WandaVision, and it was quickly followed by The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
Set around six months after the events of Avengers: Endgame, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier saw Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) trying to decide whether or not to take the mantle of Captain America as Steve Rogers intended, and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and his struggles to leave his dark past as the Winter Soldier behind. The series began with Sam giving the Captain America shield up, so the government decided they needed a new Captain America, and the chosen one for the job was John Walker (Wyatt Russell). However, Walker proved to be unworthy of the Captain America mantle and Sam ended up taking over, with Walker being recruited by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine and becoming U.S. Agent.
John Walker turned out to be the opposite of Steve Rogers, as he was mostly driven by his emotions, was arrogant and even violent, with the latter made worse after taking the Super Soldier Serum, as seen when he killed one of the of the Flag Smashers with the shield. His history in the army was also completely different from that of Steve Rogers, which only proves one important detail from the original Captain America’s history that everyone overlooks: his privilege while in the army. Steve Rogers was chosen by Abraham Erskine for Project Rebirth, in which he was injected with the Super Soldier Serum, but instead of being used as the enhanced soldier he now was, he was sent to tour the nation as Captain America.
It wasn’t until Steve learned that Bucky’s unit had been taken prisoners that he finally became the super soldier he was meant to be, and still he didn’t have to go through most of the horrors of war – Lemar Hoskins’ days in Afghanistan were the worst of their lives. All these achievements caught the attention of the government when looking for the new Captain America, but they also left a permanent mark on Walker.
When it comes to their history in the army, Steve Rogers wasn’t a man shaped by the war, but John Walker was, and while that doesn’t justify some of his most horrifying acts, they do help give a better understanding of the character. Steve was instead shaped by his personal connections and his past pre-Super Soldier Serum, and while both stories are valid and add to their superhero personas, it’s undeniable that Steve had some privilege in the MCU’s Phase 1, while John Walker went through all the horrors of the war.
