For five weeks, Wyatt Russell’s John Walker was one of the most detestable figures the Marvel Cinematic Universe had ever seen, with fans regularly blasting the franchise’s new Captain America in what was a glowing testament to the actor’s performance. However, the final episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was a bit of a letdown in how it ultimately handled his arc.
The government’s hand-picked successor to Steve Rogers had sneakily taken the super soldier serum and snapped, bludgeoning a man to death with his iconic shield. Walker was discharged and disavowed for his actions, and the post-credits scene of episode 5 showed him wide-eyed and manic, hammering his own symbol into shape as he refused to hand over either his costume or the mantle of Cap itself.
When he did turn up in the finale, he got into a fight with Karli Morgenthau and then almost instantly jumped right into a redemption arc, attempting to save a truckload of hostages before teaming up with Sam and Bucky without so much as a second thought. It was a jarring 180 from where his journey had taken him up to that point, but it at least ended with the tease of the newly-rebranded U.S. Agent returning in the future.
In a recent interview, Russell addressed his newfound status in the MCU, and while he was coy when it came to the specifics, he’s happy to suit up for action if that’s what Kevin Feige and audiences want him to do.
“Hopefully you were taken from someone who you really are set up to despise down the journey of understanding where he came from. Whether or not you like it or agree with it, you’re going to understand why he’s doing it. Part of the way I approached Marvel was it’s all your last time you’re going to do it. Marvel operates in a really cool way where they don’t make decisions before they see what works. I’m not a part of any of this decision making, obviously.”
Having allied himself with Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine, it’s looking like a certainty that we’ll be seeing John Walker again in the not too distant future, perhaps even as part of the Thunderbolts or Dark Avengers.
