Following the success of WandaVision, the MCU continues its journey into the television format with the second Disney+ series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Though the show will bring Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes into the spotlight, the legacy of Steve Rogers and Captain America is very much at the center of the story. The thrilling first episode only began to hint at where the series would be heading, but it did already introduce one big threat in the form of the anarchist group known as the Flag-Smashers. While there is still a lot that remains a mystery about them, they do share an interesting connection to one of Captain America's oldest foes.
Though the Flag-Smashers are presented as a group in the show, they are actually inspired by one lone figure from the comics. Introduced in Marvel comics in 1985, Karl Morgenthau became the vigilante known as Flag-Smasher following the death of his father. Though his ultimate goal was to achieve world peace, Flag-Smasher was known for his brutal means of accomplishing that goal. In a way, Flag-Smasher was a warped version of Captain America and very similar to the villain-vigilante U.S. Agent who is also featured in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. He also had an interesting philosophy, seeing nationalism as the cause of much of the violence in the world and envisioned a world without borders.
In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Joaquin Torres explains the Flag-Smashers as a growing threat that is recruiting in high numbers. Within the MCU, this group is said to have preferred how the world was during "the Blip". They are shown pulling off a bank robbery in Switzerland which confirms at least one of the group's members possesses super strength. While they are still shrouded in mystery at this point, their goals do give an interesting hint. Torres explains that they seek to rid the world of its borders, much like Flag-Smasher in the comics.
This mission also brings to mind the first villains Steve Rogers ever faced off against, the Red Skull. Johann Schmidt aka Red Skull was the leader of Hydra first introduced in Captain America: The First Avenger. Using the Tesseract, Red Skull attempted to conqueror the world before he was defeated by Cap and sucked up into space where he became the keeper of the Soul Stone. However, before his defeat, Red Skull tells Cap that he is fighting for a future in which heroes like Captain America are no longer needed. He tells him, "I have seen the future, Captain... there are no flags!"
This certainly is an interesting connection between Red Skull and these new villains that supposes a number of interesting possibilities. Red Skull was, of course, the head of Hydra and Captain America: The Winter Soldier showed that the organization didn't end when he was defeated. In fact, Ant-Man showed that Hydra was still out there hiding and carrying on with various misdeeds. However, Hydra was never evil for the sake of being evil and they thought they were liberating the world in their own twisted way. It could be that the Flag-Smashers are what's left of Hydra, attempting to fulfill Red Skull's vision for the future with "no flags". That would make Captain America, or whoever becomes the new Captain America, a prime target for them.
Another even more interesting possibility is that Red Skull has returned. While such wild fan theories didn't pan out too well for WandaVision, that is not to say The Falcon and the Winter Soldier might not have some big reveals to come. The last time Red Skull was seen, he was informing Natasha and Clint about the price that needed to be paid in order to retrieve the Soul Stone in Avengers Endgame. With all the time travel messiness of that movie, there are a lot of questions in regard to where Red Skull might be now. If the Soul Stone was taken, does that release him from his curse as Stonekeeper? If Steve Rogers returned the Soul Stone, is Red Skull trapped once again? It seems like the door is open enough that his return would not be out of the question and he could be influencing this new group to fulfill his vision. Also, the fact that he is also a super-soldier could explain how some of the Flag-Smashers are super-powered.
The fact that the Flag-Smashers share a mission with Red Skull is likely not a coincidence, however, it doesn't mean they are as villainous as he was. In fact, it would not be surprising if the Flag-Smashers, or at least most of their members, were not bad guys at all. Sure, they are seen robbing and bank and the super-powered one beats up Torres, but the fact that they didn't kill anyone suggests they have morals that the Red Skull never did. It would be interesting to see how Red Skull's vision of the future ended up inspiring people to do good in the world. Certainly, more will be revealed about the Flag-Smashers and their mission as The Falcon and the Winter Soldier continues.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is currently streaming on Disney+.