MCU’s New Captain America: Falcon & Winter Soldier Twist Explained

The Falcon & the Winter Soldier‘s premiere episode introduced a new Captain America; here’s that twist explained. Though already showcased in the trailers, there’s a new guy who has stepped into the role of Captain America, but it’s not Bucky Barnes, a.k.a. Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) and it’s not Sam Wilson, a.k.a. Falcon (Anthony Mackie), the man to whom Steve Rogers bequeathed Cap’s shield at the end of Avengers: Endgame. Instead, it’s an entirely new character, one audiences have yet to see introduced in the MCU.

As he was only introduced at the very end of the episode, not much is known about him yet. His name wasn’t even given, only being introduced to the roaring crowd as the new Captain America in a publicity stunt by the U.S. government. However, longtime comic book readers and those who have been paying attention to developments during production know that Wyatt Russell’s character is one from the Marvel comics: John Walker, a.k.a. U.S. Agent, who becomes Captain America.

Related: Who Plays The New Captain America In Falcon & Winter Soldier?

The introduction of Walker could have significant ramifications for both Sam and Bucky in the series, shaking up the faith of both men who have essentially – for now, at least – turned their backs on carrying on the legacy of their friend, Steve Rogers. It could also have a larger impact on the future of the MCU as a whole if Marvel plans for him to stick around past Falcon & Winter Soldier, especially if they stick with his personality and story arc from the comics. Here’s all you need to know about John Walker and why Marvel chose to embrace this Captain America twist.

Falcon & The Winter Soldier’s New Captain America Explained

The Falcon & the Winter Soldier set up the John Walker introduction in a rather surprising way. What’s more, it’s in a way that disrespected Sam Wilson. Earlier in the premiere episode, Sam had come to the decision he wouldn’t take up Captain America’s shield. At the end of Endgame, Old Steve Rogers asked him, “How does it feel?” “Like it’s someone else’s,” responded Sam. Six months after the Avengers defeated Thanos, Sam still feels that way, but he clarifies in the premiere episode that it’s not just that he feels as though the shield doesn’t belong to him, but that it doesn’t belong to anyone if it’s not Steve Rogers. To him, the shield and the man are the same. It was something he felt so strongly about that he turned the shield over to the U.S. government in order for it to be put under glass and displayed with the memorial for Steve, with the government official telling him he was doing the right thing by turning it in.

It’s why it was such a betrayal when later, that same government official introduced the new “Captain America,” using some of Sam’s own reasoning in his introduction. Though the new shield-bearer simply appeared and waved to the crowd and no more, the perversion of Sam’s logic to justify handing Steve’s shield to someone else is a negative first impression. If John Walker’s story is anything like the comics, he will be a very different kind of Captain America, indeed.

Who Is The New Captain America? John Walker Explained

Created by Mark Gruenwald, John Walker first appeared in November 1986 in Captain America #323 as the villain Super-Patriot. Gruenwald originally created Walker because he wanted a foil for Steve Rogers, a character that would show the other side of the coin – that patriotism can curdle into zealotry and become nothing but jingoistic nationalism. Though John Walker was retired as a villain and later reintroduced as the new Captain America upon Steve Rogers’ retirement, similar to the MCU version, those same elements of him sometimes being in opposition to Steve Rogers’ old-fashioned ideas carried through Walker’s reimagining as the new Cap.

Related: Falcon & Winter Soldier: How US Agent Became Captain America In The Comics

John Walker was born in the fictional town of Custer’s Grove, Georgia, and grew up idolizing his brother, Mike, who died in the Vietnam War. After following in his brother’s footsteps and serving in the U.S. Army, a friend told Walker about the Power Broker, a mysterious individual who had the power to grant superhuman abilities. After tracking down the Power Broker, Walker received treatments similar to Steve Rogers’ Super-Soldier serum that granted Walker superhuman abilities. Now in debt to the Power Broker, Walker then becomes the corporate-sponsored Super-Patriot, traveling around the country and holding rallies where he publicly denounced Captain America as being too old and too old-fashioned to be a suitable symbol of modern America and referring to himself as “America’s future.” Super-Patriot and Captain America eventually clash, ending in a draw, but Walker soon creates his own buzz when he defeats a terrorist named Warhead who was threatening to detonate a nuclear bomb atop the Washington Monument.

Shortly after that, a somewhat disillusioned Steve Rogers decides to turn in the shield and walk away from being Captain America, feeling the job had now become too political and tied to too many competing agendas. Government watchdog group the Commission on Superhuman Activities debated among themselves over who should be the next Captain America, with Nick Fury and Bucky Barnes being names kicked around before they ultimately settled on Walker. Though reluctant to take up the mantle of the very hero he had spent so much time criticizing, Walker ultimately agreed.

Throughout his relatively brief time as Captain America, Walker struggled in the role and it wasn’t an easy fit. He was more brutal, angrier, and had less emotional control than his predecessor. Where Steve Rogers was always a cool head, Walker was more reactionary. Where Steve Rogers had always used his superhuman strength mostly to subdue and capture his adversaries in order to bring them to justice, Walker had a hard time controlling his temper and ended up inadvertently badly injuring opponents, even beating one to death, as well as murdering a number of Watchdogs after they killed his parents.

Why The U.S. Government Is Replacing Steve Rogers With Walker

When Walker is introduced as the new Captain America, the government official explains it by saying, “We need someone to inspire us again.” The world is completely upside-down after the Blip, and it’s arguably a more dangerous time than even the five years between Thanos snapping half the universe out of existence and Hulk’s reverse snap bringing them back. Political alliances are fractured, and global peace has frayed with various rogue groups, agencies, and nations all vying to fill the power vacuum. The government wants a new Captain America to once again be a symbol of hope to Americans and a beacon of freedom and steadiness to the rest of the world.

Related: Why Falcon Doesn’t Have Captain America’s Shield After Endgame

In reality, it’s more of a cynical PR move meant to remind the rest of the world that America’s superheroes haven’t gone anywhere and are still policing the world. Sam may see Captain America’s shield as belonging to Steve Rogers and Steve alone, but the U.S. government sees the shield as its property and nothing more. Thus, they feel free to bestow it to whomever they see fit and use it how they wish. Unfortunately, it may very well turn out that they’ve bestowed it upon the wrong man.

What The New Captain America Means For Sam Wilson

Sam’s relationship with the shield is a fraught one. He arguably understands what the shield means even more than the U.S. government does, explaining, “Symbols are nothing without the women and men that give them meaning.” Where they see it merely as a marketing tool, as well as the person who carries it, Sam understands that it’s more than that; it’s a symbol of all that America can be at its best, both for its own citizens and for the hopeless and oppressed all around the world. Thus, it matters who wears the suit and who carries the shield.

As a Black man in America, Sam has been wrongly conditioned to doubt that he’s worthy of carrying the shield. If the shield stands for America, but America has never fully stood for Black men like Sam, then how can he ever feel fully worthy of being the symbol of the country? Sam’s struggle to figure out where he fits into the Captain America identity as a Black man in America will be the major part of his personal journey this season, and John Walker being made Captain America will almost certainly be the catalyst for it. It’s not certain whether Walker’s personality or MCU story arc will be the same as it is in the comics, but it would certainly introduce a really interesting dynamic as well as make a lot of sense. Sam doesn’t want the shield to be in anyone’s hands other than Steve’s, but if the man who carries it now doesn’t represent the pure ideals of Steve Rogers, it may force Sam to reevaluate whether or not he should be the one carrying it. Steve passed the shield to him and him alone, and Sam turned his back on that legacy. What guilt will he feel knowing that because he refused to take up the shield, it’s now in the hands of a man who doesn’t understand it or what it represents the way he does?

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The Falcon & the Winter Soldier will find three men each struggling in his own way with Steve Rogers’s legacy, and grappling with what it means to be Captain America. Bucky’s is the struggle of overcoming his dark past and no longer feeling unworthy of the faith and trust shown him by his noble childhood friend. Sam’s struggle will be finally accepting that he deserves to carry Captain America’s shield and that it’s precisely that he is a Black man that makes him so fitting of being the beacon that was once Steve. As for John Walker, his story is yet to be revealed, but it’s likely he’ll find living up to the ideals of Captain America to be a lot harder than he anticipated as he learns what it truly means to wear the star-spangled costume.

Next: Falcon & Winter Soldier Reveals If Bucky Is Worth Of Wielding Cap’s Shield