Avenger. In response to speculation from fans, Moore said the cameo would not be Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa / Black Panther. Hoai-Tran Bui at /Film reported that the cameo would not be an existing MCU character and would instead be the introduction of an established comic book character to the MCU, portrayed by a well-known actor. The episode reveals this to be Louis-Dreyfus as de Fontaine. Commentators likened the character's appearance to an "anti-Nick Fury", with speculation that she could be the Power Broker or another building block leading to the introduction of the Thunderbolts team in the MCU. Joanna Robinson of Vanity Fair reported that Louis-Dreyfus had been expected to first appear as de Fontaine in Black Widow (2021) before COVID-19 pandemic delays pushed that film's premiere until after The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was released. Robinson said it was unclear if Louis-Dreyfus was still expected to appear in the film; she does appear in the film's post-credits scene, with Feige noting that this was originally intended to be the character's introduction but ended up being a reference to her appearance in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Spellman was unaware of the character's planned appearance in Black Widow when he decided to add her to the series.
Filming and editing Filming for the series officially began in November 2019, taking place at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, with Skogland directing, and P.J. Dillon serving as cinematographer. Location filming took place in the Atlanta metropolitan area and in Prague. The series was shot like a film, with Skogland and Dillon filming all of the content at once based on available locations. Stan injured his ankle when jumping from a dock to a boat on the first day of filming, saying that he twisted it bad enough that he thought it was broken and initially could not walk on it. Production was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, and was scheduled to resume that August. Dillon returned to his home in Europe when the production shut down and was unable to come back to the U.S. when filming resumed. Moore believed "Truth" had the strongest acting and filmmaking of the series.