One of the major question marks surrounding The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is just how large of a shadow Captain America will cast over the series. The events of Avengers: Endgame saw Steve Rogers pass over the shield and the mantle to Sam Wilson, with reports hinting that the plot of the upcoming Disney Plus series would follow the government’s reluctance to accept Sam as the new Cap.
Obviously, the limited series isn’t titled Captain America and the Winter Soldier, so it appears as though Anthony Mackie will continue suiting up as his winged alter-ego across the six episode run, and he doesn’t seem too upset by it given the recent reveal of the actor wearing a truly incredible suit covered in actual falcons.
Fans have been trying to piece together whatever information they can about the show thanks to the deluge of set photos that have been making their way online ever since The Falcon and the Winter Soldier kicked off shooting back in November, and now a new image shows how Captain America’s iconic shield factors into the story, which you can check out below.
As you can see, Wyatt Russell’s John Walker looks to be the one inheriting the title of Captain America from the government, which ties into the character’s comic book origins, where he was once named as Steve Rogers’ replacement before being renamed U.S. Agent. Based on the photo and what we know about The Falcon and the Winter Soldier so far, it looks as though Walker will be the government’s preferred choice to don the costume, presumably before it gets revealed that he has ulterior motives and Sam and Bucky will be forced to take him down.
Marvel Studios have gone down the double agent route before in the Captain America franchise, so it wouldn’t be too surprising to see the small screen spinoff take a similar turn. We’ll need to wait and see if Walker turns out to be in league with Daniel Bruhl’s Baron Zemo or not, but it would make sense for the The Falcon and the Winter Soldier‘s big bad to have some hired muscle doing his bidding while he pulls the strings from the shadows.