To say there’s a lot to unpack from the The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is a bit of an understatement. Like WandaVision, TFATWS both complimented the movie side of the MCU while expanding it in both size and scope. It paid attention to established characters who don’t get enough love in the movies while introducing new ones. It laid the groundwork for new storytelling avenues while addressing some narrative question marks the movies don’t have time to (like the political and economic fallout from The Blip, the resurrection of three billion or so people Thanos had previously assigned to oblivion).
It will be genuinely interesting to see what Kevin Feige and the masterminds behind the MCU do with all these new toys, but one thing’s for sure; we need more John Walker.
This space previously argued that Walker was the perfect hero for such divided times. In the comics, Walker was a cantankerous pain in the ass who rarely got along with his team mates. He had more than one blemish on his hero resume in his pre-captain America days (particularly as the Patriot-a Captain America parody that was blindly obedient to the American government) who was prone to using questionable tactics and eagerly crossing questionable lines.
But he was also a good man. Even though his transition away from captain America was a little . . . convoluted, Walker reformed many of his sketchier ways and eventually deferred to Steve Rogers as the better Cap. From there he forged his own career as the U.S. Agent, an occasional bull in the china shop but one who came through in the end. You probably didn’t want to have a beer with the guy, but he’d be on your speed dial when trouble hit the fan. And given how divided people are these days, Walker seemed like a perfect addition to the MCU. Someone who was very difficult to get along with but you could stand shoulder to shoulder with when you had to. Someone you could co-exist with.
Granted the Walker we saw in TFATWS was a little different from the one who lived in the pages of comic books, but those changes were more than cosmetic and speak even better to the troubled place we’re in now. (The following contains a lot of spoilers. So if you haven’t seen TFATWS yet, here’s your obligatory SPOILERS ALERT)
While the show glossed over the more unattractive portions of his personality, it made apparent that Walker, despite all the medals and the high test scores, was in over his head as Captain America. It soon became apparent that he was never going to be Steve Rogers’ successor and the death of his best friend and partner coupled with the psychologically corrosive super soldier serum made his eventual fall from grace inevitable.
What was amazing was how the show refused to flinch from the way the government discarded him like so much garbage (the same government that had abused Isaiah Bradley half a century previous before erasing him from history). Equally interesting was the response from real life military veterans, who empathized with Walker’s plight and confessed to feeling equally unimportant in the eyes of both their government and their country.
Walker’s insistence that he did exactly what he was trained to do, exactly what he was ordered to do, was a crucial storytelling touchstone. His accusation that the powers that were abandoning him were the same ones that made him resonated with its audience, including plenty of forgotten soldiers who felt the same way (Walker’s only real crime was losing it in public). Like the man said, people only love their soldiers until they stop fighting and come home. That’s the daily reality of millions of military veterans and John Walker’s plight gave them a voice, however briefly.
Dont forget the development Walker went through over the course of the show. Determined to keep the title of Captain America and seeking vengeance for his friend’s murder, he was soon confronted with either satisfying his thirst for blood or saving lives. It took him a moment and the decision obviously pained him, but he made the right call, placing the collective good over his need for revenge. When push came to shove he made the right call. He made the hero’s call.
And when Sam was scolding the GRC for their draconian relocation tactics in the wake of The Blip, John seemed to genuinely understand the message. He understood that he wasn’t fit to carry the shield.
Obviously John’s story isn’t done since he was recruited by a secret government organization (the Commission?) headed by a mysterious and all knowing government operative (Val Cooper?). It’s apparent Marvel has plenty of plans for both John and this new government entity.
And that’s a good thing.
With Sam spring boarding from the show into his own movie (likely taking Bucky with him), Marvel will still needs a grounded show. A show that deals with the dangerous shadowy mechanics of the world. Don’t forget, the Flag Smashers are still out there, and while their leaders didn’t make it to the end of TFATWS, the movement still has millions of followers scattered across the entire globe. Followers that now see the Karly as a martyr. They’re ripe to be exploited by new, more savvy, more manipulative and insidious leader. Essentially the Karly 2.0 Sam warned the world about.
Let’s not also forget that former Cap ally and love interest Sharon Carter is now a major player in the MCU’s political and espionage underworld. That will have serious implications in the not too distant future.
The MCU needs a character, needs a show, with boots on the ground. While Captain Marvel and Dr. Strange, Spider-Man and now Sam Wilson’s Captain America fight alien warlords and inter-dimensional demon gods, someone needs to get their hands dirty fighting in the mud. That someone can be John Walker’s U.S. Agent, a grittier Captain America who isn’t afraid to take the gloves off and get rough around the edges. The necessary negative to the photogenic spandex crowd.
But the MCU needs John for more than that. Marvel has embraced diversity when it’s become a four letter word to everyone else in Hollywood. And now they’re going deeper. TFATWS spoke to America’s divisive race problem and both Ms Marvel and Ironheart will likely tell the stories of minorities in contemporary America from a young super hero’s perspective. Next year’s Moon Knight will probably tell the story of a hero faced with crippling mental health challenges, a topic that She-Hulk may also touch on (Jennifer Walters suffered PTSD from her double life as a super hero). Marvel can use the U.S. Agent to tell the story of America’s forgotten warriors.
Few countries produce as many military veterans as the United States and the truth is, despite the constant lip service paid to the troops and the armed forces as a whole, few countries treat their veterans as dubiously. Veterans are honoured a couple times a year but their welfare only becomes an issue every four years when they become a useful tool to get votes. And once they’re no longer convenient, they’re tossed back on the sidelines until the next election.
It looked like the first season of Netflix’s The Punisher was kind-of, sort-of, maybe going to address this until it decided to be all about the body count. But John Walker can lean into this while also being the super hero boogey man the MCU needs. He can challenge the political negligence of America’s soldiers and the every day indifference to their systemic problems.
And done skillfully, it can be done while telling compelling stories that don’t beat fans over the head with heavy social issues.
Not only that, when Val whispered in John’s ear that things were going to get crazy, you have to wonder what kind of insane ride we’re all in for (how can things get crazier than alien invasions and half the Universe being instantly wiped out only to suddenly reappear five years later?). The cool part is John could be the key that let’s us see the people behind the curtain, pulling the levers and making questionable decision, while all that crazy unfolds.
There’s all kinds of reasons why we need John Walker to stick around, and not just in a supporting role. Walker needs to be in a place where he can be front and centre, where he can make some noise and break things. He won’t work otherwise. Is he a strong enough character to support his own show? You might say no, but just remember the MCU has never even mentioned the likes of She-Hulk, Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel or Ironheart, yet they’re all getting their own shows next year. And who knows, after a few important cameos in other shows and movies, fans could soon be clamouring to see more of Walker.
And that’s only a good thing.
Image via www.denofgeek.com
