Bucky Barnes

Bucky Barnes as the Winter Soldier in Original Sin v1 #8.

Bucky Barnes is a male comic character that features in Marvel Comics.

Biography

Origin

Bucky in Captain America Comics v1 #10.

James Buchanan Barnes

By 1935, his mother had passed away leaving the young Bucky to be cared for by his father who tasked the boy to care for his younger sister Becca. He put on a brave face and they stayed as a happy family for a few years. During this time, Bucky started to get into fights with other kids in the area leading to a number of reprimands. This led to a meeting with his father who asked Bucky to promise to never be involved in a fight again with the boy agreeing but he came to break this promise on numerous occasions. Taking his son home, his father was disappointed in Bucky who was told to stay in his room on that night. Afterwards, Bucky waited for his dad to return from duty only to be visited by uniformed officers who informed him that his father had died. After the funeral, it was decided to send the young Rebecca Barnes to boarding school whilst Bucky would be cared for by his fathers old friends on the army base. (Captain America and Bucky v1 #620)

In 1940, he operated on Army bases where he offered supplies to soldiers in exchange for favours. One allowed him to attend a civilian event where he got into a fight leading to the local police intervening where he was arrested and detained at Camp Lehigh. Despite this, his talents were noticed by his guardian Major Samson who drew the attention of General Phillips that Bucky would be perfect for a new assignment. The special mission was to take place after Bucky's recent birthday when he became 16 years old where he underwent extensive training in England under the S.A.S. Around this time, the news revealed the existence of America's first super-soldier Captain America with Bucky being amazed at his capabilities though wondered why he was never deployed on the frontline. With his training complete, Bucky was shipped on his special assignment where he was surprised to find he was being sent back home to Camp Lehigh. Once there, he was asked to put on a demonstration of his capabilities whereupon he was introduced to Corporal Steve Rogers who was really Captain America. It was then that Bucky realised that his special assignment was to serve as Captain America's partner in the field with him happily accepting the mission. (Captain America and Bucky v1 #620)

Bucky

In November of 1941, Captain America and Bucky were dispatched along with a troop of soldiers into Africa. Part of their mission was to attack Nazi forces there and accept the surrender of Nazi defector Major Hans Guettzer to the United States military. Unknown to all, Bucky was really in command of the mission and that he had secret orders to local and assassinate high ranking Nazi official Baron Strucker. Unfortunately, their plane ran out of fuel forcing them to crash land and their forces were pinned down by Nazi soldiers. They were then rescued by a team of British S.A.S. led by American soldier Nick Fury and were also joined by the Canadian adventurer known as Logan whom, unknown to all was ordered by his employers to learn what he could about Captain America. (Wolverine: Origins v1 #17) Logan earned Bucky's ire when he took Captain America's previous offer to partner up, and soon Fury revealed to Cap the full scope of their mission in Djbera including Bucky's side mission. While Captain America led his forces to attack the Nazi camp and effect the surrender of Hans Guettzer, Bucky slipped away to complete his part of the mission, with Captain America and Logan following after him. (Wolverine: Origins v1 #18) Bucky discovered that Baron Strucker was forming his own organization a terrorist cell known as Hydra and was captured. Brought before a group of Hydra agents by a man who appeared to be Baron Strucker, Bucky seemingly slew Strucker. However, when he was saved by Fury, Logan, Cap and the S.A.S. it became clear that he only killed a man posing as Strucker. Pairing with Logan to search for Strucker, Bucky told Logan about Captain America's origins taking pleasure with the need to kill the Canadian mutant after telling him a classified secret. Logan however managed to knock the youth out. (Wolverine: Origins v1 #19) Bucky feigned unconsciousness and overheard Logan's objectives to not only keep Strucker alive, but to help him escape. Bucky revived and pretended not to have heard the entire conversation but later as they flew out of the region with Strucker as their prisoner attempted to warn Cap. This came too late as their plane was soon shot down and Strucker and Logan were recovered by Baron Zemo. Recovering from the crash, Bucky laid down cover fire, striking Logan in the chest -- ending a fight with Captain America -- and forcing the Nazis to flee. With their mission a failure, Bucky and Captain America left Logan to die in the desert, however Logan would survive and live to clash with Bucky again in the future. (Wolverine: Origins v1 #20)

In late 1945, toward the end of the war, Captain America and Bucky were in London, England, on the trail of Nazi scientist Baron Heinrich Zemo. They discovered Zemo in the process of stealing an experimental drone plane built by the Allies. In the ensuing battle with Zemo's powerful humanoid robot, both Captain America and Bucky were rendered unconscious and strapped to the drone plane to be delivered to Hitler in Berlin. Unable to stand the sight of their patriotic costumes, Zemo dressed them in U.S. Army uniforms. Managing to escape before Zemo activated the plane, the two American champions saw the drone plane begin to move just as they jumped off. Quickly, Captain America and Bucky grabbed a motorcycle and tried to catch up with it. Just before it flew out of reach, the two leaped for the plane. Bucky leaped first and managed to get a grip on the plane's wing. Captain America missed and shouted to his partner to let go in case the plane was booby-trapped. Bucky was unable to comply with his partner's commands because his uniform sleeved snagged onto the cockpit of the plane. The plane exploded, seemingly killing Bucky instantly. Captain America plunged into the English Channel to undergo the process of suspended animation, but Bucky's remains were never recovered, strengthening the belief that he was killed in action. (Avengers v1 #4)

Winter Soldier

He was believed to had jumped from the plane before it exploded but was badly injured from the small explosion. After falling within the freezing waters, it as believed that Barnes came to be preserved within it and prevented his severe wounds from bleeding out. To prevent him from dying, he was kept in cold storage and was shipped to Moscow. Once there, the scientists at the scene used approaches smuggled out from Germany to help the body regain its heat. His wounds were treated to allow his body to recover but they determined that Bucky Barnes had actually died from the explosion. However, they used resuscitation techniques to revive him though it was discovered that brain damage had caused a loss of his memories about his previous life. He only retained his reflex memories that allowed him to maintain his fighting skills. He was then placed back into stasis and put into cold storage to be used at some future point. (Captain America v5 #11)

It was in 1954 that Barnes was revived again for use in Department X's Project: Winter Soldier that used data stolen from MI-6 where they came to use schematics for the Advanced Robotic Appendages and Attachment. This saw a cybernetic arm being attached on Bucky where he was re-tasked to be a weapon for use against Russia's enemies. Due to his memory loss, it was relatively easy to re-program his mind through implantation involving sensory deprivation. Thus, he became loyal to his Russian handlers and trained further to serve as a skilled covert operative where his prior life made it easy for him to blend among U.S. and U.K. personnel. (Captain America v5 #11)

In 1956, the super-agent was dispatched to Berlin to find the rogue Natasha and Ivan Petrovich to recruit them back into the Soviet cause. He found them with Petrovich being mortally wounded with the Winter Soldier offering a chemical serum that would heal their wounds along with allowing them to live longer. Natalia accepted leading to the pairs return to service in the Soviet Union. (Black Widow: Deadly Origin v1 #1)

After Wakanda revealed itself to the world, the Winter Soldier was dispatched by the Red Room in secret with infiltrating the nation to steal its technology. He was assisted by a blackmailed Darkstar where he battled the Black Panther who defeated the Winter Soldier but during detention he was teleported away by a failsafe mechanism. (Rise of the Black Panther v1 #3)

Years ago, the Winter Soldier was assigned to the Gremlin when he had captured Major Glenn Talbot who was interrogated at a facility in Siberia. Department X dispatched Barnes to aid in the interrogation but Talbot made Bucky remember his past. This resulted in him attacking the Soviets allowing Talbot a chance to escape but Barnes was captured with his mind being wiped again in order for him to resume being a loyal operative. (World War Hulks v1 #1)

In 1966, he was dispatched on assignment to capture two Nazi scientists named Peter Hitzig and Mila Hitzig who were the creators of the Alchemy Formula. During the assignment, he had to contend with S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Ran Shen who was tasked with recovering them for the U.S. This was further complicated by Hydra agents who were also looking to recover the scientists where in a fight with Drain Bucky came to briefly remember his own past. He then assisted Ran Shen in helping Mila Hitzig escape but she came to be accidentally killed by Nick Fury. The Winter Soldier was then captured by the Russians once again where he received additional brainwashing to make him forget his past and to prevent a repeat of this incident in the future. (Winter Soldier: The Bitter March v1 #5)

Around 17 years ago, he was part of a Russian team led by Red Guardian Alexi Shostakov into Sin-Cong in order to secure their country's interests during the political strife afflicting the nation. (Marvels v2 #3)

Captain America

Afterwards, General Aleksander Lukin came to inherit much of his old mentors secrets with this including the Winter Soldier in stasis. He later deployed Barnes to recover the Cosmic Cube from the Red Skull after the villain refused to part with it. This saw the Winter Soldier using a sniper rifle to kill the Skull whereupon he took the cube from his dead hands. ​(Captain America v5 #1)

He came to inherit the old headquarters of Captain America which he gave as a place of refuge for the fugitive New Avengers that were hiding from the Pro-Registration forces now under the control of Norman Osborn. As Captain America, he assisted Luke Cage and Jessica Jones in recovering their stolen new born child that had been taken by a Skrull infiltrator. (New Avengers v1 #48)

Whilst on patrol, he arrived at his hideout to discover it in a mess with him attempting to bring it up with his comrades. However, they were in the midst of a discussion started by Clint Baron who believed that they should assassinate Norman Osborn to end the threat posed by him with the others disagreeing with him. Ultimately, Bucky learnt of an attack on Times Square by the supervillain Chemistro but upon arriving he along with his fellow New Avengers were left in agonising pain as the supervillains had secretly used the Power Drainer on them. (New Avengers v1 #55) The effects of the machine meant that he along with his compatriots were left powerless with Bucky experiencing intense pain from his cybernetic arm. The Dark Avengers arrived on the scene with Osborn forging an alliance with Doctor Jonas Harrow of the supervillain gang where they prepared to capture the captive heroes. However, Mockingbird arrived on a jet where she saved her compatriots due to not being affected by the Power Drainer. They escaped to a hospital to help treat Luke Cage as the power dampener caused him to experience and they took him to get treatment from the Night Nurse. Despite her being there, she was unable to help Luke due to his impenetrable skin leading to Cage deciding to willingly surrender to Osborn in the hope that he could get treatment whilst his allies used the opportunity to escape. (New Avengers v1 #57) They then fled H.A.M.M.E.R. by going into the sewers where they were pursued by the Dark Avengers but managed to escape their pursuers. The New Avengers managed to regroup at Captain America's hide-out where they had to inform Jessica Jones that her husband had been captured by Osborn's forces. (New Avengers v1 #58)

Bucky Barnes

Bucky and Natasha then came to learn that someone had been re-activating old Soviet assets from the Zephyr project which included enhanced sleeper agents. (Winter Soldier v1 #1)

He was later targeted by Hydra who dispatched a young boy named R.J. that dressed as a young Bucky and had been trained as an elite assassin to eliminate him. R.J. was stopped and nearly killed by his handler Mister Colt but was saved by Barnes who decided to help the boy and rehabilitate him. (Winter Soldier v2 #3)

Barnes was among various people that were abducted by the race of twisted fae changelings known as the Vridai in order to take over his form. This led to other heroes believing that these people had gone rogue. After being freed, the Winter Soldier and his compatriots set about to stopping the Vridai from causing more damage to the world. (Strikeforce v1 #1)

Whilst at home, he was attacked by armed men with Bucky managing to kill them whereupon he investigated a string of murders in the area. During the course of his search, he came upon Sam Wilson with the two then beset upon by a young man calling himself the Natural. He claimed to had been a fan of Captain America and had been brainwashed along with enhanced by Hydra to kill the pair. Despite their skills, the two were defeated but the Natural stated that he wanted to give the two another chance with him wanting to fight the heroes again. (Falcon & Winter Soldier v1 #1)

Overview

Personality and attributes

After Steve Rogers seeming death, Bucky came to inherit his costume and shield where he became the new Captain America. (Captain America v5 #33) At one point, he came to succeed Nick Fury and became the new Man on the Wall tasked with defending the Earth from threats in secret. (Original Sin v1 #8) After joining the Outer Circle, he came to claim the name of the Revolution after killing the former holder of the title. (Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty v2 #6)

In his youth, he was noted for having a quick temper that led to him being involved in many fights. (Captain America and Bucky v1 #620)

After the death of his mother, Bucky was noted to had formed a 'mask' over his true feelings by showing a brave face for the sake of his family. This hid the fact that he was angry at the whole world for the pain he had experienced with the loss of his mother. He came to vent these frustrations and anger by getting into fights with other kids in the neighbourhood. Following his fathers death, he came to keep this mask for the rest of his life. (Captain America and Bucky v1 #620)

Bucky was still coming to terms with his past as the Winter Soldier despite him projecting the image that he was happy and content when in reality he still maintained much deep-seated anger. He stated that people told him that he had been redeemed of his past with some days he thinks that true but on others he felt a lot of guilt. As a result, he endeavoured to help people as that made him feel worthwhile again. (Winter Soldier v2 #3)

He had been watching Natasha since the 1950's and in all that time he noted that she never failed to amaze him as he noted her for her graceful beauty and brutal efficiency. (Winter Soldier v1 #1)

Powers and abilities

In his youth, it was shown that he had a talent for hand-to-hand combat and even performed some soldiers on the shooting range. The U.S. Army had him undergo months long training and a gruelling regimen to make him a superb soldier. (Captain America and Bucky v1 #620)

He retained his reflexive memories of his fighting skills allowing him to fight still even after losing his memories of his old life. (Captain America v5 #11)

After losing his arm, Department X came to equip him a cybernetic replacement. (Captain America v5 #11)

It was shown that he could wield a sniper rifle that fired high-velocity rounds capable of breaking through bullet-resistant glass. (Captain America v5 #2)

Notes

• Bucky Barnes was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby where he debuted as Bucky in Captain America Comics #1 (March, 1941).
• The character was resurrected as the Winter Soldier by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting where he first appeared in Captain America v5 #1 (January, 2005) and became Captain America in Captain America v5 #34 (January, 2008)
• In an interview on Newsarama, writer Rick Remender commented on the characters actions in 1966, "He is the predator. He is the bad bad man you do not want on your ass. He’s the Soviet Super Soldier; their black ops murder machine. When the Soviets release him from the Red Room, it’s only for big deals."
• The character received an entry in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z v1 #2 (2008) which stated that his birthday was 1925.

Alternate Versions

• In Captain America v2 #12 (1997), a version of Bucky Barnes was shown to reside in the Heroes Reborn universe where he married Peggy Carter. Richard Barnes and Peggy Barnes had a son who in turn gave them grandchildren in the form of Rikki Barnes and her brother John Barnes. The fate of the Barnes son was not known but their grandchildren began living with them on this Counter-Earth in the modern day.
• In What if: Captain America v1 #1 (2006), an alternate version of the character was presented in a story set during the American Civil War. Buck Barnes was a cruel and callous Union soldier that pillaged Native American villages and killed their inhabitants. His actions horrified Captain Rogers who refused an order to kill civilians. As a result, Barnes shot him and was prepared to kill him when an eagle scarred hus face. This version of Barnes later become the villainous xenophobe known as the White Skull with his face appearing as his name sake.
• In Civil War v1 (2015), a version of Bucky Barnes survived in the Civil War section of Battleworld. This version sided with Iron Man in the conflict within the superhuman community and served as Colonel Barnes in President Stark's Iron territory that was opposed to Steve Rogers Blue region. It was eventually revealed that this Barnes was actually a Skrull who was tasked by Queen Veranke with increasing hostilities into outright warfare between the two sides until he was exposed by President Stark after he learnt the truth.
• In 1872 v1 (2015), a version of Bucky Barnes was shown to operate in the realm of the same name on Battleworld. This version was a lawman who met a red haired woman named Natasha who operated as a criminal but the two later married. Bucky was later killed due to the machinations of Mister Fisk with Natasha becoming a widow seeking to avenge her husband.
• In Old Man Hawkeye v1 #6 (2018), an alternate version of Bucky Barnes as the Winter Soldier was shown to operate in the world of Old Man Logan that was designated as Earth-807128. This version was captured by the Red Skull and served as his top enforcer who he deployed to eliminate Bullseye after he went rogue.

In other media

Television

• In The Marvel Super Heroes, Bucky Barnes appeared in the Captain America segment starting with the "Origin of Captain America" where he was voiced by actor Carl Banas. He was shown as being an army mascot that worked at the same company camp as Private Steve Rogers who was secretly Captain America. On one day, Bucky went to Rogers tent just as he was changing into his Captain America costume thus revealing his identity to the young Barnes. This led Rogers in a dilemma but Bucky stated he would keep Steve's secret in exchange for being his sidekick. Thus, Bucky was trained in hand-to-hand combat and wore a mask in the field where he fought alongside Captain America.
• In The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the character made a number of appearances in the animated series with actor Scott Menville voicing him as the young Bucky Barnes with actor Jon Curry voicing him as the Winter Soldier.
• In Avengers Assemble, Bucky Barnes as the Winter Soldier appeared in the animated series in a number of episodes. In "Ghost from the Past", he was voiced by actor Bob Bergen where he infiltrated Avengers Tower in order to abduct the Red Skull and get his revenge on the villain.
• In Marvel Future Avengers, Bucky Barnes as the Winter Soldier appeared in the setting of the anime television series where he was voiced by Japanese actor Masayoshi Sugawara and English actor Yuri Lowenthal in the dub.
• In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Bucky Barnes appeared in the setting of the live-action television series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe where he was once again portrayed by actor Sebastian Stan.

Films

• In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Bucky Barnes made a number of appearances in the shared live-action setting.
  • In Captain America: The First Avenger, Bucky Barnes appeared in the live-action movie where he was portrayed by actor Sebastian Stan.
  • In Captain America: Winter Soldier, Bucky Barnes returned as the Winter Soldier where he was once again portrayed by actor Sebastian Stan.
  • In Ant-Man, Bucky Barnes made a brief appearance in the post-credit sequence of the movie where actor Sebastian Stan portrayed the character again.
  • In Captain America: Civil War, Bucky Barnes appeared in the live-action film sequel with him being portrayed again by actor Sebastian Stan.
  • In Avengers: Endgame, Bucky Barnes returned in the live-action film sequel where he was portrayed once more by actor Sebastian Stan. He was shown as one among many that were resurrected by the Avengers after they recovered the Infinity Stones where he helped participate in the final battle against Thanos.

Video games

• In Marvel Heroes, Bucky Barnes as the Winter Soldier was a playable character where he was voiced by actor David Hayter.
• In Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, Bucky Barnes as the Winter Soldier appeared as a DLC playable character in the fighting video game where she was voiced once again by actor Scott Porter.
• In Marvel: Contest of Champions, Bucky Barnes as the Winter Soldier was introduced as a playable character in the mobile game.
• In Marvel: Future Fight, Bucky Barnes as the Winter Soldier was introduced as a playable character in the mobile game.
• In Marvel: War of Heroes, Bucky Barnes as the Winter Soldier appeared as multiple playable cards in the video game.
• In Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, Bucky Barnes as the Winter Soldier appeared as an non-playable character in the setting of the fighting video game where he was voiced by actor Ray Chase.

Appearances

• Captain America v1: (1941)
• Captain America and Bucky v1:
• Captain America v5:
• Winter Soldier: Winter Kills v1: (2007)
• Winter Soldier v1:
• World War Hulks v1:
• New Avengers v1:
• Winter Soldier: Bitter March v1:
• Thunderbolts v3:
• Tales of Suspense:
• Old Man Hawkeye v1:
• Winter Soldier v2:
• Strikeforce v1: (2019)
• Falcon & Winter Soldier v1: (2020)
• Marvels v2: (2021)
• Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty v2:

External Links

• Marvel.com Entry
• Marvel Database Entry
• Comicvine Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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