Probably my favorite plot arc of the entire MCU is the development of Bucky Barnes. Captain America has been my favorite Avenger since phase 1 (#TeamCap all the way!) but, as much as I love the boy scout who repeatedly risks everything for what he believes, the heart-breaking story and eventual redemption of his best friend may be even better. This all really got started with the best MCU movie of all.
More than anything I wanted an excuse to write about Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Fortunately the introduction of the Winter Soldier, the character, kicks off a meaningful recurring thread of another man out of his time but, unlike Captain America, he has to grapple with the overbearing weight of this past. It doesn't matter that he wasn't in control of his own mind or body if he remembers all that he's done and that'd be terrible to live with. We'll get to more of that in a bit. Going forward there's mild spoilers for the Captain America movies and the recent Disney+ show The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier ('TWS' - Captain America 2) was a world-shattering moment in the always inter-connected MCU. Up til then SHIELD was displayed wholly as a force for good, at least as much as a quasi-governmental organization can be. TWS revealed that SHIELD, at the very top and throughout its infrastructure, was run by HYDRA, the organization that Steve Rogers fought before his deep freeze. I'm not a comics person so this was pretty jaw-dropping for me. What Marvel pulled off using this was an exceptional modern political thriller where Captain America takes on the system against all odds. It's a throwback to a style most connected with the 70s and was majorly aided by the inclusion of Robert Redford, a huge star in the genre (e.g. Three Days of the Condor). The biggest weapon at the covert HYDRAs disposal? A super-soldier wrecking-ball machine of a man called the Winter Soldier. Completely brainwashed, he takes orders and never fails to carry them out. He's been assassinating important targets and completing other missions for decades as the deadliest ghost on Earth. And it turns out this whole time he's been Captain America's boyhood best friend Bucky Barnes, thought dead since WWII. It's his intimidating presence that adds a ton of tension throughout the course of the film.
I love this movie and I stand by my statement it's the best the MCU has to offer. It's got a tight plot, a bunch of amazing action sequences, more surprises than the two already mentioned, and, even though it takes place in an era of absurd technology, it's a perfect vehicle to again demonstrate what makes Captain America special. It helps to have seen Captain America 1 ('The First Avenger'), which shows that Steve Rogers was always the right man for the super serum and establishes his friendship with Bucky. After all it is a sequel. But unlike so many segments of the MCU it stands on its own extremely well, even as it continues to set up the movies and a TV show to follow.
I couldn't write about this movie without including a few of its best scenes, all of which are actually longer than the videos show.
Nick Fury's incredible SUV ->
In the elevator ->
On the highway ->
At the end of TWS Cap reminds Bucky of their history and the virtuous man he once was. Bucky gets free of HYDRA but his mind-control susceptibility remains. Afterward he starts to remember himself while simultaneously realizing all the blood on his hands and feels driven to stay hidden from friend or foe. In Captain America 3 ('Civil War') Cap lays it all down one more time, this time for his friend, and it forever alters his relationships with the Avengers. Eventually he and Bucky make a new friend, one that can at last give Bucky's mind back permanently, so it works out in that respect. A new Bucky, tenuously at peace, briefly appears in the last two Avengers films (Infinity War/Endgame) though is a minor part of those very complicated stories.
That could've been enough. Bucky had a clean slate and never was a primary hero anyway. Then Marvel announced a handful of new ('phase 4') TV series starting this year, including WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Loki (which just started!). Obviously I was most excited about The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (such a mouthful) considering the always great characters and themes from the Captain America movies. Unfortunately the show was only okay.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier did accomplish one thing successfully, and that was to prove the correct choice was made in picking Sam Wilson (previously 'Falcon') to succeed Steve Rogers. Personally I'd been bitter it wasn't Bucky but this show changed my mind. Sam, just like Steve, has everything where it counts. Powers and all they entail aren't nearly as important as heart, as what's inside. Sam always comes from the right place while Bucky, completely understandably, is still dealing with a ton of baggage. Even if I want to see him full cycle and take that mantle, he's not there yet and that's fine.
In the meantime, my favorite parts of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier were still all Bucky, now a good guy of course. We see him meeting with a therapist as part of his pardon, which tacked on ground-rules as part of is re-entrance into society. They aren't always precisely followed because well, he's working on something. Constantly haunted by his past, he's enumerated a list of people he's wronged and is ever so slowly trying to make things right. I'd probably love a show just seeing his progress on that. In a later episode he pretends to be the mind-controlled Winter Soldier as cover and gets to dominate like we haven't seen since TWS. It was awesome. By the end, with a little help from Sam, he clearly finally started to feel comfortable in his own skin. After everything he's gone through I grinned ear to ear seeing Bucky not simply bearing the pain, like he did as the 'White Wolf,' but being genuinely happy. I dare you to watch this with a straight face:
I hope we get to see more of him in Captain America 4 or elsewhere. Bucky and his rise from the depths has been the best.
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