U.S. Agent

U.S. Agent (John Walker) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually those starring Captain America and the Avengers. Created by Mark Gruenwald and Paul Neary, the character first appeared in Captain America #323 (November 1986) as Super-Patriot. He was later redesigned as an incarnation of Captain America and a few years later, as U.S. Agent.

Wyatt Russell portrays John Walker in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, starting with the streaming television series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021) and the film Thunderbolts* (2025). He will reprise the role in Avengers: Doomsday (2026).

Publication history

The character of John Walker was first introduced as the supervillain Super-Patriot in Captain America #323 (November 1986). Mark Gruenwald created Walker to counter the general message in Captain America of patriotism being invariably good, describing him as someone "who embodied patriotism in a way that Captain America didn't—a patriotic villain." He said, "Basically, I just wanted to do the opposite of Steve Rogers. Okay, Steve Rogers is a poor northern urban boy. So I'll make a guy from rural middle-class south. Cap is now old, so this guy'll be a real young up-and-comer. Cap has lofty ideals, so I'll make Super-Patriot be more realistic and more pragmatic. So, I put together his background and character traits by playing the opposite game."

This character is the second Super-Patriot character in the Marvel Universe. The first Super-Patriot debuted in Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #13 in July 1969 and never appeared again. The original Super-Patriot's costume bears no resemblance to that used by John Walker.

After a return appearance in Captain America #327, Gruenwald reintroduced the character as the new Captain America in Captain America #333. Though Gruenwald said he would not have done this if it had not been a logical development from the preceding storylines, he also openly acknowledged that the motivating reason for replacing Steve Rogers as Captain America was to boost sales:

With Iron Man, for example, we had James Rhodes take the lead character's place, and we did it for two years—which I'm sure was about a year and a half longer than anybody thought we would do it. In Thor we had Beta Ray Bill take Thor's place for two or three issues. So, this is the sort of thing that has been done to shake up people before. You know, I'm responsible for it in Iron Man and I was editor of Thor at the time of Beta Ray Bill, and believe me it's a trick I know works because I've seen it work a number of times. It's just to get you noticed so that people who don't normally read it will say, "Oh, I heard something about this, let me read it and see." And with luck, folks will get hooked on the storyline.

In having Steve Rogers quit as Captain America and John Walker take over the role, Gruenwald stated that he was hoping to "better define what Captain America the concept is by seeing someone groping, trying to live up to it, trying to grasp all the facets of the concept". Walker soon developed a following of his own, with Gruenwald admitting that his best selling cover of the comic was #321 which had an image of Captain America shooting a firearm, and that this resulted in many fans wanted him to "Rambo-ize" Cap and make him more Punisher or Wolverine-like. Gruenwald considered this a violation of the character's principles, so he decided that he would give the fans what they wanted but that it could not be Steve Rogers. Walker's popularity as a character continued to grow, with Gruenwald stating that he had letters from readers saying that they did not want Steve Rogers to ever return as they saw Walker - regardless of his faults - as more viable, younger, and more interesting because they did not know what he would do next.

John Walker's installation as Captain America indeed provided a major boost to the series's sales, and he remained the main character of Captain America for issues 333 through 350, during which his character generally became more heroic. In Captain America #354 he was given another name and costume change, this time as U.S. Agent (created by writer Mark Gruenwald and artist Kieron Dwyer) using a discarded costume of Steve Rogers (the original Captain America): a black outfit with a different alignment of the stars and stripes to differentiate it from Steve Rogers' suit.

Like some West Coast Avengers teammates who had their own series (such as Iron Man, or Hawkeye in Solo Avengers), the character U.S. Agent was popular enough to support his own limited series in 1993. The mini-series was used to finish off a long-standing Marvel Universe plot thread involving the Scourge of the Underworld.

During the events of the "Maximum Security" storyline, U.S. Agent was given a new uniform reminiscent of riot police uniforms. He continued to use that uniform in his 2001 miniseries, which followed the events in "Maximum Security" and was written and drawn by Jerry Ordway.

"American Zealot"

In August 2020, Marvel announced that U.S. Agent would be getting a five-issue mini-series to be released in November that year, written by Christopher Priest and illustrated by Stefano Landini.

Priest described the story—titled "American Zealot"—as "a morality play in five acts". He continued:

John Walker has been fired. Or he quit. Depends on whos [sic] telling the story. Now finding his way as a civilian government contractor, Walker is making more money and taking more risks as he can now venture into places sanctioned agents cannot always follow. However, with limited official access to intelligence data, the now-former USAgent’s missions can and often do lead him into blind alleys he’ll need to MacGyver himself out of. ...

I was thrilled to be invited back to Captain America until I realized it was this guy, Cap’s scowling, emotionally damaged misfit cousin. Cousin America. But USAGENT presents an exciting writer’s challenge to explore the myriad expressions and aspirations of the American dream, how that dream is fulfilled or not, through the eyes and voices of a nation often at war with itself. John Walker is a man often at war with HIMself, so Marvel knows no better a protagonist for this journey, this stumble, this Parkour carom through the many visions of the greatest nation on Earth.

Fictional character biography

Origin

John Walker was born in the fictional town of Custer's Grove, Georgia. He grew up idolizing his older brother, Mike, a helicopter pilot who died in the Vietnam War in 1974. John wanted to live up to Mike's memory, who was idolized by their parents, and so he later enlisted in the military. John served at Fort Bragg, but only served during peacetime and thus never became the hero that he perceived Mike to have been.

After John received an honorable discharge from the United States Army, he was told by a friend about the Power Broker, a mysterious individual who gave people superhuman abilities. Walker and his friend received treatments that granted them superhuman abilities.

Super-Patriot

Walker, now in debt to the Power Broker, intends to join the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation but meets Ethan Thurm who becomes his manager and persuades Walker to become a hero instead. Thurm secures financial backing, helps Walker design a costume, and sets out a strategy that allows him to debut as the corporate-sponsored Super-Patriot who then travels the country promoting his image to the nation through patriotic rallies and community service.

At a rally in Central Park, he holds a secretly rehearsed performance in which he publicly criticizes Captain America and is subsequently attacked by three extremist supporters called the Bold Urban Commandos or "Buckies". Walker defeats the Buckies in the staged fight as a demonstration of his combat prowess and patriotism. Steve Rogers confronts Walker privately afterwards and demands that he stop using the Buckies, since people attending the rally could have been hurt in a panic resulting from the staged attack. Walker refuses, arguing that his actions are justified by his quest to replace the outdated Captain America as the nation's symbol.

When Captain America repeatedly refuses his challenges to a fight, Super-Patriot attacks Captain America. Although Captain America proves to be a more skilled fighter and lands blow after blow, the trash-talking Walker manages to absorb the attacks. With neither man falling after a lengthy brawl, Super-Patriot flings a number of throwing stars at Captain America who is too tired to dodge. One hits in the chest, embedding into Captain America's uniform but doing little to no actual physical damage. With the successful strike, the gleeful Super-Patriot claims victory and promptly departs. The weary and dejected Captain America tries to tell himself that the fight was a draw, as neither man actually went down but is nonetheless left questioning his own fighting abilities while acknowledging Super-Patriot's superior strength and stamina.