What Happened To Everyone Who Became Captain America?

3. John Walker

US Agent John Walker
Marvel Comics / Marco Checchetto

Recently making a splash courtesy of Wyatt Russell's tremendous performance in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, John Walker is arguably the most famous of all the Cap replacements to have emerged outside of Steve Rogers' immediate circle. His onscreen depiction isn't quite what is seen in the comics though, where Walker emerges first as someone who believes Rogers is past his prime and needs replacing, as opposed to someone who dutifully assumes the mantle when pressed by the government.

John Walker, like his onscreen depiction, was a combat veteran. However, in the comics, Walker gains his powers from the Power Broker directly and then becomes the privately sponsored hero known as the Super Patriot. After the the Commission on Superhuman Activities steps in to argue that Steve Rogers should answer directly to the government, he abandons the mantle of Captain America and the Commission replaces him with Walker.

Walker quickly proves himself a capable Cap, but he's twice as ruthless as Rogers and is just the right amount of ignorant to be manipulated by the institutions he serves. He eventually realises what's going on though, and assumes the new identity of U.S. Agent thereafter.

As U.S. Agent, Walker would become a member of the West Coast Avengers and slowly but surely turn into a hero in his own right. Not one anywhere near as commendable as Rogers, but you know, it's the thought that counts.

Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.