We Figured Out How High John Walker Can Jump In Thunderbolts*
Marvel is full of unique superheroes, but sometimes, the antiheroes take center stage. That's the case in the new "Thunderbolts*" film, which just hit theaters on May 2, 2025. In the film, a group of antiheroes — Black Widow (Yelena Belova, not Natasha Romanoff), Bucky Barnes, Ghost, Red Guardian, Taskmaster, and U.S. Agent — come together against Valentina Allegra de Fontaine after realizing that she laid a trap for them. Five of them end up at the bottom of a 1-mile deep elevator shaft at one point, and Walker (aka U.S. Agent) attempts to jump out. It's too dark to see how high he jumps, but thanks to science, there's a formula to at least get an estimate.
It takes about seven seconds for Walker to start the jump, fall, and hit the ground. That means he's falling for about three and a half seconds. With that in mind, you can use the distance formula — D = ½ g T2 — to calculate the distance of a falling object. The "g" represents gravity (the source of acceleration), which is 9.8 meters per second squared, while the "T" is the amount of time it takes. So, if you plug in the numbers — D = ½ (9.8 m/s2) (3.5 s)2 — into a calculator, the result is about 60 meters (almost 200 feet). Since that's how far Walker fell, it's also how high he jumped.
Steve Rogers' jumping and strength skills don't even compare to Walker's
Walker, the man chosen by the government to replace Steve Rogers as Captain America, has this ability because he was exposed to an updated version of the super soldier serum. Walker's stint in that role didn't work out, and he later rebranded himself as U.S. Agent, but, because of how he gained his powers, it's only natural to compare his abilities with Rogers'.
Science has established that Walker can jump about 60 meters high from a standstill, but Rogers' jumping skill isn't even close to that. It's estimated that he can only jump a paltry 3 meters (10 feet) from a standstill, although, it's possible that he could jump slightly higher if pushed to the limit. And, if he got a running start, he could clear 6 meters (20 feet) in a single bound.
When it comes to strength, Walker has Rogers beat again. U.S. Agent can lift and throw objects that weigh several tons, while it's estimated that Captain America can only lift about 800 pounds (less than half a ton). Marvel even makes the difference in strength obvious on each character's biography pages, rating Walker's strength at five and Rogers' at just three, so there's no need to calculate lifting capacity to determine who can pick up more weight. The two may break even in regard to fighting skills and intelligence, but the super soldier serum variation that U.S. Agent received gave him superior energy, speed, and durability to Captain America as well.