Why The Flag Smashers Were The Worst MCU Villains

With the end of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, it's clear that while some parts of the show worked, the Flag-Smashers did not - leading some to call them the worst villains of the MCU. Although the Flag-Smashers were nuanced antagonists with a sympathetic history, their goals were unclear, and their escalating tactics seemed unmotivated, even to of the group - it's never a good sign when characters within a piece of fiction are repeating common complaints from the audience. While these problems could have been worked around or even resolved, the Flag-Smashers suffered from "too much, too little"; too much screen time to be an ancillary threat, but too little to be properly developed.

As well, the Flag-Smashers abilities - poorly defined 'super soldier' powers - were a bad match-up for Sam and Bucky, particularly in the wake of characters still active as superheroes after the fight with Thanos' armies are proven against larger and stronger foes; as a guerrilla group, the Flag-Smashers would have been more impressive had they worked more tactically. Instead, their victories largely came from a willingness to be ruthless, where Sam and Bucky were doing their best to be as reasonable and gentle as could be managed, not wanting to hurt anyone that they didn't absolutely have to.

Compared to other MCU villains, the Flag-Smashers struggled to define their identity clearly, and because of this, lacked any sense of menace; with no expressed plans that would have furthered their goals, there was no sense that they were ever on the verge of success. Their threat actively deescalated over the course of the series; initially, as an underground group with popular , they had the menace of the mob to them that fled when they became 'supervillains'. When Batroc gave the Flag-Smashers a briefcase full of high-tech weapons, seemingly the last thing they needed to enact their plans, it had less impact than when they were offered shelter in the back of a store. Popular vigilantes worked as a better emotional touchstone than terrorists with unclear priorities.

The Flag Smashers' Goals Were Unclear

Initially, the Flag-Smashers were a movement; they had group-sourced popular for their protests against forced relocation of migrants, and acquired that through providing needed supplies to refugees. The first appearance of the Flag-Smashers was quite effective, as they used the crowd to their advantage and concealed their movements, making it less likely that they would come into direct conflict with authority figures. This proved a winning strategy, as the Flag-Smashers' early outings were extremely successful in making full use of smash and grab tactics. Possibly due to not understanding how Super-Soldier serum works, the Flag-Smashers tied themselves too closely with it for their strategies, abandoning more successful tactics.

The serum that the Flag-Smashers used made them stronger, faster, and tougher, but it also made them more inclined toward direct confrontation. This further muddied the waters of their goals; now, instead of providing aid and relief for refugees, they were seeking out confrontation with figures such as Captain America. They did not use this additional notoriety to advance their cause in the media; instead, they escalated tensions by blowing up inhabited buildings, and making public assaults. Had these tactics been accompanied with political messaging, this might have worked - in absence of it, the public at large had no connection between the Flag-Smashers' motivations and their actions. Even of the Flag-Smashers seemed confused about their strategies.

The Flag-Smashers Weren't Real Threats To The Heroes

Super-Soldier serum is not the last word in power; Bucky was powerful as the Winter Soldier, but was still physically defeated by a coordinated effort, and preferred ambush tactics. As was demonstrated in the finale of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, even Super-Soldier serum doesn't make someone bulletproof, and a sustained fight under controlled circumstances was a greater threat to the Flag-Smashers than they realized, serum or no. Had Bucky and Sam been seeking to just kill the Flag-Smashers instead of defeating them and show them the error of their approach, it would have been a comparatively simple matter to arrange to do so.

Good villains make great heroes; unfortunately, the reverse is also true. To feel like a credible threat to Bucky and Sam, the Flag-Smashers would have had to have been in possession of some power or status that the heroes could not match. Initially, they did have that available to them, in the form of popular - elevating the conflict to where Sam's PTSD and past as a soldier and his ability to speak in a relatable way could be the chief battleground. In that arena, a conflict of ideas and ideals, the Flag-Smashers had an upper hand, with even the sympathy of Sam and Bucky. When they became brawlers, they were at a disadvantage, particularly against two people with years of experience fighting superpowered foes.

The Flag-Smashers Weren't The Right Choice For This Story

The Flag-Smashers, or someone who occupies the same ideological ground, could make for an interesting and engaging antagonistic faction in the MCU. Having the conflict in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier be a result of displacement and disillusionment was a very powerful theme. The Flag-Smashers as they were presented didn't make the most of this, however, and the story suffered as a result. Without a clear winning condition, the Flag-Smashers became a story about power not solving your problems - a theme handled better with Isaiah Bradley and the hypocrisy of the Super Soldier project.

The Flag-Smashers as they existed in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier buried the lede in the discussion of super-soldiers as a concept. There was little that they accomplished as super-soldiers that they couldn't have accomplished as prepared planners, and a better fit for the story might have been someone seeking a super soldier treatment for a specific purpose. As it stands, the Flag-Smashers felt like placeholders; any idealists given a powerful weapon would have accomplished the same narrative goals. Not only did this weaken the plot, but it wasted the idea of the Flag-Smashers, who will likely not return in future projects.

How The Flag-Smashers Compare To Other MCU Villains

The Flag-Smashers have parallels throughout the history of the MCU. Whiplash and Iron-Monger were villains that were reflections of the hero, Killmonger and the Red Skull were politically motivated, and Thanos, whose Infinity War snap began the problems that appeared in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, prioritized an ideal over the lives of others. While many of these villains did eventually find their plans derailed, the Flag-Smashers fail in comparison because, in absence of the heroes, the other villains' plans might have worked. It is difficult to conceive of a set of circumstances where killing the leaders of the Global Repatriation Council would have prevented successors to those roles from taking similar, or even harsher steps.

Related: The MCU Made Zemo Win Twice

Even within The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, this disconnect between means and objectives for an untoward plot is striking. Zemo is a more than capable planner, with elaborate schemes so complex as to mystify, and a sense for who to manipulate to accomplish his ends. Sharon Carter, as the Power Broker, uses the protagonists to track down the Flag-Smashers, and uses her considerable resources to kill them as needed, all the while maintaining her secret identity. Even John Walker, mostly employed as a blunt instrument, carries this out and manages to further his own goal of gaining Super Serum to be more effective at this task.

A successful film or television franchise with the Flag-Smashers would have them facing a comparable goal and threat. Rather than focusing on the acquisition of superpowers, they could leverage the technological advantage that they use early in the series - orchestrating flash mobs for public action. Unfortunately, because sheer strength was not enough to accomplish their goals, the Super Soldier Serum overshadowed them. The Flag-Smashers could have fit a more politically grounded project, but The Falcon and the Winter Soldier did not fit the profile.

Next: What Bucky Finishing His Winter Soldier Book Means For His Future