"The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" featured several antagonists, including the good-natured new Captain America, racism, and the Avengers' disastrous pay system. The biggest evil, however, seems to be the Flag Smashers, led by a young woman named Carli Morgenthau. While the name of this villainous group will be familiar to readers of the comics, the Flag Smashers of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" are otherwise quite different from their comic book counterparts.

So who are the Flag Smashers? In the show, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), aka Falcon, first learns of the Flag Smashers from fellow Air Force member Lt. Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez). As Torres explains, the Flag Smashers believe the world was better during the blip. He says, "They want a united world without borders." In Episode 2, we learn that the ex-blip refugee community considers Flag Smasher to be their Robin Hood.

In episode 1, Torres infiltrates a Flag Smashers meeting, which turns out to be a bank robbery. One of the members jumps out the window, presumably with a bag of cash, and strikes Torres. It is clear that this masked figure has the powers of a super-soldier.

This is confirmed in a high-tension fight scene. A group of flag smashers steal a shipment of vaccines, and Sam and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) try to stop them. They intend to save the kidnapped victim, but she turns out to be terrorist leader Carli Morgenthau (Erin Kerryman). She and her fellow Flag Smasher then confront Sam, Bucky, and the new Captain America, John Walker.

They manage to escape, but are then nearly captured by someone called the Power Broker. Another new antagonist appears!

In the comics, the Flag Smashers were not a group, but rather individuals. The first Flag Smasher to appear in Captain America #312 was Karl Morgenthau, the son of a Swiss banker turned diplomat.

After his father was killed, Karl became a terrorist whose goal was to end nationalism and eliminate borders. The name Flag Smasher represents Carl's desire to destroy the very idea of separate nations. Karl also founded the terrorist group Ultimatum, which seems to resemble the TV show version of Flag Smasher.

However, Malcolm Spellman, the show's writer, told Entertainment Weekly that "Flag Smashers" was not taken directly from this page. People "think they know" about the villain, he said, "but they don't.

One of the major changes from the comics is that the Flag Smashers are gender reversed.

Director Kari Skoglund said, "Comics are a great source of information, but our story is unique. We may reference the comics, but our characters are unique and evolving and not bound by them because they are not actually in the comics. There is no duplication of stories or characters."

In "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," the robbery is set in a Swiss bank, a nod to the comics. On the page, Karl uses his father's bank assets to finance his terrorist activities. On the show, Flag Smasher does not appear to have a lot of money and uses it to buy supplies for refugees.

Somehow, however, Flag Smasher has acquired the Super Soldier Serum. They must have stolen it from a power broker. Power Broker texted Carli, "You stole my stuff. But where did the Power Broker get it? Sam and Bucky plan to interrogate Helmut Zimo (Daniel Daniel Brühl), who may have information.

In the comics, the Power Broker is the one who gave the U.S. Agent (new Captain America, John Walker) his powers. Walker, like him, is not super-strong. But, as they say, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and the Power Broker may administer the serum to Walker so that he can become more like Steve Rogers. That way, Walker could take out the flag smashers, just as the power brokers want him to.