The New Avengers (Thunderbolts)
John Walker
U.S. Agent
Alive. D
- Appearances
- 2
Along the chronological spine
Where the guide talks about them (8)
Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, who appears in the post-credits, is a senior US intelligence figure who recruits damaged, disposable people for deniable work. By 2025 she is Director of the CIA. She recruits Yelena here and John Walker in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
The government immediately gives it to John Walker anyway — which is the show's actual argument. The symbol was never his to decline, because it was never treated as his.
Valentina Allegra de Fontaine recruits John Walker as U.S. Agent.
Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, CIA director facing impeachment, sends four of her expendable operatives — Yelena Belova, John Walker, Ghost (Ava Starr), and Taskmaster — to a facility to unknowingly kill each other and erase evidence of Project Sentry.
| Character | First appeared in | Route to Valentina |
|---|---|---|
| Yelena Belova | Black Widow (FILM, 2021) | Recruited in the post-credits, pointed at Barton |
| John Walker | Falcon and the Winter Soldier (SERIES) | Approached right after he's stripped of the shield |
| Ghost / Ava Starr | Ant-Man and the Wasp (FILM, 2018) | Not shown; recruited offscreen |
| Taskmaster / Antonia | Black Widow (FILM) | Not shown |
| Alexei Shostakov | Black Widow (FILM) | Not a recruit — Yelena's fake father, freed from prison |
| Bucky Barnes | The First Avenger (FILM, 2011) | Not a recruit — investigating her as a congressman |
| Bob Reynolds / Sentry | Thunderbolts* (FILM, 2025) | Her test subject, not her employee |
| Character | Premiered | Appeared in | Status now |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yelena Belova | Black Widow (2021) | Black Widow, Hawkeye, Thunderbolts, Brand New Day | Alive — leads the New Avengers from the Watchtower. D |
| Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian | Black Widow (2021) | Black Widow, Thunderbolts | Alive. D |
| Melina Vostokoff | Black Widow (2021) | Black Widow | Alive, not seen since |
| John Walker / U.S. Agent | FATWS (2021) | FATWS, Thunderbolts | Alive. D |
| Ava Starr / Ghost | Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) | Ant-Man 2, Thunderbolts | Alive, stabilised but not cured. D |
| Bob Reynolds / Sentry | Thunderbolts* (2025) | Thunderbolts | Alive, with the Void contained rather than gone. D |
| Antonia Dreykov / Taskmaster | Black Widow (2021) | Black Widow, Thunderbolts | Dead — killed early in Thunderbolts*. Not in Doomsday |
| Valentina Allegra de Fontaine | FATWS (2021) | FATWS, Black Widow (post-credits), Thunderbolts, Brave New World | Alive — CIA Director, nominally in charge and actually controlled by the team |
- Sam Wilson's Avengers — Sam as Captain America, Joaquín Torres as Falcon, and Isaiah Bradley as an ally rather than an operative. Small, and being rebuilt since Brave New World
- The New Avengers — Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, John Walker, Ghost, Alexei Shostakov, Bob Reynolds/Sentry — operating from the rebranded Avengers Tower, "the Watchtower," with Valentina de Fontaine nominally in charge and actually under their control
The New Avengers: Florence Pugh (Yelena), Sebastian Stan (Bucky), Wyatt Russell (John Walker), Hannah John-Kamen (Ghost), David Harbour (Red Guardian), Lewis Pullman (Sentry)