Editor's Note: This entry contains spoilers for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier; read at your own caution.

About

New Captain America refers to the Marvel comics character John Walker on the American Marvel superhero series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. As portrayed by actor Wyatt Russell on the series, Walker and his appearance became a meme among viewers and fans, making mocking comparisons to the original Captain America as played by Chris Evans.

Origin

Comics

The character John Walker first appeared as the villain Super-Patriot, an enemy of Captain America, in Captain America #323, released in January 1986 (Super-Patriot, shown below, left). He was later re-branded as the superhero U.S. Agent (shown below, right).^[1]

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

On March 19th, 2021, Disney+ debuted the first episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier entitled "New World Order."^[2] At the end of the episode, the character Falcon (portrayed by Anthony Mackie), who learned that he would take Captain America's place at the end of Avengers: Endgame, learns that the United States Government named another person Captain America (shown below).

Spread

Following the release of the episode, people began posting jokes about the appearance of the new Captain America. For example, on March 19th, 2021, Tumblr ^[3] snakelaufeyson posted a Marie Kondo 'Does It Spark Joy' meme featuring the Falcon and the New Captain America. The post received more than 9,000 notes in less than one week (shown below, left).

On March 20th, Twitter ^[4] user @AZRAELWlNG tweeted a screenshot of the New Captain America with the caption "qrt this with something you know he would say online." The post received more than 1,280 retweets and 485 likes in less than one week (shown below, center). That day, the hashtag "#notmycap" trended on Twitter, with people talking about the character reveal.

That day, Facebook ^[5] user eloszefuniu posted an image edit that compares the New Captain America to the character Carl from the Pixar animated film Up. The post received more than 875 reactions in less than one week (shown below, right).

Several media outlets covered the meme, including BuzzFeed, ^[6] Daily Dot ^[7] and more.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References