The series is over, but John Walker’s story seems to be just beginning.
Spoilers. Obviously.
It’s over. That was a quick six weeks, wasn’t it?
The adventures of new BFFs The Falcon and the Winter Soldier have come to an end (for now), and many of the folks involved have their futures clearly planned out.
Sam is no longer Falcon, but the new Captain America. Bucky is definitely no longer the Winter Soldier, but he is… well… we’re not sure he has a new superhero name, but he’s definitely found some peace.
Torres is likely going to become the next Falcon (Sam left him the wings after all), and we’re sure this isn’t the last we’ll see of Isaiah’s grandson Eli, either.
And then there’s Sharon Carter. In the final episode of TBR Spotlight: The Falcon and the Winter Solider [LISTEN from 49.37 below], Eoghan and Rory discuss the complicated future for the new Agent Carter.
Without a doubt though, the Most Interesting Potential Future Award has got to go to John Walker, who had a full Fast & Furious-esque redemption arc in this episode. Went a bit mad and tried to kill everyone just a few days ago? Don’t worry about it, all is forgiven now!
Returning to the fight to help the new new Captain America and the same ol’ Bucky take on the Flag Smashers, we can see that John Walker is still in it to kill it, barely able to control his rage during his fight with Karli.
The moment we know he’s turned it all around? When he stops fighting Karli – literally dropping his shield in the process (metaphor alert!) – to stop the truck full of politicians from crashing to their deaths.
From that point on, we know that John Walker is no longer an out-and-out bad guy, but we also know that the Super Serum has broken his brain in some way, which will likely actually be some good news for Countessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine.
Yes, Val (but don’t call her that) is back, seemingly meeting John and his wife in the same courthouse that handed down the other-than-honourable-discharge to John in the last episode, and would later be giving Sharon Carter her long-overdue pardon.
Val is more than happy that Zemo has taken out the last of the Flag Smashers dosed with the Super Serum, and is impatiently waiting for John to come out in his new uniform.
With the new black suit and the new title of U.S. Agent, we now know John Walker’s future, at least as far as the comic book history goes.
U.S. Agent is usually called upon to do the jobs that are too shady for most morally-upstanding superheroes, and with Walker’s emphatic support of the extremely public decapitation of criminals, it would appear that he is the perfect man for the job.
And in all likelihood, he won’t be fighting the fight alone.
As we mentioned in our previous deep dive on the Countessa, she could end up being any one of several potential variations of the character, but during her interactions with John here, it does seem like she’s setting up something big. As she says, “Things are about to get weird…”
Val seems to be placing herself as Nick Fury to her own version of the Avengers, which will likely be the Thunderbolts, a group of former villainy-leaning characters who are rounded up to fight the bad guys when the Avengers themselves die off or go AWOL.
Who else Val might have on her impending roster, and whether they’ve already been introduced in the MCU – Abomination? Justin Hammer? Vulture? Ghost? – or some other characters we haven’t met yet, we’ll have to wait and see.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
