Marvel Studios(NEW YORK) — Wyatt Russell plays John Walker, the decorated Army veteran who is given the mantle and shield of Captain America in Disney+’s Marvel Studios hit The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. 

Like Walker, Russell was hesitant to play the part, and that informed his performance. “For Captain America, for me, there was definitely trepidation, in all honesty,” the actor tells ABC Audio. “I was like, ‘I really don’t know if I can be that guy!'”

Russell explains that, as with many Marvel Studios projects, he didn’t know for which role he’d been cast at first, but “…the way they explained who the character was and his trajectory was eye-opening, because I didn’t know…sort of what they wanted to do.”

Realizing that both he and Walker had pretty big shoes to fill from Chris Evans‘ Steve Rogers gave Russell a natural connection. “So that was sort of where my mind was like, ‘OK, yeah, you know what, I think I can add a shade, different shades of this to color the character in a way that could be kind of fun and cool.'”

Something that wasn’t “cool,” however? Wearing Walker’s red white and blue superhero costume. “My shoulders were destroyed, my back was destroyed,” Wyatt admits. “The costume really does put you in a very awkward position and it’s hard to get in and out of. So you’re kind of stuck in that for most of the day.”

Russell adds, “And that was where I realized, you know, I got to get in better shape just so that I can deal with the costume, and I can carry it on literally on my shoulders.”  

The third episode of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier drops today on Disney+.  Disney is the parent company of Marvel Studios and ABC News.

By Stephen Iervolino
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