 |
| Image Courtesy www.comicbook.com |
This was originally included in last week’s
article about the Mighty Avengers, but I realized that it needs to be separated
out as its own thing.
After watching Captain
America: Civil War, we now have a very good idea exactly where this thing
is going to be going over the next few years as the MCU ramps up for the
Infinity War in 2018 and 2019. Each hero
who appeared in Civil War received a satisfying arc, and at the end of
the movie each of them had a definite trajectory of where their next
appearances will come from. So let’s
talk about where these heroes will be going from here!
I’m going to break this down into
three articles based on the teams that we see established by the end of the
movie, with an additional two added to deal with extra concepts which deserve
further consideration. First I talked
about the members of the “Secret Avengers.”
Last week’s subject was the members of the “Mighty Avengers.” Next week I will discuss the heroes that
don’t fit into either category. The week
after that we will conclude with Zemo.
But this week, we’re focusing in on something that deals with both the
Secret Avengers and the Mighty Avengers:
Captain America’s shield.
Without further ado, let’s get
started talking about Captain America!
 |
| Image Courtesy www.wtfgamersonly.com |
At the conclusion of Cap and Iron
Man’s fight in Siberia, Steve started walking away from Tony with Bucky. However, Tony called out that he didn’t
deserve to carry the shield that Howard Stark had created. Without turning around, Steve simply dropped
the shield and left it there with Tony.
As such, Steve no longer has Captain America’s shield—he is not Captain
America anymore. Instead, I predicted 2
weeks ago that Black Panther will provide Steve with a temporary replacement
shield (also vibranium but perhaps triangular instead of circular) and he will
begin going by a new codename such as “The Captain” or “Nomad” (both of which
he used in the comics).
But what’s going to happen to the
“Captain America” mantle?
My best guess: Tony’s going to give it to someone new.
As part of the recruiting process
for the Mighty Avengers, Iron Man will probably be looking to newly-minted
heroes such as Captain Marvel, but I think he will also try to create at least
1 new hero of his own. He’s going to
recruit a new Captain America.
 |
| Image Courtesy marvel.wikia.com |
John Walker
In the comics, Steve Roger is not
the only man to have worn the mantle of Captain America. In recent memory both Bucky and Sam Wilson
have taken up the shield while Steve was either dead or old. However, after Steve Rogers was lost in the
ice at the end of World War II, the U.S. government realized that they couldn’t
just let Captain America go; they still needed him. As such, the Presidents asked a string of
minor patriotic heroes to serve as Captain America, starting with William Nasland,
who was formerly the “Spirit of ‘76.”
Most of these Captains had at best mixed success.
One of the more recent of these
was John Walker, who gave up his “Super-Patriot” identity to become Captain
America while Steve Rogers was having a dispute with the government after
discovering that the “Evil Empire” had infiltrated the highest levels of the
government when Steve Rogers abandoned the identity rather than be forced to
report directly to the government. John Walker
is a very socially-conservative character who is happy to give up the “Super-Patriot”
identity as well as two of his three sidekicks in order to work for the
government. Walker’s primary antagonists
are a resurrected Red Skull (in Steve Rogers’ body—go figure) and the right-wing
domestic terrorist organization the Watchdogs (the guys that got turned into
Alpha Primitives on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.).
This only lasts about 20 issues
before Steve Rogers returns to the Captain America identity and Walker is given
a new identity. However, Walker
continues as an Avenger with the codename “U.S. Agent” and using variations on
the Captain America uniform and shield.
As U.S. Agent he works for the government’s Commission on Superhuman
Activities and serves as something of a liaison between the Commission and the
West Coast Avengers.
John Walker has similar abilities
to Steve Rogers thanks to the Power Broker’s enhancements.
 |
| Image Courtesy en.wikipedia.org |
MCU Adaptation
If Tony Stark does indeed go the
route of recruiting his own Captain America for the Mighty Avengers, I could
see it happening something like this:
John Walker is a U.S. Army
officer assigned to the Special Operations Command (basically Thunderbolt Ross’
old unit). Tony Stark and General Ross
approach Walker about joining the Mighty Avengers as the new Captain America, a
request which Ross turns into an order, having him reassigned to the U.N. Task
Force charged with overseeing the Avengers.
Thanks to his access to both his father’s Super-Soldier research
(alluded to in Civil War) and Ross’ biological enhancement process
(showcased in The Incredible Hulk)—with a healthy dose of his perfected Extremis
thrown in for good measure—Tony is able to replicate a version of the
Super-Soldier Serum, which gives Walker superhuman abilities (though a degree weaker
than Steve Rogers’ because the “Vita-Ray” procedure is still lost).
Tony introduces Walker as the new
“official” Captain America at a press conference. He wears an updated version of the Captain
America uniform and carries the Captain America shield.
Of course John Walker will not
remain as Captain America permanently; in the comics (as stated above) it
lasted about 20 issues before Steve Rogers was back in the fold. In the MCU, I expect that Steve Rogers will
become Captain America again in one of the two Avengers: Infinity War
movies. This doesn’t necessarily mean
that John Walker will be killed to leave the position open; he could just as
easily recognize that he’s not cut out to be the “guy in charge” (which is what
Captain America represents to the Avengers) and personally ask Steve to take
the shield back.
That being said, I find it
unlikely that John Walker would actually survive Avengers: Infinity War;
he could very easily be one of the hero casualties of the war.
 |
| Image Courtesy en.wikipedia.org |
The Timeline
It’s really hard to nail down
exactly how this could play out when we look at the movie release schedule for
Phase 3. There isn’t an Iron Man 4
on the schedule—that would have been a good follow-up to Civil War in
which these kinds of things could take place.
Consequently, this would need to be a minor point through the rest of
Phase 3 in the background of the other movies.
If I were Kevin Feige, I would
probably start the ball rolling on this with a small bit in Spider-Man:
Homecoming. Peter Parker (who is
working as a part-time intern at Stark Industries) walks into Tony’s office and
finds Captain America’s shield sitting on the desk beside a stack of military
files (William Nasland, Jeffrey Mace, William Burnside, Roscoe Simons, and John
Walker—all replacement Caps in the comics).
That’s really all that would be necessary to get this ball rolling.
Following this, 2018’s Black
Panther movie would show (in the background) a press conference with Tony
Stark introducing someone in a Captain America uniform who is carrying the
Captain America shield. If Bucky or
Steve appears in this movie (not an unreasonable guess), they could make some
comment about Tony and his “Mighty Avengers” moving on without them—just to
make sure it’s clear that Steve’s not the one in the uniform. But this wouldn’t be a major part of the
movie.
Assuming that the Mighty Avengers
appear in Avengers: Infinity War Part 1, that movie would officially
introduce John Walker. A clever way to
introduce him would be in battle alongside Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Vision. The fight doesn’t go their way, Walker gets frustrated,
and Tony needs to talk him down after the fight. Tony talking to him actually gives us a
natural opportunity to learn what it was that caused Tony to pick him for his “official
Captain America” in the first place.
In Avengers: Infinity War Part
2, all the heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have to band together to
fight Thanos, so Steve Rogers and John Walker meet for the first time. They struggle to work together at first (of
course), but eventually come to respect each other’s differing abilities. Before the climactic battle Walker realizes
that everyone is looking to him to lead because he has the shield, and at the
same time he realizes that he’s not the best one to lead the final
assault. Just before they leave, Walker and
Tony both go to Steve and offer him the shield back, telling him that he is the
one to lead the Avengers. Steve Rogers
resumes the Captain America mantle and shield, and John Walker adopts the U.S.
Agent codename and accepts Steve’s alternative shield.
 |
| Image Courtesy www.mcuexchange.com |
Conclusion
So how much of this do I really
expect to see in Phase 3 of the MCU? It’s
hard to say. I do expect Tony’s
possession of the shield to become significant at some point, though it may not
become significant until Avengers: Infinity War. It’s possible that there will be no
replacement Captain America—Tony could just give the shield back to Steve
symbolizing their reconciliation when it looks like the world is about to end—but
I don’t think that would be quite as interesting as introducing a replacement
Captain America who is loyal to Stark and the Mighty Avengers. Especially based on the comic history of
Steve Rogers having disagreements with the government and abandoning the
Captain America identity, and the government giving the shield to someone else,
it seems like a safe bet that someone other than Steve Rogers will carry the
shield. At least for a while.
Who do you think should be the next Captain
America? Do you think Tony Stark is
going to find a replacement for Steve? Let
me know in the comments!
No comments:
Post a Comment