What I got out of the entire John Walker/Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine storyline on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is that the Thunderbolts are coming. While the team in the comics was originally founded by Baron Zemo, it could be the team that Val is building in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, starting with Walker. Walker has a complicated comics history. He was the watchdog for the West Coast Avengers for a while, and his run-in with Sam for the shield ended a little differently than what we saw on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
All that being said, I don’t think the Marvel world is setting Walker up to be a hero. I think he’s constantly going to be an antagonist and a thorn in Sam’s side. (I still have hope that we’ll get a Sam and John rematch, and Sam will finally get to tell Walker, “I’m Captain America now. Deal with it.” But we shall see.)
So why do I think the Thunderbolts are coming? Well, for one thing, they had quite a few of their members in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Batroc is currently one, and obviously Zemo, and with rumors that Walker is going to show up in Hawkeye to recruit Clint Barton (but take Kate Bishop instead), I think we’re going to have Val operating as her own warped Nick Fury, with Walker as her Steve Rogers.
I don’t really believe that Kate Bishop rumor from the big Marvel “leak”, but I do believe that John Walker probably shows up in Hawkeye and try to recruit both Clint and Kate.
But let’s talk about the Thunderbolts. True to Zemo’s entire motivation, he founded the Thunderbolts to enact revenge on Captain America and the Avengers. Sure, Zemo willingly went with the Dora Milaje on Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but I don’t think he’s over his “the Avengers must end” kick. And if someone like Val went to see Zemo on the raft? Well, that’s just a problem waiting to happen. I think it’ll be a different setup to the Thunderbolts than the comics, but I do think that this team-up lends itself more to them than, say, the West Coast Avengers (who include people like Rhodey and Barton setting it up for heroes we know and love like Scarlet Witch, Vision, and the upcoming Moon Knight).
Maybe Walker is being made to be a complicated character. I would hate it, because I could not stand that character (to clarify, I love Wyatt Russell very much. John Walker? Him I would punch in the face), but maybe they’re trying to explore that complicated character dynamic, but I do think that using John Walker either as an ally to the Thunderbolts or as an actual member makes the most sense.
I love the addition of Val to the MCU and I can’t wait to see what she builds. Just leave Katie-Kate Bishop out of it.
(image: Marvel Entertainment)
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