When Bucky Barnes first appeared on screens, he wasn’t much more than a self-assured side character meant to serve as Captain America’s loveable best friend. Shortly after, he became an allusive figure that lurked in the shadows, leaving a trail of bodies wherever he went. Now, Bucky is one of the most important and most beloved characters in the MCU, having been through more than pretty much any other hero Marvel has presented to fans thus far.
Bucky’s journey to finding his true self is quite a long one, expanding over 100 years and heavily tainted by the evil influence of Hydra. Despite starting off with a rather insignificant role, Bucky’s time as The Winter Soldier has sparked a long chain of reactions amongst Marvel’s most popular heroes, and he served as the main driving force behind the actions of major characters like Steve Rogers, T’Challa, and Tony Stark in multiple films. Bucky is now a major fan-favorite amongst Marvel audiences and he’s already become one of the MCU’s most developed characters, even with a relatively limited amount of screen time. Until The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Bucky’s name was arguably much more influential than his physical presence, contributing to the “ghost story” characters like Natasha were so afraid of.
A lot of Bucky’s past is still uncharted territory for Marvel fans and heroes alike, and there’s a large gap of his time on Earth left up to viewers' imaginations. Bucky’s time as The Winter Soldier on screen can be seen as the beginning of the end, since Marvel has mainly focused on his desire to escape Hydra, rather than emphasizing everything he did while under their control. Bucky’s first appearance as a deadly assassin was in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but he was already becoming more self-aware as the plot unfolded. At this point, Bucky was able to acknowledge the fact that he knew Steve, showed mercy for the first time in a long time, and slowly began to release himself from Hydra’s manipulations.
By the time Captain America: Civil War rolled around, Bucky was on his own and free of Hydra, doing his best to keep a low profile and resist the programming put in his brain. Obviously, Bucky wasn’t his total self yet, since Zemo was still able to use his trigger words against him, but neither he nor Steve had appeared anywhere else after the events of The Winter Soldier and before Civil War. Bucky was mostly absent during the events of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, since he was one of the many victims who disappeared from Thanos’s snap. The next time fans were given the chance to really see Bucky in action was The Falcon and The Winter Soldier.
Overall, Bucky has managed to make a pretty large impact on Marvel’s heroes, but there are still some major missing pieces in his story. Of course, there have been a few brief mentions of the things Bucky did as The Winter Soldier, including killing Tony Stark’s parents, attacking Natasha before the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and killing the son of his from Nakajima, as established in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. However, Bucky’s self-loathing and long list of names confirms that he has done much more than just the few things the MCU has shared with viewers so far.
This means that there is still so much backstory for Marvel to explore, and it seems like a waste not to acknowledge the intensive process Hydra used to turn Bucky into a ruthless killing machine. Bucky has moved on completely from his involuntary sins as The Winter Soldier now that he’s been cured by the Dora Milaje, and managed to make reparations for the things Hydra forced him to do, so it seems like Marvel is planning to bring Bucky’s character to a point beyond his past self. However, giving Bucky his own movie could be the perfect way to fill in the blank spaces left in his past and wrap up the story in its entirety before disregarding it completely.
In Captain America: Civil War, Bucky claims that he can remember every kill and every bad thing he ever did as The Winter Soldier, implying that his true self broke through to the surface much more frequently than fans initially assumed. It also means that Bucky didn’t need to see someone from his past, like Steve, in order to remember himself and take in everything going on around him. Exploring this concept in a Winter Soldier solo film would make Bucky’s progress in the 21st century and his unwillingness to accept forgiveness from others much more interesting. Bucky’s character is far more cerebral than other MCU heroes, having been intimately involved with both the good and the bad sides of life, which manifests itself as extensive trauma and guilt.
Seeing what Bucky did and how Hydra managed to poison his mind with such intensive conditioning could also prove to fans that Bucky has always been a victim, putting an end to the debate over whether or not Bucky is actually a villain. Antiheroes are becoming more common in the superhero world, but Bucky is an entirely unique breed. His lack of moral compass wasn’t due to his own personal beliefs, but rather an uninvited second party having control over what he can and cannot do. Capitalizing more on Bucky’s unusual circumstances in a solo film could perhaps make him the most dynamic character the MCU has ever seen.
It’s rare for Marvel to create massive plot holes, or fail to take advantage of great opportunities, but one of the biggest potential stories has been overlooked for many years now. Before allowing Bucky to give up on his past self completely, the MCU should take the time to fully portray The Winter Soldier tragedy on screen and give fans a deeper understanding of Marvel’s most complicated hero.