Marvel’s Battlestar Explained: Who Is Lemar Hoskins (Powers & Comics Origin)

Episode 2 of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier introduced the Marvel character of Lemar Hoskins, a.k.a. Battlestar, and his powers and comic book origins fit in nicely with the latest Disney+ series. The second of Marvel’s shows for Disney+, it finds Sam Wilson, a.k.a. the Falcon and Bucky Barnes, a.k.a. the Winter Soldier, reluctantly reuniting to track down an anarchist terrorist group known as the Flag-Smashers.

On top of that immediate threat, the series finds both men struggling on more intimate levels with the loss and legacy of Steve Rogers. Their friend left giant shoes to fill, and neither Sam nor Bucky are certain they were worthy of the unwavering faith Steve places in each of them for different reasons. Bucky is grappling with putting his past as the brainwashed assassin Winter Soldier behind him and questions whether he might be the monster everyone thinks he is. Sam, meanwhile, backed away from the enormous responsibility of wearing the Captain America mantle, a Black man uncertain about carrying the shield.

To that end, the U.S. government took the shield and gave it to someone else: John Walker, a.k.a. U.S. Agent in the comics, is the new Captain America. He’s gotten off to a rough start with Bucky and Sam, who resent this newcomer usurping their friend’s title and legacy, not to mention his overly-familiar, attention-seeking ways rub them the wrong way.

Also rubbing them the wrong way, though not as much, is Walker’s sidekick and friend, Lemar Hoskins, who informed them his codename was Battlestar. Not much has been revealed about him yet, but it’s clear he’ll play a larger role in the series as the cooler head in his partnership with John Walker. It’s fitting for the character; Battlestar has a deep history in the Marvel comics. Whether it will play out exactly the same in the MCU remains to be seen, but here’s everything to know about Lemar Hoskins, the superhero Battlestar.

Who Is Lemar Hoskins/Battlestar?

When Lemar Hoskins is introduced, it’s in a more intimate scene that sets up the nature of the dynamic he has with John Walker. As Walker prepares for his first major public speaking appearance as Captain America, they share a quiet moment in the locker room serving as the green room: no flashy costumes and no flashing camera bulbs, just two soldiers in their military fatigues. It’s clear the two of them have a long history serving together in the military, and it’s equally clear that Hoskins is the more pragmatic of the two, understanding that the role of Captain America is as much about PR as it is about battle. “This is the job, John. All of it is,” when Walker vents about “just wanting to do the job,” which he solely sees as missions.

Later in the episode, it’s revealed he wasn’t just there to be Walker’s emotional support as a friend; he also will join him on missions as Battlestar. Unfortunately, he doesn’t fare any better with Sam and Bucky. First, he irritates Sam by admitting they tracked the pair of them by following the drone Redwing’s GPS, then he annoys Bucky by pointing out until he and John showed up, Sam and Bucky were “kinda getting [their] asses kicked.” Everything he says is the truth, but his bluntness isn’t endearing him to the two veteran Avengers.

Battlestar’s Comics Origin & Powers

Created by Mark Gruenwald and Paul Neary, Lemar Hoskins made his first appearance in Captain America #323 in November 1986. Just as John Walker acted as a dark mirror for Captain America, Hoskins acted as a warped version of Bucky Barnes. He and Walker served together in the U.S. military and, after leaving the service, Hoskins underwent the same experiments by the Power Broker as Walker, gaining powers of his own and using them to become a pro wrestler. When Walker took up the guise of political agitator Super-Patriot to stir up public opinion against Captain America’s old-fashioned ways, Hoskins staged fake attacks on Super-Patriot as part of the “Bold Urban Commandos,” a.k.a. the Buckies, in order to generate more public support for Walker. When Walker was deemed the new Captain America, Hoskins was asked to work alongside him. However, when Black fans wrote to Mark Gruenwald to explain the name “Bucky” was racially charged, Gruenwald worked it into the storyline and had Hoskins choose the codename of Battlestar instead.

After his treatments by the Power Broker, Battlestar gained the usual spread of Captain America-like super-soldier powers with superhuman strength, durability, speed, stamina, reflexes and agility. He spent some time training with the formidable Taskmaster, as well. As a result, Battlestar is also an excellent hand-to-hand combatant and fights with a similar style as Captain America. On top of that, he also became a skilled gymnast and acrobat under Taskmaster’s tutelage. Also, similar to Captain America, Battlestar carries a shield with him, though his is triangular-shaped and made of adamantium.

How The MCU Changes Battlestar

As with many of their characters, the MCU has changed Battlestar significantly from the comics to the screen, preferring to get the spirit of the character right rather than the details. It’s hard to know exactly how much he’s been changed as not much is known of the MCU version. However, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier seems to have done away with his political opposition backstory completely. Instead of being Walker’s sidekick asked to come along after turning public opinion against Steve Rogers, it seems as though the MCU version of Lemar Hoskins was either specifically handpicked with Walker thanks to his skills and military accomplishments. It’s also possible that Walker only agreed to be the new Captain America if Hoskins came as part of the deal.

So far in the series, both the new Captain America and Battlestar appear to be on the side of the government. Hoskins has no qualms about accessing Redwing – though it’s technically not hacking as, as Walker points out, Redwing is the property of the U.S. government – it’s still an indicator that Hoskins has no problem breaching another superhero’s privacy if necessary. Interestingly, this is somewhat different than his character in the comics, who joined the Anti-Registration side during the events of the “Civil War” arc and went underground as a member of Steve Rogers’s Secret Avengers. It will be interesting to watch Battlestar’s arc unfold throughout the season as it may find him and Walker both growing disillusioned under the constraints of the U.S. government, as well as whether or not he and Walker will gain super-soldier powers as they did in the comics.

Who Plays Battlestar In Falcon & The Winter Soldier?

Lemar Hoskins/Battlestar is played by Clé Bennett. Bennett has an extensive television background, having already co-starred in another series about superpowered people as Harris Prime in Heroes Reborn and Heroes Reborn: Dark Matter. Bennett’s deep body of work in procedurals and dramas should serve him well in the Marvel series, with him having appeared in series like Flashpoint, Shattered, Lost Girl, Rookie Blue, Homeland, Private Eyes, and The Man in the High Castle. Meanwhile, moviegoers and horror fans will recognize him as Detective Keith Hunt from the Saw movie franchise’s Jigsaw in 2017. However, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will find Bennett being introduced to his largest audience yet.

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