Captain America: What Happened To Every Howling Commando After Cap’s Death

What happened to the Howling Commandos after Captain America’s “death” in World War II? The Howling Commandos were a team of elite soldiers in the American military who fought alongside Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) in Captain America: The First Avenger against Red Skull (Hugo Weaving) and HYDRA.

The Howling Commandos are based on the team of the same name in Marvel Comics, with the biggest difference being that their comic book counterparts were led by Nick Fury. During the 1960s, the group headlined their own comic, titled Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos. The comic focused on Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, and all the others and their missions to oppose the Nazis in World War II. Many of the characters in the comic were reused in the present-day Marvel Comics stories as allies of Nick Fury in his new position as the director of SHIELD. Some had opportunities to share adventures with Captain America after his return.

The MCU’s take on the Howling Commandos received the bulk of their screen-time in The First Avenger, and due to the massive difference in the setting between the 2011 film and the rest of the MCU movies, there hasn’t been much that Marvel has been able to do with Cap’s old team since then. However, a few movies and shows have provided glimpses into these characters’ futures after Captain America was supposedly killed in 1945. Here’s what is known about the fate of every Howling Commando in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Jim Morita

Jim Morita (Kenneth Choi) stayed with the Howling Commandos for an unspecified period of time before starting a family. According to SHIELD’s files seen in a deleted scene of The Avengers, he passed away prior to Steve’s return. His grandson, who is played by the same actor, now works as the principal at Peter Parker’s high school.

James Montgomery Falsworth

James Montgomery Falsworth (JJ Field), who in the comics is the first incarnation of British superhero Union Jack, received a number of honors for his service to the Allied cause as a member of the Howling Commandos. Like Morita, he died before Captain America was thawed out from the ice.

Gabe Jones

The Marvel Comics version of Gabe Jones joined Nick Fury at SHIELD. He also formed a romantic relationship with Peggy Carter in their later years. As for the MCU’s Gabe Jones, played by Derek Luke, nothing was ever confirmed about his post-war fate. That being said, it’s been speculated that Gabe Jones had a grandson that became a SHIELD agent. In Agents of SHIELD, Triplett (BJ Britt) spoke proudly of his grandfather, who he claimed was a Howling Commando. This person apparently had a huge influence on Triplett and his decision to join SHIELD. His name was never mentioned, but the prevailing theory is that Gabe Jones is Triplett’s grandfather.

Jacques Dernier

French Resistance member and Howling Commando Jacques Dernier (Bruno Ricci) was a key ally to Captain America during the battle with HYDRA in The First Avenger. Exactly what Dernier was up to after the war is difficult to determine, but SHIELD’s files in The Avengers deleted scene mentioned above listed him as “deceased”.

Dum Dum Dugan

In Marvel Comics, Dum Dum Dugan went on to become Nick Fury’s most trusted confidante at SHIELD, but his role in the MCU is much less significant. Agent Carter revealed that Dugan continued to serve with the Howling Commandos even after the war was over, but nothing has been said about what happened to him after that, or if he ever officially joined SHIELD. He was last seen hanging out with Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) at his home. It’s possible that Dugan followed in the footsteps of the comic book hero and became a fixture of SHIELD for the remainder of his life. Since Dugan’s name wasn’t included with some of the other “deceased” Howling Commandos, it could be that he was still alive in 2012.

Bucky Barnes

Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) is the only member of Captain America’s Howling Commandos confirmed to still be among the living, which is ironic, because he was actually the first to “die”. It was believed that he perished after he fell off a train, but it was eventually discovered that Bucky was captured and experimented on by HYDRA, who transformed him into a brainwashed assassin known as the Winter Soldier. After reuniting with Steve and regaining his memories at the end of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Bucky was framed for the murder of Black Panther’s father. He later joined forces with Steve against Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.) and afterward was placed in suspended animation at Wakanda so that their scientists could have time to find a fix for HYDRA’s brainwashing.

After being woken up, Bucky fought with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame against Thanos (Josh Brolin) and his minions. He’ll be back in the upcoming Disney+ series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. In the show, Bucky and Falcon (Anthony Mackie) will somehow be involved in a conflict with Baron Zemo (Daniel Bruhl), the villain who used Bucky to pit Captain America and Iron Man against each other. He may also have to battle the government’s chosen successor to Captain America, John Walker (Wyatt Russell).

Pinky Pinkerton & Happy Sam Sawyer

Pinky Pinkerton (Richard Short) and Happy Sam Sawyer (Leonard Roberts) were two of three members of the MCU’s Howling Commandos who never appeared in Captain America: The First Avenger. Instead, they made their live-action debuts in a season 1 episode of Agent Carter. Along with a few other Howling Commandos, Pinkerton and Sawyer assisted Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) with a mission involving the Red Room Academy in 1946. The MCU never provided any details about what came next for either character, and more information about them is unlikely to come, especially since both Pinkerton and Sawyer were only in Agent Carter and were never in any major MCU installments.

Junior Juniper

Similar to Happy Sam Sawyer and Pinky Pinkerton, Junior Juniper (James Austin Kerr), was never among the group that Captain America led in The First Avenger, but he was counted as a Howling Commando in Agent Carter. Unfortunately, he was killed by a Red Room assassin in his first and only appearance in Agent Carter season 1. The comic book version of Junior Juniper didn’t receive a much better fate. He became the first Howling Commando to die when he was killed off in the comic’s fourth issue.

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