John Walker officially reprized the role of US Agent in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the final moments of Disney Plus’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier – and with Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine recruiting him to her secret team of agents, he looks like its MCU story is just beginning.
Portrayed by Wyatt Russel, John Walker was the United States government’s choice to replace Steve Rogers as Captain America after Steve’s “retirement” at the end of Avengers: Endgame.
But Walker’s tenure ended almost as soon as it began, with Marvel Comics readers experiencing a fall from grace as Cap was always where his story was headed.
For MCU fans unfamiliar with his story, here’s a look at Walker’s comic book history, how he (briefly) became Captain America and evolved into the current US Agent, and what the comics tell us about his MCU future.
Who is the US agent?
In the 80s comics, Steve Rogers was going through a crisis of faith in his role as Captain America, something he had struggled with before and which led him to briefly give up his Captain America identity to become Nomad a decade before. . But this time it was a little different – Cap was being asked to do things he wouldn’t normally do, his typically lax government oversight being replaced by a court that felt it was his duty to strictly order its activities.
Bristling at both the eyes over his shoulder and the tasks he was being asked to perform, which he felt did not become Captain America’s mantle, Rogers quit, putting on his shield and costume, and taking a black, white and red. ensemble which, while resembling his Captain America costume, was not directly tied to a patriotic theme. Steve began calling himself simply “The Captain” and embarked on his usual crime-fighting routine, Avenging.
But the Commission on Superhuman Activities, the government task force overseeing Cap’s duties, wasn’t so keen on losing America’s personal superhero, so they reached out to find a ready replacement. to don Cap’s shield and costume – and follow their strict guidelines.
Enter John Walker – a Georgia-born soldier stationed at Fort Bragg who idolizes his older brother, a war hero who died in Vietnam, so much that he enlists the help of the villainous Power Broker to give him superpowers. Stepping into superhuman wrestling leagues for the first time, Walker catches the eye of a publicist, who convinces him to try his hand at becoming a full-fledged superhero.
Taking on the name Super Patriot, Walker uses his newly imbued super-strength to begin following in Captain America’s footsteps, through the lens of his own right-wing politics. Walker’s publicist begins orchestrating a series of high profile fights against supposed pro-Steve Rogers activists – actually actors hired to make Walker a good fit to replace Rogers, something the then-Super Patriot had been aiming for before Steve’s retirement.
The scheme works, and when Super Patriot performs a high level rescue just as Rogers leaves, Walker is hired as Captain America’s replacement. But things quickly turn south – first Walker is sent by a rogue agent to help hunt down political opponents of a South American dictator’s brutal regime, which disillusions him, then his violent methods as Captain America leads terrorists known as the Watch Dogs to kill her parents after her secret identity is revealed on television.
When Walker’s strict orders cause him to miss their funeral, he becomes emotionally unstable and murders many members of the Watchdogs. As a result, he is captured by the Fascist Flag-Smasher, but he is rescued by Steve Rogers, operating as a captain.
Afterwards, Walker is manipulated by Red Skull into confronting Rogers in Washington, D.C. – but the two heroes quickly realize what is happening, after Walker decimates Red Skull’s henchmen, and team up to take down Rogers. villain. After that, Walker returns Steve the Captain America shield and suit, and takes Steve’s black, white, and red “captain” uniform back as a U.S. Agent, complete with a new shield to match.
How does US Agent fit into the Marvel Universe?
After taking on the role of U.S. Agent, Walker became a staple of the Marvel Universe throughout the 90s, serving on both the Avengers West Coast and the Avengers Core Team over the years – though he was also once brought in to turn against his teammates alongside his War Machine and Beta Ray Bill, who had replaced Iron Man and Thor in previous years. Walker has also been a SHIELD agent, a member of the Invaders, and even a member of the Canadian team Omega Flight.
But tragedy struck when Walker was dismembered by the villainous Nuke, using Odin’s Spear, while Nuke was part of the Thunderbolts – then some sort of private black ops team led by Norman Osborn. A few years later, while using a wheelchair and a prosthetic arm, Walker became the director of a new Thunderbolts program in which Luke Cage led a team of former villains trying to rehabilitate themselves as heroes.
During his time with the Thunderbolts, Walker found himself in an alternate reality where a scientist was able to regrow his lost limbs.
Walker’s last starring role came in a recent US Agents limited series, in which he was replaced by an even more vicious new US Agent – similar to his own Steve Rogers replacement. After a final battle with his replacement, Walker managed to retain both the shield and the U.S. Agent’s identity.
Walker co-starred in the 2021 United States of Captain America limited series, in which Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson, Bucky Barnes and John Walker teamed up for an on-the-road adventure celebrating the 80th anniversary of Captain America’s debut in 1941 .
John Walker most recently appeared in Devil’s Reign: Villains for Hire in January 2022, ostensibly to slot (sort of) into New York City Mayor Wilson Fisk’s new iteration of the Thunderbolts.
We’ll see where this story goes in the weeks to come.
How does US Agent fit into the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
As mentioned earlier, John Walker’s career as Captain America has already passed, but his MCU story isn’t over.
In Episode 4 of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Walker ingested some of the Power Broker’s Super Soldier Serum, bringing in a previously unused portion of his comic book backstory in which the Power Broker gives him super strength. .
Unfortunately, Walker’s comic book story reared its ugly head in another way, with Walker viciously beating one of the Flag-Smashers to death with his shield in full view of many civilians as well as Sam and Bucky – a plot point taken straight from the comic. books where Walker becomes increasingly violent in his duties as Captain America.
After a short fight with Sam and Bucky following Episode 5 in which Sam finally takes the still bloody shield from him, Walker is brought back to the United States, stripped of Captain America’s mantle, and discharged from the military.
Although he murdered a man while being filmed, which turns into an international incident, he is neither arrested nor charged with a crime; a somewhat dodgy plot development that might be needed considering what now appears to be Walker’s comic book history taking place closely in the MCU.
In the comics, Walker eventually receives treatment for the Power Broker Serum aspects that heighten his anger and violent outbursts. And in the MCU, it seems the serum played a role in Walker’s escalation, as Lemar Hoskins/Battlestar pointed out that the power the serum gives people seems to magnify a person’s true personality.
But it’s also Lemar’s death at the hands of the Flag-Smashers that causes Walker to lose control.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier explored the nature of Captain America and the legacy of Steve Rogers, and what it means to step into that role and carry the much-vaunted shield that comes with it. The different ideology between Sam Wilson and John Walker was highlighted, with Sam now fully embracing Captain America’s shield and mantle.
But it looks like there’s still room for Walker in the MCU, albeit with some significant red flags and question marks.
Near the end of Episode 6, Walker does something like a hero, helping save innocent people when he initially seemed focused on fighting Karli and the Flag-Smashers.
Wilson and Walker even share a respectful nod after the fight is said and done, and Walker seems to silently indicate that he accepts Sam as Cap. But questions about Walker’s mental state and his allegiances remain.
Near the end of the finale, Walker and his wife are seen again with Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ mysterious new character, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine.
“Things are about to get weird,” de Fontaine predicts ominously, “so when they do, we won’t need a Captain America, we’ll need a US agent,” officially reintroducing Walker in his long-time identity, with a new black version of his Cap costume that skews closely with his classic comic book look.
His home workshop shield from the episode 5 mid-credits teaser is predictably destroyed during the action scenes of the finale and a new one doesn’t arrive in his last appearance, but from his story and that de Fontaine (Walker appears to be an ‘agent’ to whatever his plans end up being) will clearly continue, this will likely be addressed whenever and wherever he appears next.
Now, with Contessa having also recruited Yelena Belova/Black Widow into her secret team (possibly an MCU adaptation of the Dark Avengers), this seems like a lock for which Walker will play a key role in combating the threat she has been fighting for. construct an answer. .
His story is complicated, but John Walker makes Newsarama’s list of Best Marvel Comics Characters To Give Captain America’s Shield.
