In both the original Marvel Universe and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, John Walker is the chosen replacement for Steve Rogers after circumstances force him to leave the role of Captain America. But while his live-action incarnation lacks any genuine powers of his own, the comics version of Walker, more famously known as U.S.Agent, was actually given powers by the mysterious Power Broker.
John Walker may not have received the Super Soldier Serum that transformed Steve Rogers into an apex human condition, but Walker’s experience with the Power Broker resulted in him technically becoming even stronger than Rogers has ever been.
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The Super Soldier Serum that was given to Steve Rogers permanently enhanced all of Rogers’ bodily functions, making him the peak of human efficiency and potential. This allows him to run as fast as Olympic sprinters, lift as much as a world-record bodybuilder and endure injuries that would stop most men. Coupled with his strategic mind and noble levels of compassion, Rogers was transformed into the perfect soldier But for all intents and purposes, Steve Rogers is still nominally a regular mortal man — with none of his attributes ever really being portrayed as reaching pure super-human. He’s been injured and even killed before by conventional measures, such as gunshot.
However, John Walker was instead given his abilities by the Power Broker, a villain with an organization that empowered people and then held them in severe debt, resulting in him receiving more impressive augments than Rogers did. While Captain America can lift over a thousand pounds, USAgent is able to lift several tons with relative ease. As Walker stated during a fight with Hawkeye in 1991’s Avengers West Coast #69, by Roy Thomas, Dann Thomas and Paul Ryan, he can bench=press ten tons, where Rogers usually tops out around one. While Steve Rogers is durable enough to take plenty of blows, John Walker has been amplified enough that he can survive injuries that could otherwise kill even Captain America — allowing him to survive devastating blows from the likes of the Wrecking Crew, a team that gives Thor trouble, during storylines like Omega Flight by Michael Avon Oeming, Scott Kolins, Brian Reber, and Cory Petit.
Whenever the two have come to blows — such as in Captain America #327 by Mark Gruenwald, Paul Neary, John Beatty, Diana Albers, and Ken Feduniewicz — it becomes apparent quickly just how strong John Walker really when compared to Steve Rogers. During that fight, Captain America is able to deflect blows from Walker — at this point known as Super-Patriot — and throw him into a car. But instead of slowing down Walker in the slightest, this merely wrecks the car and leaves Walker angry. The only way that Steve is ever able to counter Walker in pure combat is with genuine skill, as this aspect ends up always being the key edge that allows Captain America to overcome most threats that technically out-power him.
During that encounter, Steve even noted to himself that punching Walker was like smashing his hands against a brick wall, leaving them swollen from just how durable Walker really is. While Steve may have the skills, tactics, and moral center that all makes him a more effective Captain America, John Walker is just plain stronger than his counterpart.
With the Power Broker name-dropped in the second episode of Falcon & The Winter Soldier, there’s a chance that John could receive similar powers to the ones he eventually received in the comics, which would cement the idea that Walker is (at least physically) Steve’s superior.