(SPOILERS from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will be found below.)
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier ended its debut episode with a big surprise: Sam Wilson is not the new Captain America. Instead, he’s handed over the vibranium shield (as bestowed by Steve Rogers at the conclusion of Avengers: Endgame) to the government, who seemingly tossed it over to a rando. That rando would be John Walker, a.k.a. U.S. Agent, and (obviously) Marvel fans don’t dig the guy. Lots of “store-brand Captain America” jokes out there on Twitter. Although Walker’s got the super serum in his bod, he’s kind-of a lazy Cap, but the show’s really hammering that home to illustrate how eager the government was to get the shield out of a Black man’s hands, and Sam Wilson damn well knew it. Walker symbolizes white supremacy, even if he himself might also be a pawn of the government.
Well, new Captain America actor Wyatt Russell (son to Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn) visited with Jimmy Kimmel and is aware of his character’s apparently random acquisition of his role. He’s also rather self-deprecating and freely admits that he’s got something in common with his character: being unprepared for the role. That is to say, one of the only MCU movies that he’s watched is Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (because Kurt’s in it). So, he knows who Star-Lord is, but that Thanos guy and his snapping? Get outta here. At least Sebastian Stan had some advice for Wyatt.
“I didn’t grow up knowing much about comics,” Wyatt admitted. “My heroes were athletes. So when I came on set, I was asking, ‘What does that mean?’ Or, ‘Who’s that person?’… and finally, Sebastian was like, ‘Dude, stop asking questions. You’re gonna get even more confused than you are… when you get answers, it’s gonna be worse.’”
Wyatta related how he tried to fake some knowledge for about 15 minutes while auditioning and then owned up to his lack of nerdiness. He then reasoned (after Kimmel asked if this was actually something that appealed to Disney+), “It kind of works for the character because he’s new, and he’s not part of the old universe, but it was semi-embarrassing.” Sounds like it, but yeah, it’s working to help get the John Walker vibe going.
Disney+’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier streams new episodes on Fridays.