While it was fun to be whisked away to a bizarre alternate reality for WandaVision, fans itching to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be pleased to hear that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is set firmly in the “real” world.
As a result, the show is arguably in a better position to introduce influential new characters, with John Walker – also known by the codename USAgent – confirmed to be one of them.
Wyatt Russell will take on the role in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and his debut is eagerly awaited by fans, as he is likely to be one of the most troubled “heroes” to join the MCU thus far – at least if his comic book backstory is any indication.
Read on for everything you need to know about Marvel’s John Walker ahead of his arrival on Disney Plus.
Who is John Walker?
John Walker burst onto the pages of Marvel Comics back in 1986, introduced as a former soldier in the United States Army who wished for people to look up to him as a hero as they did his brother, who died in the Vietnam War.
He had not achieved this goal by the time he was honourably discharged from active service, which led him to seek out the Power Broker, a figure in the Marvel Universe who can give people superhuman abilities via experimentation.
With his newfound super-strength, Walker took on the alter-ego of Super Patriot and was originally depicted as a villain, starting a fight with Captain America as he wanted to be the hero synonymous with the USA.
Although he failed to best Steve Rogers in hand-to-hand combat, Walker went on to become a national celebrity after preventing a terrorist attack in Washington DC while in his Super Patriot guise.
This act of heroism made him the government’s choice to be the next Captain America after Steve temporarily abandoned the mantle, with Sam Wilson being considered for the job but ultimately overlooked due to racial discrimination.
Walker’s actions as the new Captain America were to be more strictly controlled by the US government than Steve Rogers ever had been, while they also provided him combat training from experts including Taskmaster (soon to be introduced in May’s Black Widow movie).
Unfortunately, it doesn’t go well for him as he is both a less competent and more brutal operative than his predecessor, known for beating his villains close to death in several instances.
This issue only worsens when Walker’s parents are murdered by a terrorist group, a devastating turn of events that very nearly drives him completely insane.
Ultimately, he returns the mantle of Captain America to Steve Rogers and the government publicly fakes his death, while entering him into a witness protection programme.
He is later brought back into the fold to be a government plant on the West Coast Avengers, led by Hawkeye, under the not-so-subtle codename USAgent – which he has generally stuck with ever since.
The character has been a consistent recurring presence across the Marvel Universe in the decades that have followed, staying on the side of the heroes most of the time.
However, his violent tendencies and fragile mental state continue to be problematic, as well as his frosty relations with the other Marvel heroes – particularly Hawkeye, with whom he has maintained a feud since his days on the West Coast Avengers.
Is John Walker the new Captain America?
Fans have speculated that the MCU could be taking inspiration from the comics in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, by having John Walker take on the mantle of Captain America rather than the more deserving Sam Wilson.
Such a move would be a great injustice against Sam, who was close friends with Steve Rogers and personally selected by him to inherit the role at the end of Avengers: Endgame.
Recent trailers for the six-part drama have added fuel to the fire by keeping Sam in his Falcon persona, while showing an unknown figure – presumably Russell’s John Walker – dressed in a costume similar to Cap’s at an American football game.
We’ll have to wait and see exactly what the streaming series has in store, but it seems safe to assume that passing down the shield won’t be as easy as Steve originally expected.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier launches on Disney Plus on Friday 19th March. You can sign up to Disney Plus for £7.99 a month or £79.90 a year now. Take a look at the rest of our Sci-fi coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.
from Radio Times https://ift.tt/3cNs5pw
