This text accommodates spoilers for “Captain America: Courageous New World.”
Earlier than the endgame of “Captain America: Courageous New World” kicks in, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) is watching over the injured Joaquin “Falcon” Torres (Danny Ramirez) in a non-public hospital room after the worldwide incident between Japan and the U.S. close to Celestial Island. Out of the blue, a door opens. With Joaquin damage and Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) unfairly imprisoned, Sam is decidedly not within the temper for chitchat, however his temper shifts when he realizes who has walked in. As an alternative of the most certainly culprits like Harrison Ford’s Thaddeus Ross or Shira Haas’ Ruth Bat-Seraph, we see none apart from James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes (Sebastian Stan, who initially thought he’d solely play the position for one film), aka the Winter Soldier.
The initially ornery duo grew to become fire-forged mates throughout the occasions of “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” so it is smart that they have been holding tabs on one another. Nevertheless, one thing about Bucky appears unusual this time round. He wears an costly swimsuit in lieu of his common road garments, with a really politician-coded American flag pin on the lapel. After the pair share some pleasantries and a fast heart-to-heart, we discover out that Mr. James Barnes is certainly now a politician, and aspires to turn into a congressman within the upcoming election.
The concept of one of many Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most persistently tormented superheroes voluntarily including much more difficulties on his plate by stepping into politics is a enjoyable one. Nevertheless, the character’s newfound ardour in politics additionally raises a number of questions on his present authorized standing within the universe, in addition to the components of his MCU future we already learn about.
Bucky’s political future faces limitless questions
Bucky Barnes has proved to be a very good man many occasions over, however his previous is endlessly marred by the truth that he spent a long time as a brainwashed Soviet murderer with a fearsome popularity and a hefty kill depend. If the varied challenges his historical past poses (or the truth that he is technically 110 years previous) will not render him ineligible for election, they need to a minimum of give his political opponents loads of ammunition in opposition to him. Even discounting all the pieces else and taking into consideration his heroics after he got here to his senses, simply the truth that he killed the mother and father of Earth’s most esteemed savior, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), carries the makings of a career-ending scandal.
There’s additionally the not insignificant matter that the subsequent Marvel film, “Thunderbolts,” options Bucky operating round with what quantities to a black ops workforce, which is an exercise U.S. congressmen traditionally are likely to keep away from. Mix Bucky’s historical past and his looming “Thunderbolts” future with the truth that Thaddeus Ross’ (Harrison Ford) Pink Hulk antics probably do not precisely do any favors for superpowered of us trying to turn into elected, and it definitely begins to appear that the character’s budding political profession is little greater than a one-scene surprise.
The factor is, there’s additionally some indication that he’ll truly get elected. On the 2024 San Diego Comedian-Con, Sebastian Stan and his “Thunderbolts” co-star Wyatt Russell casually revealed in an interview with ComicBook.com that Bucky will certainly be a congressman within the film. For the aforementioned causes, this raises much more questions than the failure of his political aspirations would — however, for now a minimum of, plainly this extraordinarily unlikely character is becoming a member of James “Struggle Machine” Rhodes (Don Cheadle) in Washington D.C.’s halls of energy.
