The Marvel Cinematic Universe has introduced fans to a wide variety of characters on the big screen over the last 10 years, and now with the release of Disney+ fans are about to see even more characters introduced to the MCU.
While we don't know too much about the upcoming The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, we do know it is set to introduce John Walker/U.S. Agent into the MCU, so today we wanted to take a look at the history of U.S. Agent to see what we might have to look forward to in the new MCU series on Disney+.
10 GOT HIS ABILITIES FROM A MAD SCIENTIST
There are a number of ways to get powers in the Marvel Universe that aren't scientific accidents like radioactive spiders or genetic mutations. For the right price, there was a thriving market for enhancements in the Marvel Universe, especially when it came to the Universal Class Wrestling Federation.
The Power Broker worked alongside the mad scientist Dr. Karl Malus and enhanced wrestlers looking to power up. John Walker was one of their successful experiments and he became incredibly durable and even stronger than Captain America. Malus has previously appeared in the MCU in the second season of Jessica Jones.
9 ORIGINALLY KNOWN AS SUPER-PATRIOT
While John Walker's most well-known costumed identity is U.S. Agent, he was first introduced as the criminal known as Super-Patriot. Walker wasn't the first Marvel character to be called Super-Patriot, with the first appearing much earlier as a villain to the original Nick Fury.
Walker's agent was the one who convinced Walker to leave the U.C.W.F. and become a new hero, essentially running as the new face of the country in opposition to Captain America. His costume was similarly patriotic and he wielded a fiery weapon called the "torchsword."
8 WORKS FOR THE GOVERNMENT
Steve Rogers' service with the military, the U.S. government, and eventually S.H.I.E.L.D. were all plagued with issues, ranging from corruption to moral differences. This has led to Cap working independently or with the Avengers for the latter half of his superhero career.
Walker had served in the military as well, but it was during his time as Super-Patriot that he was first noticed by the Commission on Superhuman Activities and brought in to work for the government. This would become a long-standing trait of Walker as he would remain steadfastly loyal to the U.S. government instead of his superhero allies in most situations
7 WAS ONCE CAPTAIN AMERICA
As we mentioned, Rogers has had a few disagreements with the government, and he has at times been forced to step away from his Captain America identity. It was during one of these times that the Commission on Superhuman Activities was burdened with the task of filling the role.
The CSA selected Walker to take over as Captain America, though he soon realized the pressure that comes with wearing the uniform. Walker eventually realized that despite their differences Rogers was the best man for the role, and he willingly gave Cap back his shield.
6 WALKER HAD HIS OWN PARTNER
When Walker took on the role of Captain America, the CSA felt like he should also have his own Bucky, so they selected Lemar Hoskins, who was another of the Power Broker's experiments who had worked with Walker/Super-Patriot as a member of the Bold Urban Commandoes, or BUCs.
It was only after Lemar took on the role of Bucky that writer Mark Gruenwald was informed of the racial connotations of the name Bucky when used by an African-American, and Lemar quickly dropped the Bucky title and became a new hero known as Battlestar, who would later join up with Silver Sable as a member of her Wild Pack.
5 THE CSA FAKED HIS DEATH
Shortly after giving Steve Rogers back the shield during a press conference, John Walker in costume as Cap was gunned down on stage and appeared to have died while Steve Rogers, Battlestar and the world watched.
It was only revealed later that Walker's death had been staged by General Hayworth of the CSA, who then debuted Walker in his new role as the U.S. Agent. Cap and Battlestar would learn of his survival much later after he had been working for the government in his new role.
4 WEARS CAP'S OLD COSTUME
John Walker has a history when it comes to using Steve Rogers' old gear, and not just from when he was serving as Captain America. During that period, Steve Rogers began wearing a dark version of his Cap costume on missions.
RELATED: 10 Hawkeye Storylines The Disney+ Series Could Adapt
That costume would reappear after Walker's "assassination" and quickly become the official uniform of his new moniker, the U.S. Agent. His costume would change a few times over the years, but he would always return to his darkly patriotic look.
3 JOINED THE WEST COAST AVENGERS
When Hawkeye moved to the West Coast and set up a new Avengers team there, it was done under the watch of the government, and after a few incidents involving some of their members (most notably the Vision), the government decided to place a representative on the team to watch over them.
That representative was John Walker/U.S. Agent, and while his initial presence on the team was full of conflict, he would eventually find his place there. He would go on to work with other teams like Force Works, S.T.A.R.S., the Mighty Avengers, Canada's Omega Flight, the New Invaders, and the Secret Defenders, just to name a few.
2 FORMER DIRECTOR OF THE THUNDERBOLTS
After the Siege event and his time with the Mighty Avengers, John Walker was severely injured by Nuke, another super-soldier experiment. With his arm and leg now missing, a wheelchair-confined Walker was appointed the new warden of the superhuman prison known as the Raft.
The Raft was also the home to the government-run Thunderbolts program, which was initially led in the field by Luke Cage, but Walker would eventually recover from his injuries and begin working with the team (which had turned into the Dark Avengers) as U.S. Agent once again.
1 WALKER WILL BE PLAYED BY WYATT RUSSELL
The character of John Walker will appear in the upcoming The Falcon and the Winter Soldier series on Disney+, and he will be portrayed by Wyatt Russell, son of Kurt Russell and star of Lodge 49, Overlord, and Black Mirror.
We don't know much about how the character will factor into the story, but we have seen concept art revealing Wyatt's U.S. Agent uniform, which is colored similarly to Cap's suit but follows the design of U.S. Agent's gear, which also reflects previous concept art released that showed alternate costumes for Steve Rogers in Avengers: Infinity War.