John Walker’s Reaction To Losing Captain America Proves Steve Rogers Right

Warning: SPOILERS for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode 5 – “Truth,” and John Walker’s storyline as Captain America.

John Walker’s furious reaction to the Senate hearing in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode 5 supports Steve Rogers’ belief that Captain America shouldn’t be beholden to any government or organization. Ever since his first appearance, John Walker demonstrated that he would never equal Steve Rogers’ selflessness and fortitude. The U.S. Government set up John Walker’s Captain America as both a mascot and a soldier, but the new bearer of the shield failed on both fronts.

John Walker’s inability to balance power and responsibility resulted in catastrophe when his friend Lemar Hoskins/Battlestar died while fighting the Flag-Smashers, prompting Walker to fly into a Super-Soldier-Serum-fueled rage that led him to kill one of the revolutionaries in front of a large crowd. Instead of seeing the error of his ways, Walker kept getting more and more obsessed with the idea of wielding the shield. Despite the fact that the government officially dismissed Walker from the role and barely court-martialed him, he continues to bark “I am Captain America,” and has built his own makeshift weapon. However, John Walker’s determination to be a hero regardless of allegiances makes him similar to Steve Rogers.

Related: Sam Cleaning The Blood Off The Shield Is Falcon & Winter Soldier’s Key Scene

Steve Rogers defied authority on three major occasions. First, he refused to remain a piece of war propaganda in Captain America: The First Avenger when he took up the military attire and dived into battle to save his fellow soldiers by himself. This act of justified rebellion is precisely what made him a legend in the first place and earned him a place in world history, which pushed multiple entities to try and create more super soldiers like him. Several decades later, Steve questioned S.H.I.E.L.D.’s plan of global surveillance during Captain America: The Winter Soldier — even stealing his old Cap suit from the Smithsonian along the way — and discovered that S.H.I.E.L.D had been infiltrated by Hydra.

Steve Rogers’ most selfless act of dissent came in Captain America: Civil War, as Steve’s friendship with the Avengers wasn’t enough to keep him from questioning the U.N. when the Sokovia Accords demanded superheroes to give up their personal freedom. Steve preferred to abandon his Captain America persona and live underground as a war criminal rather than obey authority blindly. John Walker just realized that the world never saw him as a real hero but as an inconsequential yet very troubled person filling up an important role. Now, Walker will undoubtedly fight to create an identity of his own, supporting Steve Rogers’ belief that no entity can control Captain America and his public image other than the individual who wears the suit and wields the shield.

Steve Rogers never trusted the status quo, which made him the hero the whole world knows and loves. Sam Wilson’s highly-anticipated transformation into Captain America is only going to drive the point home, as Sam can’t don the stars and stripes without redefining the icon as a Black man and with the revelation of Isaiah Bradley‘s past as a Black super soldier tortured and forgotten by the very country he represented as an essential part of his new mindset. With a rapidly-changing world and a legacy to embody, both Sam Wilson and John Walker are probably going to keep confronting the same issues Steve did – both during and beyond The Falcon and the Winter Soldier – but they’re going to draw vastly different conclusions from them

More: John Walker Twist Shows Captain America Was Always A Bad Idea

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