The most recent two installments of The falcon and winter Soldier Was John Walker, Steve Rogers’ government-elected replacement for the Captain America mantle, eventful. In ‘The Whole World Is Watching’, Walker dosed himself with a super-soldier serum and then killed one of the Flag Smashers in public in a furious attempt at revenge after Battlestar’s death. In the latest episode, “Truth,” Walker was stripped of the title Captain America and military rank. But he is still convinced that he is Captain America and that Karli Morganthau must pay for Lemar Hoskin’s death. In the post-credit scene, he builds a new Captain America shield to replace the one taken from him.
The arc follows Walker’s story from the comics nicely, but with a few changes and hints on a similar fate. How does it all happen in the Marvel Comics Universe? First, it’s not the death of Battlestar that makes Walker take off in the comic strip. Here’s how Walker’s time as Captain America ended and what came after it, though it may spoil some of the things that come in. The falcon and the winter soldier.
In the comics, Walker got his serum directly from the Power Broker and until then had not started acting like a superhero. Lemar Hoskins and two other of Walker’s fellow soldiers also received the serum. After a brief career as a Super-Patriot, Walker received the call to become Captain America. Lemar became Battlestar, but the other two super soldiers could not pass a background test. Exasperated, they crash the press conference that would make the new Captain America public and reveal John Walker’s identity, which was kept secret.
Exposing his identity was terrible news for Walker, especially since his first mission as Captain America was to infiltrate his hometown and exterminate a terrorist group called the Watchdogs. After the Watchdogs learned that Walker was Cap, he took his parents hostage to pull him out. Walker tried to save his parents against the orders, but as soon as he moved, the guard dogs opened fire and killed his mother and father. Walker cut and killed the entire group of guard dogs and then searched for his old friends who crashed his fire conference and set it on fire.
The government can hope to disguise Walker’s violent behavior. They would have stripped him of his role if Flag-Smasher (the only Karl Morganthau in the comics) had not demanded a meeting with Captain America. The government sent Walker, but Flag-Smasher realized it was not Steve Rogers who spoke to Walker and defeated Walker in a fight. To save his friend, Battlestar went against Walker’s wishes and found Steve Rogers and brought him to rescue him.
After that, Walker struggled with Hoskins. He learned that the Red Skull was behind him to ever become Captain America and eventually encouraged Steve Rogers to regain Captain America’s title. However, the government still had plans for John Walker. He could not be a public symbol like Captain America, but he could serve them in other capacities.
Walker received a new costume and shield (both thrown away by Steve Rogers after being Captain America again) and a new code name, US Agent. They then send him to join the West Coast Avengers, working as a government liaison, causing conflict between him and his teammates, but ultimately earning them respect. However, the philosophical differences between him and the other Marvel heroes often bring him into conflict with the more popular Avengers. Walker spent time rescuing himself and stepping out of Captain America’s shadow, eventually patching things up with Battlestar. He later worked with teams such as Dark Avengers, the Thunderbolts and Omega Flight.
Do you expect to become a walking American agent in the MCU? Can he join the Thunderbolts? Let us know what you think in the comments.