I feel like Walker’s reaction to the “New Avengers” moment mirrors his Captain America announcement.. now he’s a bit guarded/unfazed due to his past struggles with imposter syndrome and the trauma that followed—a moment of déjà vu
So, I initially found US Agent/Walker’s blank expression after Val’s announcement to be incredibly funny. It was like he just wasn’t totally all there in that moment, or was completely spaced out & confused.
After some rewatches and a few shower thoughts, I realized that I felt that the ending of “Thunderbolts*” shared some parallels with when Walker was first announced as the new Captain America in “FATWS.” A very similar moment of a newly government-funded hero(es) being introduced to the world with a familiar & prestigious title, yet his attitude contrasting greatly between projects—from a prideful demeanour and cocky wink, to him seeming more distant jaded.
And the negative outcry and signs of rejection after they become the New Avengers feels like familiar territory to when he struggled with the pressures of adopting such a renounced title and heroic role and living up to the name (even to the point where his need to appease to everyone’s expectations felt like an unhealthy obsession). So I wouldn’t be surprised if this moment brought back a bit of his past trauma.. Almost like a “not again” type of reaction. Though I also infer that because of this experience, the novelty of being an “Avenger” wouldn’t really mean much to him anymore as much as just being recognized as true hero does, and so he doesn’t show as much excitement as Alexei & Yelena did.
After some rewatches and a few shower thoughts, I realized that I felt that the ending of “Thunderbolts*” shared some parallels with when Walker was first announced as the new Captain America in “FATWS.” A very similar moment of a newly government-funded hero(es) being introduced to the world with a familiar & prestigious title, yet his attitude contrasting greatly between projects—from a prideful demeanour and cocky wink, to him seeming more distant jaded.
And the negative outcry and signs of rejection after they become the New Avengers feels like familiar territory to when he struggled with the pressures of adopting such a renounced title and heroic role and living up to the name (even to the point where his need to appease to everyone’s expectations felt like an unhealthy obsession). So I wouldn’t be surprised if this moment brought back a bit of his past trauma.. Almost like a “not again” type of reaction. Though I also infer that because of this experience, the novelty of being an “Avenger” wouldn’t really mean much to him anymore as much as just being recognized as true hero does, and so he doesn’t show as much excitement as Alexei & Yelena did.
Commentaires
Was the terrorist surrendering? No.
Should John have killed him? Also no.
The optics of doing it in broad daylight in a crowded city street were the problem, not the action itself. If he had shot said terrorist (who mind you was a super soldier and would realistically be considered heavily armed and dangerous at all times) and then caught up to him, that would've been A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT situation.
It was purely the optics of Cap's shield covered in a man's blood. Previously that shield had been a symbol of protection, defense, safety.
Seeing it bloodied like that changed the perception of the symbol completely, so long as John was holding it.
It was an amazing scene, but I think the writer's intention either took a lot longer for people to understand, or was so blatantly bad that people have all headcanon retconned it to mean something better that it then actually became that.
John was never a "good man" so to speak, as far as I know even in the comics. But he did take the title of Captain America for a bit, and iirc voluntarily relinquished it to Steve.
Thus, John became U.S. Agent. But he wasn't ever a villain. He just knew he wasn't the person who could be the symbol of goodness that Captain America is.
When Lemar is thrown into the pillar and killed, Karli and the others see Walker’s reaction, but they still assume Walker is just a highly trained soldier.They do not react as though they’re fighting a super soldier, because they believe only Karli and her group possess the serum.After Lemar’s death Walker suddenly displays extreme strength, speed, and rage.This is the first moment when the Flag Smashers begin to realize something is wrong.They clearly look shocked and confused because they did not expect Walker to overpower them.They were unaware he had enhanced abilities .Nico didn't put his arm in surrender regardless because we legit see him moving his in a way to explain that he wasn't the one who did it and seconds prior to that he chuckled a concrete trashcan at him. Rogers still did bad shit which is what Fury calls him out on and isn't as squeaky clean as the people made him out to be. There's no room for innocence in Nico's case as he was a part of a terrorist group who bombed a building and still continued to work with her after that . What Walker did wrong was pretty much doing it on foreign soil and in a very public area , had it been some abandoned warehouse nothing would have happened and ofcourse roid rage pushed him to the edge due to the explosion of emotions with lemar's death , what he did wasn't right but I won't admonish him for that when ALL the heroes besides scott and Peter did worse especially the main 6
You can argue it all you want. Deflect, obfuscate, morally relevate. It doesn't matter. Walker murdered that guy.
There's a video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/xRB2HR6Rva0?si=8ZVsSCxk4Wv6LyVL
It's really good. Army Veteran talks about the scene as a whole
Also in my extended breakdown, I meant to say *renowned*, not *renounced*
That's a football comedy from 1986; what does that have to do with this? ;)
However, Wyatt Russell has put some real meat on his bones, and he is not simply an egotistical, one- dimensional jerk. You have to feel some sympathy for this guy, who I believe had genuinely good intentions before he let his own hype and everything else get to him and brought out his self-righteousness and arrogance. Watching his marriage fail, losing his best friend, the criticism and ultimate banishment after going out of control in seeking revenge showed the sad, broken man that we saw in Thunderbolts. Yet, in spite of all that, he still found the inner strength to do the right thing, because the others were depending on him. He didn't let failure and loss define him; instead, to everyone's surprise, Walker showed up when it mattered.
It's a great redemption story that I look forward to seeing as he re-engages with the Thunderbolts, Captain America, and the rest of the cast. I hope the Thunderbolts stick together and establish a separate identity for themselves, in the same way the Guardians managed to break the mold.
When he snapped after Lamar’s death, he felt like he failed in that role which is what left him disillusioned.
Walker was always capable of being a hero, just not the same as Steve. Steve always did what was morally right and that’s what made him a hero. Walker was more of a hero like Thor from the start. He wasn’t utilitarian like Tony or moralistic like Steve. He just “did was hero’s do” and sometimes that means killing the bad guys.
His fall from grace was due to not living up to Steve’s legacy, but even at those depths, he steps in to help Bucky and civilians in the last episode of FatWS. It’s something a hero would do, but he steps away before the moralistic speech was needed.
That’s why I think this moment is so great. He sees through the bullshit, but he knows there’s a bunch of ways to be a hero and he just saved NY just as much as Cap did in Avengers.