'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' shows Marvel's 'WandaVision' wasn't a blip

Marvel has seemingly cracked the code for its streaming efforts, seizing on underdeveloped threads and relationships from its blockbuster movies and giving them room (OK, about six hours) to breathe on Disney+. After the risk-taking format of "WandaVision," "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" feels more conventional based strictly on its muscular premiere, while offering a welcome showcase for Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan.

"Captain America: Civil War" seemingly stumbled upon the chemistry between the two as a squabbling odd couple. The conceit here is what happens to them post-"Avengers: Endgame," without the red, white and blue icon that connected them. That question, at least, has to wait, as the two characters -- Mackie's the Falcon, a.k.a. Sam Wilson, and Stan's World War II super-soldier Bucky Barnes, looking great for 106 -- initially operate on parallel tracks.