'The Falcon and The Winter Soldier' Episode 5 Post-credit Scene Explained

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier Episode 5 is streaming now on Disney+, and ends with a post-credit scene that sets up the final episode of the Marvel show. In the episode, titled "Truth," John Walker (played by Wyatt Russell) got stripped of his role as Captain America after the bloody events of the last episode. However, the after-credits scene revealed that he might be out for revenge.

In the scene, which starts at 54:22 on the Disney+ stream of the episode, we first hear the sound of metal on metal, before we see a picture of Walker alongside Lemar Hoskins aka Battlestar (Cle Bennett), who died in Episode 4.

We then see Walker hammering a piece of metal into a shield, before welding a medal onto it, and painting it the Captain America colors. The implication seems to be that against the orders of the military, Walker will become a kind of rogue, vigilante version of Captain America—one who, as the last episode showed, has a tendency towards violence.

Marvel comics fans will know that the non-MCU version of the character has had a few Captain America-adjacent superhero identities over the years. Unlike in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, the character began life in the comics as Super Patriot, a superhero who set himself up as a rival to Cap and tried to discredit him for not standing up for what he saw as America's true ideals.

More likely, though, this post-credit scene is teasing Walker becoming U.S. Agent, another superhero that saw Walker wearing a version of his Captain America suit and, like in the scene, wielding his own vibranium shield.

However, the way he becomes U.S. Agent in the comics differs from what we see in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier Episode 5. In the comics, Walker had his memories wiped after his parents were murdered following his identity being leaked.

With this post-credit scene, the show seems to be setting up a fight between the person who many think should be the true next Captain America, the Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and this violent pretender.

However, Episode 4 showed that the show has not fully set Walker up as a villain. This could be because they have plans to follow the comics, where U.S. Agent becomes a watchdog of the West Coast Avengers, who feature a number of character who have either had a Disney+ show or are getting one.

Among the members of this group is WandaVision's Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner, who is getting his own series in late 2021) and Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani, who is also set to debut in 2021). As such, the show may be setting up its first major crossover.

Speaking to Slashfilm, Russell teased about his role on the show: "He's worried about all these things that he's never had to worry about before because he's been operating in pretty much silence. No one really knew what was going on in those missions he was on, and now he's out front as a PR person for the government. So he's not used to being in that position. Moving forward, you're going to see him, 'How am I going to deal with those things?' How is that going to land with him?"

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier airs Fridays on Disney+.