History Characters / CaptainAmericaHeroes

U.S. Agent made his live-action debut in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse series ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'', portrayed there by Creator/WyattRussell-- although, like in his debut, he is referred to as "Captain America" following Steve Rogers's retirement [[spoiler:until by the end of the series, when he accepts the U.S. Agent mantle after having been stripped of his role as Captain America]].[[note]]His father, Creator/{{Kurt|Russell}}, previously appeared in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'' as [[Characters/MCUEgoTheLivingPlanet Ego]].[[/note]]

* KilledOffForReal: In his old age, he was eventually killed by Leo Novokov, a former sleeper agent of the Red Room, in an attempt to flush the real Bucky Barnes out who was stated to be dead.

* UnfortunateNames: When he first partnered with John Walker, he wore the name and costume of Steve Rogers' old sidekick (then presumed dead) as a tribute to him. In real life, Marvel got a lot of angry mail from readers pointing out that the name "Bucky" had unfortunate implications for an African-American man,[[note]]("buck", originally just an English term with deep Indo-European linguistic roots for the males of horned animals such as goats, deer or sheep, became a racist dehumanizing term for African-American male slaves dating back to before the Civil War)[[/note]] and that since Hoskins and Walker were long-time friends and had undergone the Power Broker's augmentation treatment together, he should be presented as a partner rather than a mere "sidekick". Writer Mark Gruenwald (who was born in mostly-white Oshkosh, Wisconsin and genuinely unaware of the naming issue) quickly agreed, and [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded the changes]] by having an African-American guard at [[TailorMadePrison the Vault]] outline the readers' arguments to Hoskins and convince him to request a new name and costume from the government.

* VagueAge: Joaquin's age was rather vague before it was eventually number-dropped to be 17. That he helped boarder crossing Mexicans with clean water and supplies makes him seem as if he would be older, but he's constantly referred to as a kid by Sam, Misty, and most who refer to him directly. That in itself is vague, since some adults will refer to others who are younger then themselves as a "kid" well into that person's late teens or early twenties. Even after we finally got a few scenes from Joaquin's point of view, it's wasn't made much clearer; despite having some tendencies expected of a teenager, by and large Joaquin has a profound and intelligent mind and is very politically and socially minded, somewhat belying of what you'd expect from most 17-year-olds. Lastly, he has quite the [[HeroicBuild muscular physique]] on him, another obscurer of age, since you never can tell if TeensAreShort is being played straight or not (whether he got this physique as part of being spliced or if he had it beforehand, too, and to what extent if so, isn't clear, since he never had a clear appearance before he was revealed as spliced).

* {{Fanboy}}: To Isaiah Bradley, the InUniverse first ever African-American superhero who becomes Captain America. Sam is among several African-American heroes, along with ComicBook/LukeCage, Goliath (Bill Foster), [[Characters/MarvelComicsMarvels Monica Rambeau]], and Triathlon; who are gleefully surprised when Isaiah arrives as a special guest at the wedding of ComicBook/{{Storm}} and ComicBook/BlackPanther.

* CompositeCharacter: She's a {{Gender Flip}}ped combo of the original Bucky, who was also her grandfather in the ''HR'' world (her last name, though Bucky himself is implied to be her grandfather) and Rick Jones (her nickname and someone who takes up Bucky's name right after Steve becomes active again).

!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Young Men'' #24 (December, 1953)[[note]]Treated as if he were James Barnes in the ''Commie Smasher'' stories; 1972 retcons established him as a separate character[[/note]]

!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Young Men'' #24 (December, 1953)

When Rogers relinquished the title of Captain America, Walker was tapped by the US government to replace him, beating out ComicBook/NickFury, who was deemed too old, and [[ComicBook/TheFalcon Sam Wilson]], as the US government thought his loyalty would be to Steve Rogers instead of them, and besides, [[DeliberateValuesDissonance Americans wouldn't accept a black Captain America]]. During his time in the role, Walker grew more heroic than originally established, but also suffered a great deal of trauma that made him unsuitable for the role, and later adopted the new title of US Agent when Rogers reassumed his old name.

* AngryBlackMan: Mainly before he became a hero. He can occasionally channel this vibe nowadays, but it's not really anger so much as it's exasperation with Steve's or Bucky's or Ian's antics, or having to educate someone about African-American history.

* PetTheDog: [[spoiler:Pulls Walker]] out of the wreckage of the Helicarrier they were fighting in with the last of his super strength.

Sam met [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Steve Rogers]], who encouraged to stand against the Red Skull's evil. After extensive gymnastics and hand-to-hand combat training by Captain America, Sam Wilson dubbed himself the Falcon. With Cap and Redwing, Falcon defeated the Red Skull and would return with them to Harlem. While working as a social worker, Falcon continued being a hero, protecting his neighborhood from crime. Eventually, he formed a long-time partnership with Captain America and received a specialized winged-harness that allows him to fly from the ComicBook/BlackPanther.

* HyperCompetentSidekick: In ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'', The Falcon manages to hold his own very competently in many situations that gave ComicBook/CaptainAmerica and ComicBook/BlackWidow trouble and is never once a burden to the situation, many of which he wasn't trained for, although it can go almost unnoticed because he's OvershadowedByAwesome.

* RelatedAllAlong: Over in ''Incredible Hulk'', there was a character called Jim Wilson. It was only several years after his death that his father Gideon appeared, who turned out to be Sam's brother.

* TokenBlack:
** In-universe, he was added to the Avengers because [[ObstructiveBureaucrat Gyrich]] insisted that the team should have more black members; he didn't actually want to join. In fact, [[LockedOutOfTheLoop he had no idea he had been made an Avenger until Cap showed up to fetch him for his first mission]]. He wasn't too happy about all this, and made his feelings pretty clear on the matter.
** He was the sole black member of the team in ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersUnitedTheyStand''. He's also the sole non-white Avenger (as well as the only one not present in the [[Film/TheAvengers2012 live-action movie]]) in ''WesternAnimation/AvengersAssemble''.

* AnimalEyeSpy: Joaquin has a PsychicLink with Redwing. Redwing acts as a sort of messenger between the Joaquin and Sam.

* IBelieveICanFly: Joaquin Torres, as the new Falcon, though his DNA having been spliced with Redwing's grants him actual flight-capable wings.

When Rogers relinquished the title of Captain America, Walker was tapped by the US government to replace him, beating out ComicBook/NickFury, who was deemed too old, and [[ComicBook/TheFalcon Sam Wilson]], as the US government thought his loyalty would be to Steve Rogers instead of them, and besides, [[DeliberateValuesDissonance Americans wouldn't accept a black Captain America]]. During his time in the role, Walker grew more heroic than originally established, and later adopted the new title of US Agent when Rogers reassumed his old name.

* AbsoluteCleavage: A rare male example. Several of Sam's costumes show off all his abs. Apparently he doesn't feel the breeze when flying around.

* BadassNormal
* BigBrotherMentor: To Bucky Cap.

* ThePrankster

* JerkAss: Although he was no longer crazed by the incomplete serum, he was still not easy to get along with, especially when Vagabond was his girlfriend. He becomes clingy, violent, possessive, lazy, rude, and eventually decides to leave Vagabond and D-Man in jail, then get drunk. When Cap tried calling him on this, he just walked off (''and'' left Cap with the bill).
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Saved an abandoned baby girl and adopted her, naming her "Bucky".

* {{Jerkass}}: He became less of this as Captain America, and again in ''Force Works''. Later writers ignored this, and keep writing him as a jerkass.

* FunWithAcronyms: The Bold Urban Commandos were known as the Buckies, sometimes stylized "BUCkies", for short because they were the Buckies to the Super-Patriot's Cap. Despite no K anywhere.

* WalkingShirtlessScene: In the Bold Urban Commandoes days, he and the others would go around shirtless, regardless of when or where.