Sometimes it's hard to believe that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is more than a decade old. The MCU has created dozens of interesting characters and over the course of the last several years, they have grown and changed in big ways. Perhaps none quite as much as Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes. He started his MCU life as a soldier and Steve Rogers' best friend, but became a villain, before turning back into a hero and finding a new life all his own. And now Stan is thanking fans for the past decade of support.
Captain America: The First Avenger turned 10-years-old this month, and Sebastian Stan took the occasion to celebrate his character's anniversary on Instagram, and to also thank the fans for their support over the last decade. He posted an image of clean cut Bucky, the first time we saw the character on screen, with a message of love for the fans of the character. Check it out.
While many characters within the MCU have certainly evolved over the last decade or so, Bucky Barnes has perhaps come the longest way. Like Steve Rogers, he appeared to have died during World War II, but he in fact survived. He was turned into a super soldier and kept on ice so that he did not age over the decades. The big difference being that Barnes was grabbed by HYDRA, and became one of the deadliest assassins in the world.
With Captain America's help he eventually broke free of his programming, but then spent some time in hiding, not quite sure what to do with himself. In Falcon and The Winter Soldier, we see a Bucky Barnes who is trying to make amends for his past deeds and move forward with his life, and he appears to be having some success.
Where things will go from here is anybody's guess. Based on the movies and series that we know are on the way in the MCU, we have no specific expectation to see Bucky again. There are rumors we could be getting a new Captain America movie starring Anthony Mackie's newly crowned version of the character-- so we certainly could see him pop up there. There's even a chance he could appear in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever given his connection to the fictional country.
And of course, with the events of Loki likely to be making their presence felt in the larger MCU, there's the possibility that we could see a very different version of Bucky Barnes at some point. Perhaps it won't be long before we actually see The Winter Soldier again.
Whatever the road looks like for Sebastian Stan's MCU character, there will certainly be fans going along for the ride. While we might not know when we will see the character return, it seems more than obvious that we will see him eventually.
