Falcon & The Winter Soldier: 10 Characters Who MUST Appear

4. Arnim Zola

falcon and winter soldier
Marvel Studios

One opportunity the series has is the chance to really dive into the history and relationships of Sam and Bucky in ways that the films have never gotten to, as both have really served as supporting players to Steve. In Bucky's case, there's a whole Winter Soldier legacy to crack open and explore should the creative team decide to do so.

To that end, if the show decides to shine a spotlight on Bucky's sordid, brainwashed past, say, through the use of flashbacks, an appearance by Arnim Zola would be more than welcome. Despite little screen-time to date in the grand scheme of things - he only appeared in 2011's The First Avenger and 2014's The Winter Soldier and had a cameo in the first season of Agent Carter - Zola's impact on the MCU has been huge. (See: HYDRA's infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D.)

Throw in the fact that Bucky's entire existence in present time essentially owes to the experiments done on him by Zola and HYDRA, excluding the character in an exploration of the former assassin's past would be disingenuous.

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Writer, film enthusiast, part-time gamer and watcher of (mostly) good television located on the fringe of Los Angeles, who now has his own website at www.highdefgeoff.com!