Captain America: The Winter Soldier

***Captain America: The Winter Soldier*** is a 2014 superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero Captain America. It was directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and was written by the writing team of Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. It is the tenth installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The film stars Chris Evans, Emily VanCamp, Sebastian Stan, Daniel Brühl, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Elizabeth Olsen, Thomas Kretschmann, Cobie Smulders, Robert Redford, and Samuel L. Jackson. It was released on July 11, 2014 and grossed $710.6 million on a $209 million budget. It ran 130 minutes and received critical acclaim.

## Plot

Two years after the Battle of the New York, Steve Rogers now leads a S.H.I.E.L.D. unit of mobile agents, including Sharon Carter, the great-niece of Peggy Carter, Clint Barton, and Agents Carson, Cohen, and Klein. However, while raiding a Hydra facility, one of the last remaining, Carson, Cohen, and Klein are killed, and Carter is injured. Rogers and Barton make it out unscathed, though the three dead agents are mourned. Barton is revealed to be working with Natasha Romanoff, a Hydra operative who has become disillusioned with their ways. Romanoff is giving Barton information about Hydra, while Barton prevents her from being taken into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. At Hydra, Romanoff learns that they have begun shipping in Extremis, a dangerous chemical that causes people to explode upon injecting it. However, Romanoff learns that they plan to inject it into "super-powered individuals", which can handle the chemical and use it to their advantage. Romanoff is asked to be one of the test subjects due to her being advanced through the Black Widow program. Trying to keep her cover, Romanoff agrees and tells Barton that she will no longer be able to see him, as Hydra plans to use her and the others as suicide bombers.

Barton reveals the information to Director Nick Fury and Chief Advisor Alexander Pierce. Fury begins to question where Barton is getting the information, though Barton manages to leave without answering. Rogers, Barton, and Carter are sent out to find the Extremis and stop Hydra before they can use it. Helmut Zemo, the son of Heinrich Zemo, founder of Hydra, is revealed to be working with Hydra under the current leader Baron von Strucker, trying to get a higher position. Romanoff prepares to be put into surgery with the Extremis, until their base is raided once again, forcing them to escape, delaying the process. Rogers uncovers Hydra files on several test subjects, including Wanda Maximoff. Barton goes rogue to find Romanoff, while Rogers and Carter go to find Maximoff. They find her apartment trashed, along with evidence that she was taken, meaning they were too later. Maximoff is injected with the Extremis, making her even more powerful. They recruit former Air Force pilot Sam Wilson, who had befriended Rogers, when they realize Hydra is getting too powerful. Wilson has a set of armored wings, which he calls Falcon.

Fury begins to become suspicious when Pierce approves P.T.I.P., a program to track potential threats, which includes Rogers and Maximoff. Pierce claims he is attempting to shuffle through and remove those on S.H.I.E.I.L.D.'s side, but Fury is still worried Pierce is going too far. Hydra assassin the Winter Soldier is revealed to be answering to Pierce. Barton finds Romanoff and convinces her to escape with him and join S.H.I.E.L.D. permanently. The two try to escape the building, but when Barton spots Maximoff being trained to use the Extremis, he decides to rescue her, and Romanoff helps him. However, Maximoff is under the influence of Hydra control and fights off Barton and Romanoff. Rogers, Wilson, and Carter meet them there and stop Maximoff. However, Rogers, Wilson, Carter, Barton, and Romanoff are captured. They are forced to witness and Pierce explains to them that Hydra has invaded S.H.I.E.L.D. for years and have operated under Pierce. All undercover Hydra agents in S.H.I.E.L.D. reveal themselves simultaneously, killing many other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Romanoff reveals she had no idea what they were doing, and Pierce and tells her that they never trusted her.

Carter manages to find a way out and the five escape. They make Maximoff snap out of her influence before she explodes. The Winter Soldier arrives and Rogers realizes he is Bucky Barnes, his best friend who was thought dead in World War II. Pierce sends out the P.T.I.P. ships, and Rogers and Wilson follow Barnes onto the main ship to stop it. Fury and Maria Hill overthrow the Hydra operatives holding their room hostage and send out two teams to stop the two smaller ships from exploding, which would disperse Extremis across Washington D.C., turning any super-powered people into Hydra soldiers, and killing anyone else in the area. The two minor ships are taken over by S.H.I.E.L.D. and landed safely. However, on the main ship, Barnes knocks Wilson unconscious. Rogers manages to make him remember some of their past, but Barnes still escapes the ship. Rogers and Wilson destroy the Extremis and crash the ship into a lake.

Seeing his plan has failed, Pierce attempts to escape, though Fury and Hill are already there to arrest him. Romanoff, Barton, Maximoff, and Carter defeat Zemo before he can escape, though Strucker does manage to. With S.H.I.E.L.D. destroyed due to Hydra's actions, Fury leaves the duty to rebuild S.H.I.E.L.D. with Hill. Carter, Rogers, Romanoff, Barton, and Wilson join her, while Fury has faked his death and leaves to live a quiet life. In a mid-credits scene, Hill has managed to make a list of all the Hydra-infested bases, and decides to recruit the rest of the Avengers to join Rogers and the others in hunting them down. In a post-credits scene, a fourteen-year-old Peter Parker witnesses a S.H.I.E.L.D. logo being wiped away on several buildings, before he bumps into Mary Jane Watson.

## Cast

* Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America
* Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter
* Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier
* Daniel Brühl as Helmut Zemo
* Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye
* Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow
* Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon
* Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch
* Thomas Kretschmann as Wolfgang von Strucker
* Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill
* Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce
* Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury