‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ Will Show Bucky Barnes’ Grief
Ever since 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) has been a fan-favorite character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Bucky will appear in the upcoming Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which premieres on March 19.
Part of what draws fans to Bucky is the character’s tragic backstory and Stan’s nuanced portrayal. In the Disney+ miniseries, Marvel fans will see Bucky deal with his trauma and grief.
[Spoiler alert: The following article contains spoilers for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.]
Why Marvel fans love Bucky Barnes so much
Bucky first appeared in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger. In the movie, Bucky presumably falls to his death. However, 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier revealed Bucky is a brainwashed assassin for Hydra.
In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Bucky barely had any spoken lines, and Stan primarily showcased Bucky’s trauma and complex emotions through his eyes.
2016’s Captain America: Civil War focused on Bucky attempting to overcome his brainwashing while rebuilding his friendship with Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans).
Stan went on to appear as Bucky in Black Panther in 2018, Avengers: Infinity War in 2018, and Avengers: Endgame in 2019. At the end of Avengers: Endgame, Steve chooses to go back in time to live with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell).
After all of the trauma Bucky went through in the Captain America trilogy, a great deal of fans view Bucky as a victim and feel protective of the character.
Bucky Barnes will appear in ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’
In Avengers: Endgame, Steve returns as an old man and gives his shield to Sam, signaling that he wants Sam to be the next Captain America. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier takes place six months after Avengers: Endgame.
In an interview with Polygon, a creator of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Malcolm Spellman, shared what to expect from Bucky in the show, saying:
“We really processed all the baggage Bucky is carrying around from all those murders, and from being manipulated by HYDRA for decade after decade after decade. We brought that to bear and personified that through one character he’s going to have to deal with, and he’s going to either fail or succeed in absolving his sins through this character.”
Sebastian Stan’s character will grieve in ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’
The main emotional arc of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will be centered around Sam as he struggles with carrying on Steve’s legacy as Captain America. However, Bucky will still have an emotional storyline according to Spellman.
“So the global theme for this thing is identity. We have five main characters who all have their own individual journeys underneath that,” Spellman told Polygon.
He continued, “Bucky Barnes is dealing with grief. Same with John Walker [played by Wyatt Russell] — they both have different incarnations of a veteran story, in that you do everything for a country, and then who’s there to pick up the pieces for you?”
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will premiere on Disney+ at midnight PDT and 3 a.m. EDT on March 19.
