When Bucky Barnes returns to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the Thunderbolts movie, he should be treated as a hero - not a villain or anti-hero.

Summary

• Marvel needs to stop treating Bucky Barnes as a villain in the MCU and acknowledge his journey of healing and redemption from being the Winter Soldier.
• Bucky hasn't been a true villain in the past nine years, and even when he was the Winter Soldier, he was forced to commit evil acts due to Hydra brainwashing.
• Putting Bucky on the Thunderbolts team alongside actual villains risks negating his character growth and repeating the same redemption story, which Marvel should avoid.

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Bucky Barnes has proved himself to be a hero, not a villain, so when the character returns in the Thunderbolts movie, Marvel needs to stop treating him as such. Bucky Barnes has had a fascinating character arc in the MCU, first being introduced as the best friend of Steve Rogers before becoming the brainwashed Hydra assassin known as the Winter Soldier. After he was freed from Hydra's influence, he embarked on a journey to heal and deprogram himself from Hydra's brainwashing. He also worked to make amends for what he was forced to do as the Winter Soldier.

However, Marvel still treats Bucky as if he's a villain in the MCU, one who needs to work on redeeming himself before he can be considered a hero. This is most clearly shown in Marvel's upcoming plans for Bucky, which sees him joining a team of anti-heroes and villains in Thunderbolts. It's not yet clear why Bucky joins the team - which also includes John Walker, Yelena Belova, Red Guardian, Ghost and Taskmaster - but Marvel positioning him as akin to John Walker especially is an affront to Bucky's story in the MCU. Certainly, Bucky Barnes may have been a villain at one point the MCU, but Marvel needs to stop treating him like one, or they risk negating his character development.

Bucky Barnes Hasn't Been A Real Villain In 9 Years

Sebastian Stan has appeared in six MCU movies and shows, and has only been the villain of one of those - Captain America: The Winter Soldier, when it released in 2014. Even then, Bucky wasn't the main villain, that was Hydra and Alexander Pierce. Before he joins the cast of Marvel's Thunderbolts, Stan will have played Bucky in four projects in which the Winter Soldier wasn't the primary antagonist - Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Instead of playing the villain, Bucky fought alongside other heroes in all of those projects.

Even when Bucky was the villainous Winter Soldier, he was forced to commit evil acts due to the Hydra brainwashing and programming. This makes Bucky more of a tragic figure than a true villain, since he didn't choose to do anything evil. In fact, when Bucky is finally given a choice at the end of The Winter Soldier - to either kill Steve or save him from the river - he chooses to save the man he was meant to kill. So while it's been nine years since Bucky was a villain in a movie, it could be argued he was never truly evil, he was only forced to do evil.

Bucky's Story Arc In The Falcon & The Winter Soldier Was About Growth

Still, the weight of what Bucky did while he was the Winter Soldier, and how heavily that hangs around his shoulders, has been a big part of his character since Captain America: The Winter Soldier. It's made clear in Captain America: Civil War that Bucky feels a responsibility for his actions even though, as Steve points out, he didn't have a choice in them. Leaving aside the fact that Bucky shouldn't be held fully responsible for what he did while he was brainwashed, his entire arc in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was about moving beyond his time as the Hydra assassin.

In the Marvel show, Bucky overcame his programming and worked toward healing from the trauma he endured. By The Falcon and the Winter Soldier ending, it was clear Bucky had grown as a character. However, putting Bucky on a team like the Thunderbolts, alongside a character who killed someone using Captain America's shield, risks undoing or outright ignoring Bucky's growth.

Thunderbolts STILL Positions Bucky As A Villain

With the exceptions of Yelena and Red Guardian, Marvel's Thunderbolts team is made up of characters who acted as villains or antagonists in previous movies and shows. While this makes a bit of sense for the likes of Ghost and Taskmaster, both of whom haven't been seen since their previous appearances and so haven't received much character development, it doesn't fit with Bucky's story arc. He fought alongside the Avengers in Infinity War and Endgame, he teamed up with Sam Wilson in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. He's a hero, not a villain or an anti-hero.

And yet, Bucky will next be the Thunderbolts team leader. Without any explanation from Marvel, it's unclear how this next chapter of his story makes sense with what's been shown so far, but it risks relegating Bucky to repeating the same story over and over again. In order to continue his character development and stop telling the same redemption story, Marvel needs to stop treating Bucky like a villain. He's made his amends, he's moved on past his time as the Winter Soldier, now the MCU should too. Hopefully Thunderbolts will do just that.

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