The Marvel Cinematic Universe has introduced many characters to the general public, to varying degrees of success. Some characters make a splash right away and everyone loves them, but other characters have a harder time with fans. These characters definitely have their fans, but they also get a lot of scorn. A perfect example of this type of character is John Walker. Walker premiered in Falcon and the Winter Soldier, played by Wyatt Russell, and was positioned as the potential new Captain America, working for the government. Walker’s story was always going to go the opposite way of what the character expected, and his actions as Captain America have made him one of the more controversial MCU characters in recent years.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Walker is a way more complex character than many fans seem to understand, and their misunderstanding of the character is one of the factors in the way fans look at him. Walker is about to play a role in the Thunderbolts* film this year, and conversations about the character are going to intensify. John Walker is a fascinating character, one that deserves better analysis than what he’s gotten.
John Walker Is a Much More Tragic Character Than He Seems
John Walker is introduced to fans as the shining example of what the new Captain America should be. He gets an entirely new Captain America costume and in the next episode is presented as the ultimate hero — an All-American athlete, a highly decorated and skilled soldier, and an all-around great person. He’s young and good-looking, certainly fitting the mantle of Captain America. However, the show does a great job of showing just how out of his depth John is as Captain America, and this is where the fascinating parts of the character start.
John Walker is definitely someone who could be a hero, but he’s also someone who is almost certainly carrying a lot of trauma — trauma that gets worse as the show goes on. Walker is a soldier, but Captain America is more than a soldier. He’s more than a good fighter, he’s basically the perfect human being. John was never that, and his fall from grace was inevitable immediately. John Walker had done great things his whole life, but he was never going to be ready for the big stage of being Captain America. As the show goes on, his constant failures as Captain America start to wear on him in a way they wouldn’t on Steve Rogers. He stops shaving. The uniform starts to look worn. The visual storytelling of Walker’s fall is one of the better parts of Falcon and the Winter Soldier, showing just how out of his depth he is.
RELATED: Captain America: Brave New World Left Out A Key Character From A Future MCU Franchise
However, that doesn’t mean that Walker is a bad person or a bad hero. He is presented as an antagonist throughout the show, but he’s not evil, which is what many fans think. Walker killing the surrendering Flag-Smasher is a terrible act, but it’s an act of a man who isn’t ready for any of this and just lost the one person who had been with him throughout his tours of service. Look at him throughout the show up to that point: he was fighting as hard as possible to save the day, despite constantly failing. He never gives up. Walker does have what it takes to be some kind of hero – just not Captain America.
There is a certain group of fans who believe that Walker did nothing wrong, and this is both true and false. The Flag-Smasher was surrendering, but that could have been a trick. So, he did what he would have done with any dangerous combatant after watching his best friend die — he killed him. He fell back on his training as a soldier. It wasn’t the right thing to do, and especially not with the shield, but it’s an understandable action. It’s just not what Captain America would do. It’s the ultimate example of the problems with John Walker as Captain America; a man who has always been able to succeed by trying harder, and yet it ultimately didn’t matter. He’s a man who can never succeed in a superpowered world, and that opened up the rage that his failures engendered in him.
John Walker Is a Deep Character That Would be Fascinating to Expand Upon
The MCU was never going to focus on John very much in Falcon and the Winter Soldier. He was a secondary antagonist and the whole point of the character was to show why Sam was right for Captain America. However, that doesn’t change just how much of John was on the screen for those who know what to look for. All of the facets of the character make him one of the more interesting characters who debuted since Avengers: Endgame, and one that would be awesome in his own series that explores his headscape.
Captain America: Brave New World has a major Thunderbolts* tease, heightening anticipation for that movie. Thunderbolts* looks like it’s going to be more of a Black Widow/Winter Soldier movie than anything that’s going to explore John and that’s too bad. Out of all the characters in the movie, John is the one with the most going on. Hopefully, the movie will dig into him a little bit, showing why he’s such a fascinating character.
