Bucky always uses “I” statements when it comes to his past (e.g. Contrastingly, TFATWS makes Bucky complicit in his time as the Soldier. Previous depictions of the Winter Soldier revealed a tormented captive used as a weapon. That, in fact, his name belongs on a list of those deserving of absolution. In truth, Bucky should be allowed to conclude that he didn’t harm anyone. This builds his journey, by definition, around the assignment of blame. Bucky’s narrative project takes form as a list of people to whom he must make amends. But there is only one term for this sudden shift of culpability onto a trauma survivor: victim-blaming.Īttempts to affirm Bucky’s position as a villainous aggressor run deep through TFATWS.
And thus, that the single avenue open to him is atonement. Against the backdrop of his absolute suffering, the audience is asked to agree that he is at fault for his trauma. In a six episode-arc, he transforms from a victim into a victimizer who “deserves” his shame. Indeed, this is the show’s project for Bucky. He allowed himself to own that and say, ‘I did that,’ and admit that he cannot always hide behind his lack of control.” Kari Skogland, director of TFATWS, said, “Bucky will always have to be responsible for his past … His redemption is that he could take responsibility for his actions and allow himself the guilt. TFATWS picks up this damaging through-line and runs with it. Captain America: Civil War writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely said in a 2016 interview that “a little too unpunished” and that he was “100% guilty.” Instead of addressing his trauma, the show villainizes it.ĭespite how achingly powerless Bucky reads as the Winter Soldier, we see hints of this perspective throughout the MCU. But if Bucky is presented as a guilty villain who must atone, then his victimhood goes unrecognized. In this vision, there’s no room for Bucky or his pain. Bucky’s masculinity and his victimhood are at odds for Marvel h is fragility and the overpowering bond he shares with Steve Rogers clash with the normative picture that Marvel often paints.
He has never been, for example, the stereotype of a “strong male character.” Instead, he’s a man whose autonomy was stolen, who was rendered helpless at the hands of his captors. The MCU has always struggled with the paradox of Bucky.
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