What Happened To John Walker After Captain America In The Comics
John Walker’s time as Captain America in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is (technically) over, but that doesn’t mean it’s the end of his career – but what happened to him in the comics after being Captain America? The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s highly-anticipated Phase 4 has finally begun, and this new wave won’t just cover movies, but also a long list of TV shows that are set to connect to the movie side of this universe.
Kickstarting Phase 4 and the MCU’s Disney+ TV series was WandaVision, and now Marvel fans are enjoying a different adventure in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Set around six months after the events of Avengers: Endgame, the series follows Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) as he decides whether or not to take the mantle of Captain America as Steve Rogers intended, and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), who continues to struggle with his dark past as the Winter Soldier. Sam and Bucky will join forces to bring down a radical group known as the Flag Smashers, but they weren’t counting on another type of menace: John Walker (Wyatt Russell), the man the government chose to be the new Captain America.
John Walker is a high-ranking member of the U.S. Army with an exceptional military record that earned him the place of Captain America, but he soon proved to not be worthy of carrying the name. In episode 4 of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, after Karli Morgenthau (Erin Kellyman) killed Walker’s partner, Lemar Hoskins/Battlestar (Clé Bennett), Walker – who by then had already taken the Super Soldier serum – went after one of the Flag Smashers and killed him using the Captain America shield, and the horrific event was filmed by bystanders. This led to Walker being discharged and stripped of his role as Captain America, but a mid-credits scene showed a frustrated (and obsessed) Walker building a new shield from scrap metal and his war medals. Walker is a character taken from Marvel Comics, and his story there is different from the one in the MCU.
In the comics, John Walker is a US Army veteran who after receiving an honorable discharge went to see the Power Broker, who gave him superhuman abilities. After that, Walker became Super-Patriot and began to publicly discredit Captain America, but after Steve Rogers retired, he took the mantle of Captain America. Just like in the MCU, his methods were violent and extreme and he was eventually deemed unworthy of the Captain America title due to his actions. Steve then took his place back, while the Commission on Superhuman Activities faked Walker’s death and hypnotized him to treat his psychosis, which allowed him to re-emerge as U.S. Agent. Under this new identity, Walker wore a variation of Steve’s costume when he was the Captain and used his vibranium disc as a shield. After that, he worked alongside some of the Avengers, and during the Civil War event, he favored the Superhuman Registration Act.
With John Walker no longer serving as Captain America and seen making his own shield, it’s possible that the MCU is making way for the U.S. Agent part of his comic book history, though his plans and more will surely be very different. Walker is currently driven by anger and revenge, as he insists on being worthy of being Captain America and doesn’t seem to see anything wrong in what he did, so The Falcon and the Winter Soldier could show a combination of Walker’s comic book history and parts made up by the MCU to fit its narrative and tone.