Spoilers for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode 1 follow if you haven't seen it yet.
Actor Wyatt Russell has weighed in on the origins of John Walker, the new Captain America spotted at the end of the first episode. "People are probably going to hate it, and some people are going to love it,” he says about the character taking on the mantle of Cap.
As will be detailed in upcoming episodes of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Walker is a former marine, and a rougher, more modern version of Captain America than we've gotten used to with Steve Rogers.
"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," Russell told USA Today. "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."
Actor Sebastian Stan also added that PTSD somewhat informs Walker's character, much as it does with Bucky. The character exists, according to the report, because America is looking for "new heroes" during a tumultuous time for the world post-Thanos. Walker's challenge will be fitting in to this world of "moralistic" superheroes.
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"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," Russell says.
We're also expecting significant tension in the fact that Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) handed the shield to the US government to be displayed in a museum, which it then passed on to Walker without telling him.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier continues this Friday on Disney Plus.
A fight over the shield?
We know that Walker won't hold the shield for the entire series. Indeed, we've seen plenty of trailers showing Sam practicing with the shield in a yard, with Bucky in tow. Since we haven't seen Sam and Bucky meet yet, we can assume they're heading down a road where Walker will lose the shield – either deliberately or by force.
This could end up being a show with three different villains, then: Walker, leader of the Flag Smashers Karli Morgenthau (who we haven't met yet) and Daniel Brühl's Helmut Zemo. That's a lot to pack in to five more episodes...
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