Falcon And Winter Soldier Explained - Who Is The New Captain America?

How Falcon And Winter Soldier May Use John Walker

So far, all indications seem to be that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will be putting its own twist on the initial storyline where Walker made his comics debut.

Episode one ends with the DoD unveiling him as the new Captain America, sporting his own red, white and blue uniform that borrows elements of the U.S. Agent outfit the character wore in the comics. The government's own duplicitousness is also on full display, as the DoD spokesperson who praised Sam for donating the shield at the beginning seems to be the principle architect of the move to replace Steve with a government-approved Captain America.

Trailers for Falcon and the Winter Soldier have shown Walker's Cap attending public events at sports games, where he looks to be winning the public's affection in a semi-dark reflection of the war bonds tour Steve did back in World War II during The First Avenger.

You can expect Walker to do more than just perform military propaganda however. He's wielding the shield and a firearm, and we also know that the end of the series will see Sam embrace the mantle of Captain America and the shield that accompanies it, meaning that Walker will lose it at some point or another. What is less clear, though, is whether or not Walker has had his abilities enhanced by any kind of power serum or other method; the super soldier serum perished along with Professor Erskine back in the Second World War, but we know that governments all over the world have had a history of trying to emulate it in Marvel's comics - always to mixed results.

Beyond that though, it's a little too early to tell how The Falcon and the Winter Soldier plans to use the character beyond the conversations surrounding Cap's legacy and patriotism more generally. One would assume Walker's first port of call will be to take on the Flag-Smashers, the new anarchistic group that's been brought to Sam's attention, and it's likely that the series' wider meditations on those aforementioned themes will stem from that conflict as Sam and Bucky attempt to find their own identities in a world without their Captain America.