Captain America: The Winter Soldier could have had a narrative structure that copied The Godfather: Part II, if things had gone differently. This was revealed in Paul Terry and Tara Bennett's The Story of Marvel Studios book, released on October 19. The project tells a comprehensive history of the MCU from the perspective of its writers, directors, producers, and other artists.
As is, the thrust of Captain America: The Winter Soldier is Steve's discovery that Hydra has infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D., and that Bucky Barnes is still alive but has been twisted into the villainous Winter Soldier. Whereas Captain America: The First Avenger focuses on Steve's growth into a capable hero and leader during World War II, The Winter Soldier hones in on a darker part of the Star-Spangled Man's story during the 2010s, as he struggles to cope with the loss of his former life and relationships, and with the knowledge that the mission he "died" for was never completed.
Perhaps because of the sequel's darker emotional landscape, the creative team behind Captain America: The Winter Soldier initially considered giving it a Godfather: Part II structure. This would have entailed moving back and forth between scenes set in the present and those in the past. Here's how the book sums up Feige's thoughts on the matter:
"There was a notion that we've toyed with, structurally, for a lot of our movies - and haven't ever quite done - which is the Godfather 2 structure: a storyline in the past informs whatever is happening in the present, says Feige. And with Captain America, it seemed like that's exactly what you could do. There's a World War II version of the story. And then seeds are planted there for a modern-day story. And both for Winter Soldier - and for Civil War - that was the first instinct."
Captain America: The Winter Soldier does make use of one scene from Steve "Captain America" Rogers' past before he was frozen, the flashback in which Bucky offers the famous line, "I'm with you to the end of the line, pal." There's a stark emotional contrast between the touching friendship between the pair in this scene and the next, in which Sam Wilson warns Steve that Bucky may be beyond saving. Had The Winter Soldier ended up being a mix of flashback and present-day, like The Godfather: Part II as Feige originally toyed with, there could have been room to play with this contrast even further to emphasize how much Steve's past haunts him in his present predicament.
With its existing structure, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is still an effective film, consistently ranked favorably in the grand scheme of MCU movies. The First Avenger spends all of its time set during WWII, leaving Steve's arc moving forward, as he dismantles Hydra again, to The Winter Soldier. This, in turn, feeds into the tensions fueling Captain America: Civil War. While there's no changing things without a What If...?-style multiverse twist, it's still interesting to consider what Captain America: The Winter Soldier would have been like if it had moved forward with copying The Godfather: Part II's story structure.
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