Spoilers for the first episode of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier follow.
Marvel has made no secret of the fact that its second Disney+ show, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier ,would introduce an all-new Captain America, and we met the mysterious John Walker (Wyatt Russell) in the final scene of Friday's series premiere.
In the comics, Walker was introduced as Super-Patriot (later U.S. Agent), a more pragmatic and ruthless incarnation of the Sentinel of Liberty. The show is expected to make a few key changes to the character's origin, but it doesn't sound like they'll be straying too far away from Walker's core persona and motivations.
During an interview with USA Today, Russell acknowledged that not everyone is going to be on board with a new Cap (“it would be an honor, I guess, to be disliked in the Marvel universe”) while revealing some intriguing new details about his take on John Walker.
“I don't think there's really been many MCU characters who've had quite the dilemma he's had in terms of trying to fit into this sort of moralistic superhero world,” Russell says of the former Marine. “He's been thrust into this role as Captain America and he's going to do it his way, and he wants to do it right. But his way is a very specific way that he has learned through being basically a trained human hunter. I mean, that's what Marines are. They're not Steve Rogers, they're not the same. They're not like Boy Scouts anymore. They're a little bit more gnarly."
Russell also confirms that Walker will not be a "super-soldier" like Steve Rogers, and it also sounds like he'll be a more sympathetic figure than we've been led to believe... initially, at least.
“There's always an element of reality (in the show) where it's like, well, sometimes you need that guy, and it's not always pretty,” he adds. “It’s fun to play those characters because they're always at odds with themselves. They're always at odds with their own abilities and with their own moral compass. They know what is right, kind of, but they also want to win and they battle with that.”
We will most likely learn a lot more about Walker and the government's plans for his new Captain America during the second episode of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. In the meantime, let us know what you thought of the series premiere in the comments. You can check out my review HERE.