
How ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ Director Kari Skogland Found New Ways to Shoot Superhero Action [Interview]
Posted on Monday, March 15th, 2021 by Jacob Hall
Even if you don’t know her name, chances are strong you’ve seen the work of director Kari Skogland. Specifically, if you’ve been keeping up with high profile peak TV over the past decade, you’ve seen her output. Skogland has directed episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale, The Walking Dead, The Americans, Boardwalk Empire, House of Cards, and so much more. Hell, she even directed an episode of The Punisher for Netflix, from an era when Marvel’s TV shows didn’t live on Disney+ and didn’t have such a direct connection to the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe. Her filmography is a tour of sleek and stylish water cooler television.
With that level of experience under her belt, Skogland seems like a natural fit for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Marvel’s explosive buddy action series starring Captain America’s two best buds. In conversation, you can see why she landed the gig – she knows what makes these characters interesting and knows just where to put the camera to emphasize their specific sets of skills.
I spoke to Skogland over Zoom after watching the first episode of the new series, which leans just as heavily on character development and Marvel world-building as it does on explosive action. But first, I had to ask: how exactly does one land a Marvel gig?