“Captain America” actors hopes Marvel fans “don’t hate me too much”

In the first episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Falcon (Anthony Mackie) gives Captain America’s shield over to the Smithsonian; even though Steve Rogers himself bequeathed the shield to him, it felt like “it belonged to someone else.”

But even though Sam Wilson didn’t think himself worthy of the shield, the U.S. government went and gave it to a new character: John Walker, aka U.S. Agent, who made his debut at the end of the episode.

Obviously, this is going to ruffle some people the wrong way, both in the world of the show and without. Wyatt Russell, who plays the new Captain America, seems well aware of that. “People are probably going to hate it, and some people are going to love it,” he told USA Today. “Hopefully, they don’t hate me too much, [but] it would be an honor, I guess, to be disliked in the Marvel universe.”

Still, he knows how taking up the mantle of Captain America right after Steve Rogers gave up the shield must look. “Who else can play Captain America like Chris Evans? Nobody,” he said. “And what’s good about this show is that it takes that in hand, where it’s like, ‘Well, who else is going to (expletive) play Captain America? This guy?'”

John Walker will be a different kind of Captain America than Steve Rogers

And indeed, U.S. Agent is a very different person from Rogers. In the comics, he gains a reputation for being more brutal than Rogers, even though his heart is in the right place, and it sounds like The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will use that template. “He’s been thrust into this role as Captain America and he’s going to do it his way, and he wants to do it right,” Russell said. “But his way is a very specific way that he has learned through being basically a trained human hunter. I mean, that’s what Marines are. They’re not Steve Rogers, they’re not the same. They’re not like Boy Scouts anymore. They’re a little bit more gnarly.”

Obviously that also puts U.S. Agent at odds with Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), who actually have yet to meet up in the show. To see the gnarly outcome, watch new episodes of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier with us when they drop on Fridays.

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