With the past year bringing poor <\/span>box office results<\/span><\/a>, middling <\/span>feedback from audiences<\/span><\/a> and vocal <\/span>criticism from some of its former stars<\/span><\/a>, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige is under pressure to revive the fortunes of the once seemingly indomitable empire.<\/span><\/p>\n Such is the negativity around the franchise right now, in fact, that it\u2019s easy to forget just how formidable said empire was at the height of its powers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Gripping storytelling, groundbreaking special effects, a line-up<\/span> of genuinely world class actors fully committed to their roles \u2013 as tough as it is to remember right now, the MCU<\/a> at its peak offered blockbuster filmmaking at its very finest.<\/span><\/p>\n And no release epitomised this more<\/span> than Captain America<\/a>: The Winter Soldier.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Somehow, it\u2019s been a decade to the day since HYDRA attempted to topple SHIELD in explosive fashion, meaning it\u2019s been a decade to the day since the best superhero movie of all time hit the big screen.<\/span><\/p>\n What makes it worthy of this title?<\/span> Well, the fact that it\u2019s not <\/span>really <\/span><\/i>a superhero movie \u2013 it\u2019s a spy-thriller interspersed with superhero shenanigans.<\/span><\/p>\n Seeing a suited-up Cap leap off a motorbike to take down a Quinjet using only his shield is undoubtedly cool, as is witnessing a Helicarrier being blown to smithereens<\/span> above Washington,<\/span> DC, but extravagant set-pieces like these are few and far between.<\/span><\/p>\n Instead, The Winter Soldier is a largely grounded, gritty<\/span> film that puts storytelling first. The action is often breathtaking, but many of the fight scenes could ultimately be found<\/span> in a Jason Bourne<\/a> flick or Mission: Impossible<\/a> movie.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Whether it\u2019s the opening sequence, as Captain America and his SHIELD agents infiltrate a warship and stealthily take down a group of mercenaries, or <\/span>that <\/span><\/i>knife fight between Chris Evans\u2019s Captain America and Sebastian Stan\u2019s Winter Soldier on the busy streets of the US capital, directors Joe and Anthony Russo immerse the viewer in every<\/span> punch, kick and slash.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And the whole time, these scenes move the narrative forward. It\u2019s never action for action\u2019s sake, spectacle without purpose. Instead, it becomes a key part of the storytelling.<\/span><\/p> Battles between Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes almost bring an unspoken form of dialogue, each angry jab or lunge of a blade demonstrating just how far gone the former\u2019s friend \u2013 his beloved big brother figure from The First Avenger \u2013 has been dragged into the darkness.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Attempts on the lives of Natasha and Steve hammer home how they can only trust each other, with twists and turns throwing them into disarray and leaving entire rooms of cinemagoers shocked;<\/span> Evans\u2019s delivery of: \u201cBefore we get started, does anyone want to get out?\u201d has become a Hollywood all-timer for a reason.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And the fact that Nick Fury ends up being blindsided, at one point relying on a conveniently powerful pocket tool to burrow an escape route into the ground (don\u2019t question the logic), raises the stakes higher than they had ever been before \u2013 if <\/span>the <\/span><\/i>spy is in genuine danger, you know things are getting serious.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n All this is to say, the Russo brothers understood that the draw of comic book movies isn\u2019t comic book powers in and of themselves. They can enhance the story, they can enhance the action, but they cannot carry a film alone \u2013 and this is something the franchise has seemingly forgotten over time.<\/span><\/p>\n Take a look at the MCU\u2019s other highlights. The film that kicked it all off, Iron Man, barely had a superhero landing to be seen; the movie\u2019s biggest moment<\/span> is Tony Stark emerging in a suit that looks like a dodgy Tin Man cosplay. Instead, director Jon Favreau used the blockbuster as a vehicle to explore a billionaire\u2019s fall from grace \u2013 a deep-dive<\/span> into what can happen when a man who previously thought he was invulnerable loses that invulnerability.<\/span><\/p>\n And throughout most of 2018\u2019s billion-dollar Black Panther, our hero is largely sapped of his strength \u2013 with Ryan Coogler more interested in developing a political drama based around two challengers for the same throne than seeing how high T\u2019Challa can jump or how hard he can punch.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Would the franchise take this approach now? Are its filmmakers allowed to construct a story first, and inject it with Marvel-ness after? It\u2019s becoming increasingly difficult to say yes to these questions.<\/span><\/p>\n The Winter Soldier\u2019s action-packed story is also built around a central duo that the audience can <\/span>really <\/span><\/i>get behind, a pair of characters<\/span> that fans were given the time to get to know and love \u2013 which can\u2019t really be said of recent team-ups in the Marvel sphere (the America Chavez-Doctor Strange combination in Multiverse of Madness<\/a> particularly springs to mind).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Across several films and over several years, viewers had already been introduced to Steve and Natasha, their stories and their personalities, and this allowed Evans and Scarlett Johansson to build an electrifying chemistry that sparks from the second Natasha cracks her first \u2018old man\u2019 joke.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This is a dynamic that was largely put aside after 2014 \u2013 the pair clearly remain close, sharing brief moments together in Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, but by the time of Natasha\u2019s death in Avengers: Endgame, the focus is more on the reaction of Mark Ruffalo\u2019s Bruce Banner than it is on Steve\u2019s.<\/span><\/p>\n In The Winter Soldier, though, there exists perhaps the most tangible, real connection between two Marvel characters. You instantly get the sense that the pair genuinely care for one another, and Natasha\u2019s playful presence lightens Evans\u2019s largely serious Steve.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n On his own, Cap can be a bit, well, dull \u2013 a little <\/span>too <\/span><\/i>serious (The Avengers in 2012 is the prime example). But Evans\u2019s straight-laced approach combined with the fizzy energy of Johansson\u2019s wildcard is a match made in heaven, and despite providing great moments like, \u201cThat <\/span>is <\/span><\/i>America\u2019s ass,\u201d and, \u201cYou get killed\u2026 walk it off,\u201d<\/span>\u00a0in the years that followed, Rogers could never quite emulate the loveable heights that he manages here, with Black Widow by his side.<\/span><\/p>\n While Infinity War became a cultural phenomenon and Endgame broke box office records, The Winter Soldier remains the MCU\u2019s finest moment even 10 years later. Tony Stark fans, come at me<\/span> \u2013\u00a0I\u2019ll defend that take \u2019til the end of the line.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [squirrel-affiliate-playlist squirrel_playlist_id=\u201d611\u2033 \/]<\/p>\n Captain America: The Winter Soldier is available to stream on Disney Plus<\/a>. <\/strong>Check out our list of the\u00a0best shows on Disney Plus<\/a>\u00a0or see what else is on and visit our\u00a0Sci-fi<\/a>\u00a0hub for all the latest news.<\/strong><\/p>\n Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only \u00a310 \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to\u00a0The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n It’s been so long. So long. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":48533,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/03\/10-years-on-captain-america-the-winter-soldier-remains-the-mcus-greatest-movie-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/03\/10-years-on-captain-america-the-winter-soldier-remains-the-mcus-greatest-movie-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/03\/10-years-on-captain-america-the-winter-soldier-remains-the-mcus-greatest-movie-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/03\/10-years-on-captain-america-the-winter-soldier-remains-the-mcus-greatest-movie-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/03\/10-years-on-captain-america-the-winter-soldier-remains-the-mcus-greatest-movie-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/03\/10-years-on-captain-america-the-winter-soldier-remains-the-mcus-greatest-movie-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/03\/10-years-on-captain-america-the-winter-soldier-remains-the-mcus-greatest-movie-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"It's been so long. So long.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/48532"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Chris](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/03\/Chris-Evans-Captain-America-35cecad.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Captain")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>![\"Sebastian](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/03\/Sebastian-Stan-Captain-America-1e35937.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Captain")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/03\/Black-Panther-Boseman-Jordan-2633f64.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Black")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>![\"Chris](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/03\/Evans-and-Johansson-The-Winter-Soldier-0c08557.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Captain")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"