Warning: Spoilers ahead for Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts*.
Thunderbolts* unites a mismatched crew of antiheroes, rogues, and one unstable test subject from across the Marvel Cinematic Universe, all forced to co-operate under the drive of survival. There’s Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, a former Red Room assassin grappling with a sense-of-purpose crisis; her washed-up “super-soldier” father, David Harbour’s Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, still nostalgic of the glory days of superhero-ing in the Soviet Union, and her new friend Lewis Pullman’s Robert «Bob» Reynolds, a well-meaning but mentally unstable powerhouse whose existence ties into the surprise success of Project Sentry, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine’s attempt to revive the Super Soldier program.
Each character brings a unique sense of dysfunction to the Thunderbolts. But Wyatt Russell’s John Walker/U.S. Agent best drives home the difficulty behind getting damaged strongmen with questionable values to operate as one cohesive unit.
John Walker Is, By Far, The Most Relatable Loser In Thunderbolts*
He Was Originally Planned To Be The Film’s Main Villain, And For Good Reason
«A team of losers.» That’s how Yelena describes the Thunderbolts…or The New Avengers, as officially dubbed by Marvel. She’s not wrong. Every member is here (if dear ol’ Bucky Barnes is excluded) because Valentina offers them purpose; something to cling to in an otherwise fragmented life. John Walker’s is perhaps the most poignant.
Thunderbolts*’s 120-minute runtime tries but doesn’t do much in terms of offering a background story for viewers unfamiliar with the events of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Disney+ series and Walker’s fall from glory. As a disgraced super soldier stripped of his Captain America title after publicly murdering a terrorist who killed his best friend, Walker walks the tightrope between good and evil more convincingly than anyone else. Stuck with working for Valentina as a backdoor US agent, he’s a man who still thinks «good» means killing in furtherance of his country’s interests. He longs for acknowledgement from his wife, boss, and the public; it never comes.
The Super Soldier serum amplifies a person’s personality just as it does strength; in Walker’s case, his self-entitled and carefree nature is on steroids in Thunderbolts*. Yet, he puts his neck on the line multiple times to save his fellow “losers”—trying to escape Valentina’s fortress, on the limousine chase, and when Sentry sent Bucky’s bullets back to him. It’s not for no reason that writer Eric Pearson originally thought of having Walker replace Sentry as Thunderbolts*’s main villain, as he revealed in an exclusive interview with ScreenRant:
The original drafts of this had John Walker as the punching villain at the end. The idea was that part of Val’s manipulation was that she had told him that his serum was wearing off, and she was doing these medications to keep him going. In reality, he was a time bomb; a Hulk kind of thing.
The John Walker-Bob Chemistry Carried Much Of The Thunderbolts* Runtime
Who Didn't Crave More of the "Walker Chastising Bob” Dynamic?
Ask anyone who’s seen Thunderbolts* what stood out most, and chances are you’ll hear one consistent answer: “Bob and Walker.” Yelena may have been marketed as the showpiece, but it’s both aforementioned characters that do the heavy lifting as far as team dynamics, chemistry, and genuine comic relief go (sorry Red Guardian fans, his humor was forced).
Walker begins the film as a gruff, dismissive jerk toward Bob and others, but with time, his tough exterior unravels, revealing deep-seated sadness and regret. By the film’s midpoint, it’s hard to deny not craving more “Walker chastising Bob” content.
John Walker Would Be a Better Captain America Than Sam Wilson
Sam Is The MCU’s Official Post-Steve Captain America… That Doesn’t Mean He’s The Right One
When it comes to mirroring Steve Rogers, no one in the MCU does it more intriguingly—if not more faithfully—than John Walker. Despite his quintessentially noble nature, Sam Wilson simply can’t out-Cap Steve, a point President Ross didn’t hide in Captain America: Brave New World. Walker, on the other hand, echoes Steve’s qualities, albeit through a distorted lens. Unlike his predecessor who embodies America’s virtuous idealism, he represents the nation’s gritty realism, which is flawed, forceful, and morally gray.
What makes Walker fascinating is the very thing that disqualifies him: he fails as Captain America. His fall from grace and imperfect redemption show what it means to be unworthy of the shield and still try to carry it. Sam has never known such struggle and thus is largely an empty character…at least when Captain America-ing is involved.
It would be bold but wise to make Walker the Captain America of the New Avengers, and, better still, make him develop a brotherhood with Bucky Barnes. Who else in the MCU but the Winter Soldier best understands redeeming a dark past?
Wyatt Russell is the son of veteran actor Kurt Russell, who portrayed Ego—the Celestial and Peter Quill’s biological father—in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
John Walker Is To Thunderbolts What Harley Quinn Is To Suicide Squad’s Task Force X
Walker in Thunderbolts* and Harley Quinn in both Suicide Squad films have more in common than meets the eye. Both are emotional wildcards. Throughout the first half of Thunderbolts*, you’re never quite sure if Walker will do something heroic or horrific. It’s a similar story for Harley. In David Ayer’s Suicide Squad, she deserts Task Force X to meet up with her lover, the Joker. No surprise, then, that neither ever fully earns the trust of their teammates.
Products of faulty systems they once served? Also Check. Walker is who he is in Thunderbolts* because of American society’s strict value-based principles that fail to understand moral dilemmas. Harley becomes Gotham’s Clown Princess of Crime ing systemic abuse from her institution and her lover, Joker.
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Thunderbolts*
PG-13 Adventure Action Sci-Fi
