(Major spoilers ahead for Episode 4. Proceed with caution!)
Remember what Dr. Abraham Eskine said in ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’?
“The serum amplifies everything that is inside. So good becomes great — bad becomes worse.”
So what becomes of John Walker, whose supremacist ideals is what pushed him into taking the serum in the first place?
After the ending of Episode 4, it was clear just how far the serum had corrupted him – to the point where an innocent life was lost as a result of revenge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElZ1dIuLPzY
We see Walker standing there with Steve Rogers’ blood-stained shield, forever tainting his legacy. His was fist twitching, his entire body swaying and shaking (kudos to Wyatt Russell for his brilliant, subtle touches on depicting Walker’s deteriorating self-control and spiral into madness).
Unlike Walker, Rogers had never used the shield to kill — it was merely a weapon of defence.
And Rogers would never, ever kill a human being in cold blood.
https://www.flyfm.com.my/why-john-walkers-dark-turn-was-inevitable/
Walker also lacks Rogers’ leadership and willingness to sacrifice his own life for others. This was made clear by Walker himself when Bucky Barnes asked, “You ever jumped on top of a grenade?” and Walker replied, “Four times. It’s a thing I do with my helmet. It’s a reinforced helmet.”
Fans would remember that in the first instalment of the Captain America trilogy, Rogers’ jumped on top of a grenade with no reinforcement whatsoever, and without hesitation to save his men.
While Rogers genuinely cared for the safety of civilians, Walker is only interested in exerting his power and demanding the respect that he should instead earn.
Throughout the series, we see how Barnes, Rogers’ long-time best friend since the Cold War, bitterly disapproves of Walker taking over the mantle.
Do we agree with him? Absolutely. Do you?
*Cover image via The Ringer
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