Here’s everything you need to know about the new Captain America from the first episode of ‘Falcon and the Winter Soldier’

Warning: This put up incorporates spoilers for the first episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has a new Captain America at the finish of the first episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier… but it surely isn’t Sam Wilson… or Bucky Barnes… or Steve Rogers. Early on in the season premiere of Marvel’s newest Disney+ sequence, “Uncle Sam” (Anthony Mackie) surrenders the Vibranium-laced defend bequeathed by an aged Steve (Chris Evans) at the finish of Avengers: Endgame to the Smithsonian. But the U.S. authorities isn’t about to let that essential an emblem lie in state. Instead, the Department of Defense handpicks its personal successor, and introduces him to the world as Captain America whereas a shocked Sam watches on tv from his sister’s residence in Louisiana.

So who is that this new Cap? While his id isn’t given in the episode, it has already been disclosed upfront by way of featurettes and press supplies. You’re taking a look at John Walker, performed by Wyatt Russell — son of Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, who additionally has a job in the MCU as Star-Lord’s dad, Ego. Introduced into Marvel Comics continuity 35 years in the past in 1986, Walker really started his superhero profession as the Captain American antagonist Super-Patriot, who felt that the star-spangled Avenger wasn’t correctly representing the stars and stripes. One 12 months later, a much less reactionary Walker took up the mantle when Steve determined he was “Captain America No More.”

But Walker’s tenure proved short-lived: when his secret id was leaked to the public, he retaliated in opposition to his enemies with excessive prejudice. At that time, Rogers reclaimed his outdated costume and the authorities’s Commission of Superhuman Activities organized to faux Walker’s demise. But he didn’t keep out of the costume recreation for lengthy: in 1989, he reappeared as U.S. Agent, sporting the identical Cap-inspired costume that Russell wears at the finish of the Falcon and Winter Soldier premiere. Walker’s run as U.S. Agent continues right now, and the rehabilitated hero has fought alongside the West Coast Avengers and Force Works.

For apparent causes, MCU followers weren’t thrilled to see somebody apart from Sam or Steve carrying the Captain American defend and let their outrage be identified on Twitter.

Some additionally famous that Walker would not precisely have the most heroic jawline. And he definitely would not have America’s ass.

It must be famous that Walker has a tangled comedian e-book historical past with Sam Wilson that the FAWS writers are clearly drawing on for the sequence. After Sam grew to become Marvel’s Captain America in 2014, sure forces inside the authorities urged Walker to exchange him, believing that he lacked the essential public assist to proceed on in the position. Underlying their criticism was the undeniable fact that Wilson was additionally the first Black man to carry the defend, and the comics frequently addressed the issues raised by his specific background. In an interview with Yahoo Entertainment, Mackie spoke about how race would inform the present as effectively. “This show deals with a lot of baggage that we harbor as Americans. It’s dealing with economic structure, race and not only the idea of being an American but being a human.”

Wilson’s Cap and the U.S. Agent do eventually exchange blows in the comics, and a confrontation seems almost certain to happen during the six-episode run of the series as well. And it’s already clear where social media’s allegiance lies.

Besides introducing a new Captain America, the first episode of FAWS also establishes a new world order. Ever since half of humanity returned from their five-year Blip, nations around the world have been struggling to readjust economically and politically. One of the reasons the U.S. government rushes to nominate Walker as the new Captain America is to push back against the global “unrest that has left us susceptible.” Meanwhile, a group calling themselves the Flag Smashers are looking to erase any and all borders, believing that life was better during the Blip. That name is derived from a Marvel Comics villain that’s been smashing flags since the 1980s. For now the group’s aims seem clear and even understandable to some viewers. But it’s still possible that the whole group is a smokescreen for the show’s Big Bad: Helmut Zemo, who previously orchestrated the destabilizing events of Captain America: Civil War.

The show features some other familar faces. Much of the episode’s secondary plot spends time catching up with Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) as he tries to overcome his traumatic Winter Soldier past. We also see the reintroduction of Batroc, aka Batroc the Leaper (played by MMA fighter Georges St. Pierres), a longtime comic foe of Captain America who originally appeared in the opening sequence of Captain America: The Winter Soldier; and we get a cameo from James “Rhodey” Rhodes, aka War Machine (Don Cheadle), who shares a poignant moment with Sam while visiting the Captain America exhibit at the Smithsonian, and will eventually get his own Disney+ spinoff in the upcoming Armor Wars.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is currently streaming on Disney+

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