8 Captain America Questions That Always Confused You
8. What's The Deal With U.S. Agent?
Chances are that if you've encountered Captain America in a video game, you'll have seen an alternate costume that riffs on U.S. Agent, a separate character related to the Cap IP.
Originally appearing as 'Super-Patriot', John Walker was a peacetime soldier who became a government sponsored superhero. He finds the original Cap to be outdated, and after coming to blows with Steve as a result, benefits from a subsequent media storm surrounding his efforts to stop a terrorist attack on the Washington Monument.
Steve, fearing that the government are threatening to turn him into a puppet, abandons the Captain America identity for the second time. The US gov then recruits Walker as the new Cap, and things... well - they don't go smoothly.
Walker is blinded by a misplaced sense of patriotism, engaging in US imperialism in South America before realising that he's misrepresenting Steve's old identity. There isn't an immediate improvement in his attitude, but he at least makes a concerted effort to reappraise his reactionary tendencies.
After being rescued by Steve following a scheme from the Red Skull, Walker takes on a new identity as U.S. Agent. He eventually severs ties with the government, and while he's no Captain America, he's occasionally managed to live up to his predecessor's ideals on more than one occasion.