[Editor's note: The following contains spoilers for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.]
The first episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier kept our two titular heroes apart, delving into A) What it means to be a Black superhero in America and B) What it is to seek a quiet life with your victims' screams still ringing in your head. Heavy stuff. But Episode 1 did end on one extremely comic book-y twist: With Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) assumed dead and Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) choosing to stick with the Falcon mantle, the U.S. government decides America needs a new Captain America. Which is exactly what they do, live on TV, to much fanfare and media buzz.
Anyone who has taken as much time as I have to study the faces of Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn will know that's Wyatt Russell wearing Captain America's uniform, which means we know it's John Walker. The government sticking Walker into a vacant Captain America role is a storyline straight out of the comics, most notably the one kicked off by "The Replacement" in Captain America #333 by writer Mark Gruenwald and artist Tom Morgan. Before this, Walker had been operating under the name "Super Patriot." Inspired by the death of his brother in Vietnam, Walker sought out the man known as Power Broker, who gave him superpowers similar to Captain America. Fashioning himself as a modern American hero, Super Patriot publicly clashed with Steve Rogers, thinking him an outdated version of his 'Merica. So, naturally, when Rogers gave up the mantle and the government offered it to Walker, the former Super Patriot used that opportunity to talk a deeply petty amount of trash.
"That fuddy-duddy is America's past," Walker says in Captain America #333, using the most devastating own known to mankind in 1983. "I'm America's future. I think this nation deserves a strong, decisive national hero, ready to put his all on the line every single day."
Walker had the same, intense devotion to patriotism as Steve Rogers, but with slightly more brutal methods. Just five issues after accepting the Captain America title, Walker would beat a villain named Professor Power to literal death. Much later, Walker would trade in the Captain America name for the moniker "U.S. Agent," join the West Coast Avengers and come very close to losing his mind. But it's unclear how much of that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is going to borrow. The hint at what's driving the Disney+ series comes from another prescient line of dialogue in Captain America #333. It's delivered by a character named Mr. Mathers, a member of The Commission, as they try and decide who could replace Steve Rogers as Captain America:
"I imagine we could also rule out another of Rogers' friends and ex-partners, Sam Wilson, alias The Falcon. I doubt the country is ready for a black Captain America."
Unfortunately, a whole-ass 34 years later, the country still doesn't seem ready for a Black Captain America, a truth The Falcon and the Winter Soldier seems set to take on immediately. The end of Episode 1 is a fun plot twist, yeah, but it's also underscoring how easily the government defines what is and is not "America," and it's absolutely worth noting that the new, officially-branded Captain America of 2021 looks exactly like the one from 1942.