“Civil War” was a tumultuous period for Marvel’s heroes. Everyone went on their own paths, registering with the government or becoming outlaws for their own individual reasons. However, US Agent took a drastically different road than most heroes during the war.
In Civil War: Choosing Sides, by Mike Oeming and Skot Kolins, US Agent was shown to be a proponent of the Superhuman Registration Act. This lined up with John Walker’s character, since he’s historically been on the side of the government. Initially, Walker was a major force for rounding up supervillains who tried to take advantage of the heroes fighting amongst themselves.
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Soon afterwards, however, Tony Stark chose to send US Agent to Canada. Iron Man wanted US Agent to find and capture superhumans who were evading the registration act by crossing the border. As expected, US Agent was shocked by this request, initially refusing to go to Canada.
It wasn’t until Walker pursued the Purple Man that he changed his mind. Purple Man controlled US Agent’s mind, stealing his shield and making him walk off a building. Hearing that Purple Man was headed north, US Agent agreed to his assignment in Canada out of desire for revenge. Shortly after his arrival, Walker was placed on a new super-team named Omega Flight.
This group was a new take on Alpha Flight, meant to protect Canada’s borders after the death of their original team in New Avengers #16, by Brian Michael Bendis and Steve McNiven. The sole surviving member of Alpha Flight, Sasquatch, was the designated leader of Omega Flight.
Sasquatch had a short-lived tenure of leadership. The team immediately faced several threats, starting with the Wrecking Crew. This group of supervillains attacked Sasquatch, inadvertently releasing the Great Beasts during this fight. Tanaraq was a particular threat, possessing Sasquatch’s body. Omega Flight was also confronted with the demon hordes of Surtur. US Agent took command of the rest of Omega Flight, including Talisman, Arachne, Michael Pointer and Beta Ray Bill.
In the end, the Wrecking Crew was beaten and the Great Beasts were returned to their home dimension. Afterwards, US Agent continued to hunt down refugee supervillains, just as he was assigned to do. Walker even got his shield back from Purple Man. In Marvel Comics Presents #1-12, by Rich Koslowski, Andrea Di Vito and Marco Checcetto, US Agent and his fellow Omega Flight members uncovered a plot to manipulate Pointer. Together, Omega Flight stopped the Canadian government from turning Pointer into a “super-junkie,” dependent on superhuman life-energy.
US Agent eventually returned to his home country in Mighty Avengers #21, by Dan Slott and Khoi Pham. Loki, in the guise of the Scarlet Witch, assembled a new Avengers team to fight the demon Chthon. US Agent joined these Mighty Avengers, although they generally fought crime internationally.
Overall, US Agent’s role in “Civil War” truly subverted expectations. John Walker was taken out of his comfort zone as a soldier loyal to the U.S. government. It would be expected for Walker to be on the front lines of “Civil War,” hunting down unregistered superhumans alongside the rest of the pro-registration movement. Instead, US Agent was sent to Canada, giving him a completely different mission. Walker himself felt that this assignment was the wrong move for him.
At the same time, US Agent’s placement on Omega Flight made perfect sense. John Walker has been characteristically hard on crime and criminals in general. Sending US Agent across the border to hunt down all of the superhumans evading the law seems like his dream job.
When US Agent realized he could track down supervillains like the Purple Man, who had humiliated him, he jumped at the chance to go to Canada. Serving his country from across the border, US Agent got the perfect assignment during “Civil War.”
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