Warning: This post contains spoilers for Captain America: Brave New World.
One of the stranger revelations of Captain America: Brave New World is that Bucky Barnes, played by Sebastian Stan, is running for Congress. It’s quite the turn for the Winter Soldier, a man who was once brainwashed by Nazis and is responsible for the murder of hundreds of people—including the assassination of Tony Stark’s parents. Though when has a shameful past ever stopped anyone getting elected in the United States?
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The last time we saw Bucky Barnes he was trying to make amends for his wrongdoings by playing second fiddle to the newly-named Captain America, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), in the TV show The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Bucky was lost, unsure what to do with his life after his best buddy Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) decided to travel back in time to reunite with his long lost love in Avengers: Endgame.
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Perhaps it’s not all that surprising that some enterprising power player would tap Bucky to run for office. He has Kennedy-level good looks and a fun, old timey nickname. He’s basically immune to assassination attempts given he has super strength and an indestructible Vibranium arm. He has something that would be coveted by anyone in power: connections to the wealthy yet isolationist nation of Wakanda. He has military experience, albeit of the more checkered variety. He is 108 years old and therefore can boast he’s quite experienced. He’s the full package.
A rumor had been circulating in the fandom that this might be Bucky’s next role in the MCU. In what seemed like a possible slip, Wyatt Russell mentioned during an interview at San Diego Comic-Con last summer that Bucky “is a congressman now.” As of Brave New World, he is, at least, well on his way.
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However, it’s hard to reconcile Bucky taking the oath of office with his antics in the Thunderbolts* trailer. In that movie, due out in May, Bucky teams up with some rather unsavory and morally flexible characters—Yelena (Florence Pugh) and Red Guardian (David Harbour) from Black Widow and John Walker (Russell) from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, among others, to form some sort of low-budget Avengers-like superteam. Like, he is literally blasting cars off the road with missiles. That’s not a great look for a campaigning politician! Especially after the President of the United States hulked out and destroyed some beautiful cherry blossoms at the end of Brave New World.
How, exactly, Bucky will explain this to his constituents? We’ll have to wait until May to find out.
