

Still, that assumes there aren't more plot twists to come with Walker's past and true motivations. The military will almost surely have a use for a living weapon like John Walker, but now as a more stealthy assassin rather than a public-facing, patriotic symbol. But he's still a well-trained soldier who now possesses all of Captain America's powers. Walker is going to have to give up the costume and shield, whether he likes it or not. Having that symbol plastered all over the Internet pummeling a helpless man to death sort of defeats the purpose. The whole point of crowning a new Captain America was to give the American people a symbol of hope and strength in a very chaotic time. Walker's time as Cap already seems to be up. Will we see Wyatt Russell's character follow a similar path? That seems pretty likely at this point.

Over time, US Agent has gradually proven his superhero mettle and won the respect of his fellow Avengers, even if he tends to be a bit of a jerk. He returns as US Agent, sporting a similar costume and shield to that of Cap and acting as a bridge between the Avengers and the government. It isn't long before Walker resurfaces in a new costumed identity, however. The government fakes his death and sets him up in a new identity as "Jack Daniels" (yes, really).

AgentWalker's downfall as Captain America is really just the beginning of his story in the comics. So the real question now is this - will Sam finally feel compelled to honor Steve's request in order to redeem the legacy of Captain America, or is Walker's crime proof that Captain America shouldn't continue to exist? John Walker crosses the line in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.įrom Captain America to U.S.

That's not going to be an option in the MCU. In the comics, Steve finally steps back in and reclaims the mantle of Cap. The new Captain America has shown his true colors to the world, and perhaps permanently tarnished a once sacred image of American power and righteousness. Either way, the end result looks to be the same. Like many characters, Walker doesn't maintain a secret identity in the MCU, so The Falcon and the Winter Soldier instead uses the death of Battlestar as the incident that pushes Walker to cross an unforgivable line. Though in the comics, that incident comes when his secret identity is publicly outed, leading to the murder of his parents. Just as in the MCU, Walker is eventually driven over the edge by the death of a loved one. At one point he even accidentally beats a villain named Professor Power to death, proving super-strength and a violent temper are a bad combination. Despite being physically stronger than Steve and benefitting from world class training from the likes of Taskmaster, Walker finds himself increasingly torn between his sense of duty, his desire to live up to the mantle and his darker tendencies. If there's one takeaway from Walker's tenure as Cap in the comics, it's that the powers don't make the hero. Where Steve is loyal to the American Dream, not the US government, Walker is fanatically patriotic and only too happy to answer the call of duty. We've already taken a deep dive into Walker's comic book background, but the gist is that he temporarily took over the mantle of Captain America after Steve Rogers abandoned it in Captain America #333. John Walker's DownfallWhile some of the details have changed in the transition from page to screen, John Walker's basic character arc has (so far) proven very similar in both versions.
