Did The Falcon & The Winter Soldier get you thinking why John Walker was allowed to keep Captain America Uniform even after being fired? Here’s what the writer has to say about it
The Falcon & The Winter Soldier didn’t quite go as we expected it to. During the climax of “Avengers: Endgame”, Steve passed on the mantle of Captain America to Sam making him the new Star-Spangled Avenger. Everyone expected the series to be about Sam’s journey as he transitions into Captain America, however, during the very beginning of episode 1, Sam surrenders the shield to the government and decides to remain the Falcon.
The government decides to appoint John Walker, played by Wyatt Russel, as the new Captain America. After getting his mind messed up due to the Super Soldier serum and witnessing the death of his best friend at the hands of Karli Morgenthau, John loses his cool and ends up killing one of the Flag Smashers out in the public.
This particular act of his lead to his demotion from his post and he also lost the shield to Sam and Bucky. However, that didn’t stop him from participating in the fight and he forged his very own shield and jumped in the fight against the Flag Smashers, wearing the very same Captain America uniform that he received upon being appointed, revealing that the government didn’t bother to take Captain America uniform away after firing him.
The Writer Explains The Reason
The show writer of The Falcon & The Winter Soldier, Malcolm Spellman was in an interview with Deadline where he was asked how was this possible, i.e., why didn’t the government take away his uniform during his demotion. Even after the fight concluded the police should have confiscated his uniform along with his fake shield. Spellman explained that for someone like John Walker it is very rare to see the system’s accountability.
He revealed that even though he wanted Walker to suffer a fearsome punishment from the government, that is something that would not have happened in case the events of the series were real. Since the creators wanted the show to be as realistic as possible, they refrained from bestowing any such punishment. “When does that happen to people like him? You can’t be fake when you’re telling the story” Spellman said.
John Walker may have lost the Captain America mantle but still hasn’t lost his importance for the government, as stated by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine who adds that he has become much more valuable after taking the super-soldier serum. Keeping the roots of his time as Captain America, John redesigns his US Agent costume with only a color switch. Whatever role he plays in the future remains to be seen but it is going to be most fascinating.
