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Last year, Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World continued Marvel Studios鈥� dominance at the box office, as the beginning of 鈥淧hase 2鈥� for the studio鈥檚 Shared Cinematic Universe, following The Avengers becoming a massive critical/financial hit. Both the latest Iron Man and Thor movies played well with audiences overall, though between hardcore fans griping about the films鈥� (mis)treatment of their comic book mythology and more general complaints 鈥� like how, arguably, Marvel has thus far been treading water in 鈥淧hase 2鈥� 鈥� the hope has been that this year鈥檚 MCU releases will up the ante, quality-wise.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier has been generating lots of positive buzz over the past few weeks in particular, with recently-unveiled footage from the Cap sequel indicating that early word about directors Anthony and Joe Russo 鈥� drawing from a script by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (Captain America: The First Avenger) 鈥� having knocked this one out of the park, may鈥檝e not been exaggeration after all.

The filmmakers behind Winter Solider have identified it as being a superhero movie by way of political thriller, suggesting that it could break new creative ground for Marvel Studios; inclusion of more than just elements of a non-comic book film genre (example: the sprinkles of buddy/action in听Iron Man 3) would indeed be something innovative for the young studio.

In addition, buzz surrounding Markus and McFeely鈥檚 script has suggested that its plot beats will shakeup the MCU something fierce 鈥� whether through Steve Rogers鈥� (Chris Evans) character arc or via direct narrative repercussions for other Marvel properties, like its television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Similarly, insiders have been claiming that, with the Cap sequel, the Russo brothers have transitioned with ease from making cult TV comedy (Arrested Development, Community) to creating impressive big-budget spectacle.

So鈥� is there actually some fire behind all this smoke? Well, have a look through the initial reactions posted to Twitter, by various movie bloggers and journalists who caught an early pre-release screening for Captain America: The Winter Soldier:

Steven Weintraub 听蔼肠辞濒濒颈诲别谤蹿谤辞蝉迟测

The CAPTAIN AMERICA sequel blew me away. Movie has a fantastic script, amazing action, and great character moments. Just about perfect.

1:14 AM - 11 Mar 2014

Germain Lussier @GermainLussier

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is awesome. A tad too long, a tad too plotty, but its action & MCU impact will blow your damn mind.

2:45 AM - 11 Mar 2014听

Jarett Wieselman @JarettSays

Really liked Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Proves Joss isn't only 1 in Marvel's arsenal who can craft a compelling/fresh female char

1:18 AM - 11 Mar 2014听

Eric Eisenberg @eeisenberg

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is absolutely incredible. Best action in a Marvel solo movie and perhaps the best of them all - around.

1:06 AM - 11 Mar 2014

听Damon Houx 听蔼丑辞耻虫

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER: Phase 2 is 3/3 for me. Anthony Mackie has finally found that breakthrough role.

1:43 AM - 11 Mar 2014

Don Kaye @donkaye

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER is right up there as one of the best Marvel movies ever. Epic and full of great surprises for fans.

2:39 AM - 11 Mar 2014

You can peruse听through听additional Twitter reactions听to the听early screening of the Captain America sequel at sites like Collider and /Film, but the above posts seem to provide a nice summary of what people are saying in general about the film thus far:
听

• It鈥檚 the best of Marvel鈥檚 鈥淧hase 2鈥� movies yet, and one of the strongest films overall released by the studio.
• Falcon (Anthony Mackie)听and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) are given proper screen time and development, as promised.
• Despite a tad-convoluted plot, this movie feels more like a genuine 鈥渟hared universe鈥� installment (see: complaints about Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World being too isolated and non-impactful on the greater MCU narrative).

That鈥檚 by and large encouraging to hear, for sure.听Winter Soldier is not only heavily based on a particularly famous (and critically-acclaimed) Captain America comic book storylines 鈥� so fans want to see it done justice onscreen 鈥� but in addition the film is such a pivotal entry in the buildup to next year鈥檚 Avengers: Age of Ultron (This summer鈥檚 Guardians of the Galaxy quite literally takes place too far away to have as much immediate impact on Joss Whedon鈥檚听Avengers sequel.)

No doubt, the actual reviews for the Captain America sequel will be more informative and detailed with their inspection of the film, giving us a better idea as to how successful the movie is as simply a good Steve Rogers story 鈥� not to mention, whether or not it really is a popcorn-thriller that has something to say about contemporary world politics. Still, we鈥檒l take a good omen wherever we can it, especially given some of the听important developments that lie ahead for the MCU (both during and as a result of Cap鈥檚 new adventure).

Sandy Schaefer blogs at Screen Rant.