End Credits something else I noticed: Spoiler Next to the remains of a Walker Cap is Back Poster, there’s a spray painted version of Cap’s shield with a lit bomb fuse at the top (like the old school round bomb like in cartoons etc.), a possible hint that Walker is a ticking time bomb, and perhaps not what he’s supposed to be? A Flag Smasher, one of the Power Broker’s men, or maybe even Zemo’s tool?
Not to mention the NYC vs Loki incident, when the bureaucrats decided the best option was to nuke downtown NY. Nope, in the MCU, keep the paper-pushers out of the command loop. The Heroes may make mistakes, but they're not going to slaughter millions of civilians on purpose.
Right now it’s all incredibly ambiguous, not least because there’s a strong implication that Steve and the surviving “Secret Avengers” still didn’t sign on to the Accords after the Snap, yet were allowed to take the lead in protecting the World, that Sam seems to suffer no repercussions and be routinely hired as an independent contractor by the military, while Bucky has a much more structured parole, and apparently Sharon is still an outlaw because of them. A somewhat realistic scenario could be that the Accords were heavily modified after the Snap to accommodate the needs of the moment, such that specific individual exceptions were made for some (Steve and co.), and not for others. A potential subplot of this show could be someone trying to reinforce and restore those more micro-managing aspects of the Accords, in part because so many of those who won the “exception” clause might be dead. Potentially, this could be the specific reason behind the government in-universe trying to quickly deploy a New Captain America with as many “legitimizing” ties as possible. Everything we’ve seen of the period before the “Blip-back” implies a time of both humankind’s “better angles” and our “worst demons” in equal measure. Hopefully, the MCU uses that as much as possible.
I think the Accords are still in effect insofar as they haven’t been repealed yet but I also think the world is still recovering from the royal ******** Infinity War left it in that things aren’t as black and white as they were during Civil War.
Even with the Accords in place, you can't tell me that the Avengers wouldn't have gone in and stopped a threat, regardless of an overseeing Council. I wish someone had mentioned the nuke in the Loki incident. And if the Council was compromised like SHIELD, the Avengers would have to rogue like Steve and Nat did in TWS. And if Wanda didn't try to stop the bomb in Lagos, the casualties would have been a lot worse.
Maybe Sam and Bucky are abiding by the accords on paper by military contact work and mandatory therapy respectively
Spoiler Yeah the Flag Smashers could have just as well called themselves Children of Thanos 2.0 or Disciples of the Mad Titan (which when you think about there is some additional commentary on the real world to be had there). They basically come down on the side that Thanos was right.
It was a fic I read on Ao3 a couple years ago during the lead up to Endgame. Will take some time to find it, again. I want to say Rhodey had a big role in that fic as well. Or maybe that was a fic I read at about that same time? No, I think that that was the same fic.
I prefer the “ticking time bomb idea”... but as a result of Power Broker supplying a super soldier serum Walker is coerced into reluctantly taking by his superiors, and the resulting change in his physiology and stress of his job leading to an inevitable breakdown on his part, providing yet more proof he’s not really cut out to be Cap. Spoiler His debut against the flag smashers feels to me like it was setting up both a bit of physical inadequacy on his part yet a distrust of super soldier serum (or, if his unusual physical skills are hints at something else, more super soldier serum). They seemed to very specifically show him doing okay for a while, but once deprived of the shield and backup, being easily dispatched, and clearly taking it personally... but also making a point of mentioning his distrust of the serum to Bucky’s face. Another, arguably more interesting point has to do with merchandise, though I’ll put that in a nested spoiler box: Spoiler Alongside Falcon’s Cap suit, there’s an action figure of Walker in the black USAgent version of his Cap suit. As in, the blue’s switched out for black, and he’s actually *labeled* USAgent. I’m thinking we’ll get Walker remaining an anti-hero after Sam gets the shield back, with the real question being whether or not he’s more purely antagonistic, or if they embrace some of his more sympathetic qualities they’ve already introduced and make him an atoning hero. ...I’m also a bit worried about his significant other. It feels like an easy, predictable way to have him “set off” would be to have her injured or killed, and watch him freak out over it. Or, if they want to be a bit more crafty, have her be the Power Broker’s agent. That becomes arguably more and more a tour d’force storytelling maneuver; it basically provides the ultimate excuse for why the superheroes shouldn’t immediately follow government instructions.
Speaking as someone totally ignorant of the comics, is Power Broker a known person? I was wondering if he might be a rogue copy of Zola drifting around on the web.
What is it Tony said? We'll get it changed after it had been ratified? Not going to happen, or if it does, not for many years. I could see one of Tony's Companies' rivals (ex. Hammertech, OsCorp) wanting to get someone on the Committee and try to mess with Tony's tech. Wouldn't that be a nasty shock for him?
Yes. https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Curtiss_Jackson_(Earth-616) However, people are generally expecting a swerve. Spoiler Either Sharon or Isaiah's son -- we saw his grandson (who becomes Patriot in the comics), but not his son, who is this guy: https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Josiah_al_hajj_Saddiq_(Earth-616) Of course, they appear to be playing things mostly straight so it may just be Jackson still...
Good thoughts about Spoiler Walker. He’s obviously used to back up as his comments to Lemar in the locker room. I also prefer the ticking time bomb idea too. He’s visibly frustrated when Bucky and Sam take that hike after the “Cap’s wingmen line.”
Spoiler Red Skull's formula was incomplete and the Abomination's was the result of mixed dosages and experimentation (Blonksy was fine after the first, I think it was, 20% dose. It wasn't until he got more later and forced sterns to experiment on him that he became the Abomination. Abiding by the accords is almost certainly a condition of Bucky's pardon. To be fair, the World Council was led by one of the top heads of HYDRA. So, it's less bureaucracy and more that slaughtering millions of civilians on purpose to achieve a security goal is definitely part of the HYDRA M.O.
Concerning dude at the end. Spoiler In comics Zemo had the "Ionic Ray treatment" which gave Wonder man his super strength and resistance to damage. This also gave the criminals Giant Man his powers too. So now of course I am curious as to how Zemo's involvement in this Power Broker super soldier serum may give rise to some new long standing super beings.