At the Marvel Civil War event, the U.S. Agent embarked on an incredible new journey that culminated in a well-suited soldier.
“Civil War” was a turbulent time for Marvel’s heroes. Everyone went their own ways, signing up with the government or going out for their own individual reasons. However, the U.S. Agent took a very different path than most warriors during the war.
In Civil War: Choosing sides, by Mike Oeming and Skot Kolins, Agent USA was shown as a supporter of the Superhuman Registration Act. This was in line with the character of John Walker, as he has historically been on the government side. Initially, Walker was a major force for gathering supervillains who tried to take advantage of the heroes who were fighting amongst themselves.
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Shortly afterwards, however, Tony Stark chose to send U.S. Agent to Canada. Iron Man wanted a US Agent to find and capture superhumans who circumvented the recording act by crossing the border. As expected, US Agent surprised by this request, initially refusing to go to Canada.
It wasn’t until Walker followed the Purple Man that he changed his mind. Purple Man was controlling the mind of a US Agent, stealing his shield and forcing him to walk off a building. Hearing that Purple Man was headed north, the U.S. Agent agreed to assign him to Canada out of a desire for revenge. Shortly after his arrival, Walker was placed on a new senior team called Omega Flight.
This group was a new take on Alpha Flight, meant defending Canada’s borders after the death of their original team New Avengers # 16, with Brian Michael Bendis and Steve McNiven. The only surviving member of Alpha Flight was Sasquatch, a named Omega Flight director.
Sasquatch held a short-term management tenure. The team had several immediate threats, starting with the Wrecking Crew. Sasquatch was attacked by this group of supervillains, unleashing the Big Beasts in this fight. Tanaraq was a particular threat, with his Sasquatch body. Omega Flight also opposed the demon hordes Surtur. Agent USA took control of the rest of Omega Flight, including Talisman, Arachne, Michael Pointer and Beta Ray Bill.
Eventually, the Wrecking Crew was beaten and the Big Beasts were returned to the home side. After that, the U.S. Agent continued to hunt out refugee supervillains, just as it had been assigned to him. Walker even got his shield back from Purple Man. In Marvel Comics Presents Discover # 1-12, with Rich Koslowski, Andrea Di Vito and Marco Checcetto, U.S. Agent and his Omega Flight associates plotting to manipulate Pointer. Together, Omega Flight stopped the Canadian government from turning Pointer into a “super-junkie,” relying on superhuman energy.
The US Agent returned to his home country in Mighty Avengers # 21, with Dan Slott and Khoi Pham. Loki, in the form of the Scarlet Witch, assembled a new Avengers team to fight the demon Chthon. US Agent joined the Mighty Avengers, although they fought crime internationally in general.
Overall, the U.S. Agent’s role in “Civil War” was highly anticipated. John Walker was taken out of his comfort zone as a loyal soldier for the U.S. government. Walker would be expected to be on the front lines of “Civil War,” hunting down unregistered landlords alongside the rest of the pro-registration movement. Instead, US Agent was sent to Canada, giving it a completely different mission. Walker himself felt that this assignment was the wrong move for him.
At the same time, US Agent’s position on Omega Flight made perfect sense. John Walker has been very hard on crime and criminals in general. His dream job is to send the U.S. Agent across the border to hunt down all the law-abiding superintendents.
When US Agent realized he could find supervillains like the crushed Purple Man, he jumped at the chance to go to Canada. Serving his country from across the border, the U.S. Agent received the perfect designation during the “Civil War.”
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