New Captain America Proves The Hypocrisy Of Steve Rogers

While episode 3 The Falcon & The Winter Soldier was light on content from John Walker’s new Captain America, it did showcase an important problem with his approach to heroism. Or more importantly, it showed up the hypocrisy attached to the different way he is received to the way Steve Rogers was as Captain America, despite them being almost direct parallels so far. Walker, it seems, is being held back for some because of expectations brought over from the comics rather than from what the show is presenting.

Rather infamously, in the comics, John Walker was proved to not be fit to take on the role of Captain America, which was always the point of his introduction. Marvel wanted to present the idea of an alternative Captain America in order to show that Steve Rogers was as special as his shield and costume (just as the MCU’s Sam Wilson proclaims), to show what would happen if the wrong man was given the role of Cap. He was willing to kill where it was necessary, was prone to bouts of hyper-violence, and was a markedly more volatile character than the level-headed Steve Rogers. But again, that was always the point, and it isn’t yet in The Falcon & The Winter Soldier because nothing has yet been revealed of Walker other than his convictions.

Somewhat unfairly, when John Walker says he’s willing to do whatever it takes, the audience boos, or leads a social media campaign voicing dissent to his very existence, but when Steve Rogers does the same, he is applauded for his righteousness. The difference, of course, is that Rogers is familiar and has grown over almost a decade of MCU appearances with an arc showing real personal and ideological progression. On the other hand, Walker is an agent of the government, chosen not for his inherent goodness and not subject to the same past trauma Steve was, whose commitment to his duty is seen as him being a zealot.

There have, admittedly, been flashes of anger in Walker’s appearances so far, but there is nothing to suggest yet that he is the dangerous figure his counterpart in the comics is. In essence, remove the context that the show is yet to really lean into and John Walker is just like Steve Rogers, without the superpowers “from a bottle”. Steve grew as a person and a hero when he turned his back on his duty and gave up his own freedom for the sake of Bucky, defying the Sokovia Accords and his own teammates. He might not have openly killed people, but he did beat Iron Man bloody (along with Bucky) in the name of what he did was right and he didn’t have the foundation of hatred Wyatt Russell’s hero has already faced.

The reaction to John Walker, particularly when he expressed that he was willing to do anything – thus making himself exactly what the US (both government and resident) wanted of their Captain America – is rank hypocrisy from those who accepted Cap’s moral adaptability. Further, it’s a defiance of exactly what Dr Abraham Erskine saw in the skinny young man from Brooklyn that made him chose him as his test subject. Because Erskine chose Steve Rogers for his willingness to bend rules as much as his ability to follow them: he chose a candidate he knew would put being right above being perfect and while Rogers’ objectives were personal, he took the same assets into his military missions. The Falcon & The Winter Soldier‘s version of Walker is also just as committed to getting the right results, no matter what, and without him showing anything to suggest he’s a villain or as flawed as his comics counterpart, castigating him is unfair.