The Falcon and the Winter Soldier star Wyatt Russell says he’s not trying to be Chris Evans‘ Captain America — and that’s “kind of the point.” After military man John Walker (Russell) is handed the mantle and star-spangled shield of a retired Steve Rogers (Evans), the new government-backed Cap tells Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan): “I’m not trying to be Steve. I’m not trying to replace Steve. I’m just trying to be the best Captain America I can be.” For Russell, a newcomer to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he knows you don’t like Walker Cap — and the Lodge 49 actor is having fun being “the Marvel punching bag for a minute.”
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Russell told Entertainment Tonight he wasn’t nervous stepping into the role of Captain America because “it’s different taking on the role in the first place.”
“The Marvel understanding was, ‘Look, this is obviously not trying to do what Chris Evans did.’ ‘Okay, great,’” Russell said. “And you kind of do your own thing and I think that’s something that is fun for people to put on it. It’s really exciting for people to put onto the character. ‘Well, you’re not that guy!’ That’s kind of the point. It’s kind of what you’re playing. It’s fun to be the Marvel punching bag for a minute.”
Episode 3, “Power Broker,” saw Walker’s Cap lose his cool when hunting down Karli Morgenthau (Erin Kellyman) and the Super Soldier Serum-empowered Flag Smashers — and Russell teases fans already tweeting #NotMyCap might “side-eye the man for more to come.”
“That’s what I liked about the character: polarizing people are fun to play. They’re fun to play as an actor, and if you can do that in a way that is believable, hopefully people won’t like you,” Russell said. “I’ve never really played a very unlikable person so it’s been fun (laughs). It’s been super fun, I gotta be honest, to have been received in that way. And then there’s other times like, ‘I’m a nice guy!’”
Starring Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Emily VanCamp, Wyatt Russell, Erin Kellyman, Danny Ramirez, Clé Bennett, and Daniel Brühl, new episodes of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier premiere Fridays on Disney+.
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