Marvel Movie Minute • Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Alexander Pierce is having a terrible Tuesday. He's just murdered his best government contact, his secret world-domination plan is humming along nicely, and now he has to stand in his own office and have a passive-aggressive standoff with the most morally uncomplicated man alive. Both men are performing versions of themselves they don't quite believe. Cap collects his shield — which, for the record, phases directly through the couch in a CGI oversight Marvel never fixed — says "understood," and walks out. Clean exit. Then he gets in the elevator.What follows is, by general consensus and significant evidence, the finest action sequence in MCU history — born entirely from a budget problem, choreographed using a method that made every other MCU fight look lazy by comparison, and shot on Chris Evans' literal first day on set. The hosts dig into all of it, including one production detail that will genuinely reframe how you watch the scene: the combat style in that elevator traces back to a forgotten 2011 Sega tie-in game that got a 5/10 on IGN. Time is a flat circle.Links & NotesCaptain America: Super Soldier gameplay footage (YouTube) — Pete watched approximately 30 minutes and recommends it; he committed to putting a clip in the show notes. He listens to, and follows, his own directions from the past.Uproxx oral history: "How 'Captain America: Winter Soldier's' Elevator Fight Became The MCU's Greatest Action Scene" — interviews with McFeely, Frank Grillo, and stunt coordinator Thomas Robinson Harper. Highly recommended companion read.SlashFilm: "This Was The Biggest Challenge in Filming Captain America: The Winter Soldier's Famous Elevator Fight"Chris Evans elevator fight rehearsal footageLattice: A Novella by Pete Wright — mentioned in the intro and apparently responsible for Rob's delayed arrival. ---Learn more about supporting this podcast by becoming a member. It's just $5/month or $55/year. Visit our website to learn more.

Minutes 41 through 45 open on the aftermath of Fury's death, and it turns out "aftermath" means very different things depending on who you are. Maria Hill instructs Steve to hand over the body — which, yes, she is absolutely in on the plan, because Maria Hill has always been the one actually running things while Nick stood around looking menacing in a trenchcoat.Steve has to hide the USB drive Fury died to protect, which he does behind a pack of Hubba Bubba in a vending machine. This is a good plan. Hubba Bubba was founded in 1979, their mascot was the Gumfighter, their catchphrase was "Big bubbles, no troubles," and none of this is relevant to the film but we brought it up so here we are.Then we spend most of the remaining minutes in Alexander Pierce's office. Pierce tells Steve about the 101st Airborne Division, his father, a hostage situation in Bogota, and Nick Fury disobeying a direct order to pull off a rescue — this is Palpatine telling Anakin about Darth Plagueis.Links & Notes101st Airborne Division — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/101st_Airborne_DivisionHubba Bubba — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubba_BubbaBatroc the Leaper — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batroc_the_LeaperSharon Carter (Agent 13) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharon_CarterAlexander Pierce — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Pierce ---Learn more about supporting this podcast by becoming a member. It's just $5/month or $55/year. Visit our website to learn more.