Bucky Barnes has had a wild journey in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Although he’s been freed from HYDRA’s control, Bucky’s still not quite himself, but when Captain America: Civil War hits theaters next year, he’ll be part of Team Cap during the superhero conflict. One of the more frequent questions surrounding Bucky’s MCU future is if he’ll follow in the footsteps of his comic book counterpart and become Captain America, and now actor Sebastian Stan has given his two cents on if he wants his character to go down that road.
When asked by We Got This Covered if he would be interested in Bucky taking over as Captain America, Stan (dryly) admitted that he has given that a lot of thought, but is comfortable with how things are going with Bucky right now. Stan said:
It’s so not up to me, and to be honest I really enjoy my job over there, I’m really happy going to work and doing what I do. I love the character that I have. It’s up to a lot of different things, and whatever Marvel decides, I’m game.
Following Steve Rogers’ "death" in the comics after the original Civil War story concluded, Bucky inherited the shield and served as Captain America during a significant chunk of writer Ed Brubaker’s stint on the Star Spangled Avenger’s book. Even after Steve returned to the Marvel universe, Bucky continued to serve as Captain America until he faked his death in the Fear Itself miniseries and became the Winter Soldier full time. Marvel’s plans for Bucky post-Captain America: Civil War haven’t been announced yet, although Stan still has plenty of films left on his original nine-picture deal, so we’ll likely be seeing more of him in the future.
Chris Evans recently said that he’s willing to continue playing Steve Rogers for as long as Marvel wants him, so it’s possible we’ll never see a passing of the torch. However, if Steve does end up perishing in the MCU and someone replaces him as Captain America, Bucky will have some competition for the red, white and blue uniform. Currently Sam Wilson, better known as Falcon, is serving as Captain America in the comics. The MCU Falcon, played by Anthony Mackie, has proven to be popular following his appearances in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Ant-Man, and given that he’s also one of Steve’s closest friends, it’s not hard to imagine being given the patriotic identity. At this point it’s hard to tell who would be passed the shield in the film universe, although in Bucky’s case, becoming Captain America might help with his journey of redemption after committing horrific acts as HYDRA’s unwilling assassin.
We’ll see Bucky alongside nearly every other major Marvel hero when Captain America: Civil War is released on May 6, 2016.
