14 Plausible Fan Hypotheses About Bucky Banner That Amaze You
The MCU is without a doubt one of the most popular superhero franchises in history. It's the epic that keeps on giving, with so much source material to draw from and so many interesting individuals. Fan theories are one of the fandoms' favorite pastimes, and there are plenty of them in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
We rounded up some of the most intriguing fan theories regarding the Winter Soldier himself - Bucky Barnes, from unanswered questions to character peculiarities. For instance, a theory indicates that Bucky's transformation into The Winter Soldier began before his fall, or Bucky's activation phrases are linked to his past. Below are the 15 plausible fan hypotheses about Bucky Banner that can amaze you.
"Bucky's transformation into the Winter Soldier began before his fall from the train. In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, we see that Cap's childhood friend Bucky Barnes has been turned into a Hydra supersoldier, despite seeing him fall off a train into a 400-foot deep gorge in the mountains in The First Avenger.
We know that Hydra went down there, fished him out, and did stuff to him. But in TFA, we see that it's before this event that this experimentation on him takes place. During the scene where Cap is staging his one-man rescue op, he finds Bucky strapped to a table in a lab, delirious and mumbling.
This is actually when Hydra started their work on him; it was just a lucky coincidence for them that it happened to be the same guy who would fall off the train and they could pick up where they left off."
"Everyone gave Bucky crap for this in Civil War, so I figured I might explain it. A lot of people pointed out that during Bucky's escape, the German SWAT open fire and ever only seem to hit his hand, which is made of metal, thus saving his life and creating something of a minor plot hole.
But .. it's not because he's magic, or his arm is magnetic (hello lawsuit), it's simply because damn near every military and paramilitary operation is taught to fire center-of-mass. Which is to say, straight at the heart. It's drilled into the skull of every fresh recruit until it becomes instinct. The motion of raising your weapon and firing directly at your enemy's heart is forced into muscle memory.
Bucky knew this. He was a soldier, is a soldier, so he knew they would aim there and raised his big metal arm to block the attacks."
"1, 9, and 17 combined make Bucky's birth year.
The freight car is obviously a reference to his "death," in TFA.
Homecoming is probably about him being sent to America to go on missions or a "return to Russia" order in disguise. So, go "there," do "that," and come "back."
Longing is probably used to trigger his desire to return to the world he and Cap left behind.
Daybreak references the fact that he goes back under after he completes his mission, and is "awoken" when he's needed again.
Benign means harmless, or non-threatening.
Rusted is simply the oxidation of the metal. What color is it? Red.
Now hear me out... Benign and rusted together give you a harmless piece of withered metal. Longing and daybreak could be someone shrouded or hidden in the dark waiting to come out. A freight car is a very large container designed to hold tons of weight. Homecoming... Throw all that together, and you get...
The idea that something very large, red, and with the power to carry immense weight, that is assumed harmless, with an insatiable desire will come from the shadows and return home. It could be a cryptic description of Bucky as a character. It could be about Russia or Hydra returning to power."
"I think the reason why Cap gave the mantle of Captain America to Sam rather than to Buck is that Cap already offered the role to Buck prior to him leaving and going back to the stones.
I think there was an off-screen discussion between Buck and Cap wherein Cap told Buck his retirement plan and offered Buck the mantle for Cap, but Buck respectfully declined and instead told Cap that Sam should get the spot instead. This makes sense to me because 1.)
When Banner couldn't get Cap back, Sam was getting agitated, constantly telling Banner to "get him back," but Buck was just standing there, all quiet and calm, and 2.) When Buck and Sam saw old man Cap, Buck told Sam to go to him and did not come with Sam when he was approaching old Cap. These two show that it's almost as if Buck knew exactly what was going to happen to Cap.
This also answers the question "Why didn't Cap give it to Buck, his closest friend and buddy," so it makes more sense to me that Steve actually went to Bucky already about the position, but Bucky just thought that Sam should get the shield rather than himself."
"Simple really, in Age of Ultron when Black Widow has her vision, it shows someone choking her out before she taps out. I think that out is Bucky Barnes, or more specifically, the Winter Soldier. That's why in Civil War when he is choking her out, she says "don't you recognize me?" because the Winter Soldier used to help train the Red Room qualifiers."
"At the end of Endgame, when Cap is preparing to travel into the past, Bucky seems as if he knows what is going to happen. Like he knew that Cap is going to the past and living a life with Peggy. And it's further confirmed when Bucky sent Sam to talk to old Steve. I mean, that's strange! Bucky acts like he already knows everything.
Okay so here's my theory on how Bucky learned of 2023 Cap (in 2014) - if you watch all of Peggy Carter's scenes from The Winter Soldier you will understand. Pay attention to Peggy's lines, those are important. In the end credit scene of The Winter Soldier, Bucky visits a museum to learn more about Steve, what if he visited Peggy Carter's home after the museum and found old Steve there?
I think it's possible. He met old Steve in 2014 and learned everything, but made a promise that he won't reveal anything to the Cap of the main timeline. Of course, Steve wouldn't have told Bucky about everything that happens in the future, he just told him that he is from the future and living a life he never got. So there have been two Steve Rogers living in the main timeline -1st. Prime timeline Steve Rogers and 2nd. 2023 Steve Rogers."
"What if Bucky killed Peter's Uncle Ben and here's why. Bucky is known for having a violent past, all because of Hydra/ Zemo. Remember in The Amazing Spiderman when a police officer said that the person who killed Peter's uncle had a star on his left arm?
Well, Bucky does too. Marvel is known for foreshadowing and easter eggs, and this thing about the star ties into it. Another reason is Peter's parents, Do you know how Peter's parents were S.H.I.E.L.D agents and someone killed them?
What about if before the whole Bucky thing, Peter's parents had something on Hydra, and when Hydra found out, they killed them. But what they didn't know, is that Uncle Ben knew more too, so this is when they got Bucky to kill Ben Parker for the info."
"Dr. Strange 2 will introduce the concept of the Multiverse in the MCU and it will feature different versions of MCU characters. The first we could see is Captain America as Bucky Barnes,in the comics after the apparent death of Captain America Steve Rogers Bucky took on the mantle of Captain America and joined the Avengers
. People thought we were gonna see him become Captain America in Endgame but the mantle was instead given to Sam Wilson AKA Falcon. But there's still hope that we will see Bucky as Captain America in the MCU because some speculate that when Steve stayed in the past he not only did create a new timeline but a universe altogether and in this universe, Bucky Barnes is Captain America.
It makes sense because Bucky is okay with Sam becoming Captain America because Steve probably told him that in another timeline he gets to be Captain America. With that theory, it could most likely be confirmed in the Multiverse of Madness and we could see Dr. Strange visit that universe and meet Bucky Barnes as Captain America."
"So, let's if you wouldn't mind looking at Jack Thompson's death scene one more time. The last scene of the series. Now, the assassin is unknown and was obviously going to be a part of the story of the third season, as we haven't seen his face in the scene. So, what do we know about the assassin, wearing a very plain suit, silenced pistol, and gloves, what one would expect an assassin to wear. If you want an assassin to blend in, you give him a very plain look and cover any distinctive features (i.e. a metal arm).
Now, we know that Zola was the one to give him the metal arm and to make him Hydra's personal assassin dog. A lot of people have suggested that this happens after the war, as Bucky is being treated by Zola, during the time of operation paperclip.
However, in this interrogation scene from The First Avenger, we see Zola working with the US during the war, sure to get Red Skull, but he wanted power, and to build Hydra up as much as possible. So Zola makes a deal with the US government, he is technically in prison, but he works on experiments that might advance US weaponry.
So, after the end of the war, he finds Bucky in an old Nazi base and decides he will run experiments on him. He replaces one of Bucky's arms with metal, and does other experiments."
"Did Captain America influence himself to find Bucky? On a rewatch of Endgame I noticed after Roger fights himself, he says "Bucky's alive!" And then uses the mind stone. Was this overwhelming emotion the last thing on his mind as he went under the effects of the mind stone?
Did this influence him to find Bucky whatever the cost once he discovered he really was alive? Did it push him to justify Civil War in order to find and save Bucky because of the mindstones influence? I think so."
"TL:DR: Tony Stark will forgive Bucky for what he did and offer to help him finally take back his mind from Hydra's mind hacking, and to maybe stop any chance of what happened to Tony's parents from happening again. By then, Tony's therapy technology will have been improved enough to be effective on Bucky to stop him from becoming a Winter Soldier.
At the beginning of CA: CW we saw Tony Stark showcase his experimental technology that can act as therapy for people with traumatic memories. He demonstrates how it can help with difficult memories of his parents.
At the end of the movie, Bucky voluntarily goes back into stasis, awaiting a time when the brainwashing that Hydra did to him won't be a liability anymore."
"The words are: Longing, Rusted, Furnace, Daybreak, Seventeen, Benign, Nine, Homecoming, One, Freight Car
So you take the numbers and rearrange them a bit you get 1917, the year Lenin was placed on a freight car in Germany and sent home to Russia. So that takes care of 17, 9, 1, Freight Car, and Homecoming. The rest of the words are a bit of a stretch but can still work.
Benign could refer to Lenin being a dormant revolutionary sent to topple the Czar’s regime. And Longing is his desire to return home.
Rusted, the old, decaying 19th Century world that was dying in the Great War.
Furnace, the inferno Lenin was sent to stoke
Daybreak, the new day that was the Bolshevik Revolution"
"TLDR: Tony Stark doesn't believe that Bucky was brainwashed because of the lack of evidence of brainwashing and because Steve is too close to Bucky to be objective about him.
So there is no evidence that HYDRA brainwashed Bucky available to Tony and Tony thinks that Steve can't be objective about Bucky. I think that Tony doesn't know that Bucky is brainwashed. Tony does know that Bucky claims he is brainwashed (hence the Manchurian Candidate reference), but he doesn't believe him, which is why he doesn't hesitate to try to kill Bucky once he learns of the real cause of his parent's death.
There's a saying: when you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras. Tony may be aware that brainwashing is totally possible, but is reserved about accepting it in this situation because it's much more likely that Bucky acted with intention and Steve doesn't want to see it.
Tony may have been willing to entertain the notion until he found out Bucky killed his parents. At that point, cognitive bias would take over and Tony's mind (just like any of ours) would hold onto evidence that supports his emotional reaction that Bucky is a monster who must be destroyed."
When Rhodey referenced Hot Tub Time Machine in Endgame... we know Sebastian Stan starred in that movie... does that mean that Sebastian Stan is Bucky Barnes’ doppelgänger and therefore exists in the same realm/world/universe as Bucky Barnes? OR is he a mere look-alike of Bucky Barnes? Possibly even a descendant in some way or another?
I think if it was vice versa and Sebastian was born before Bucky, instead of the other way around, we could say that Bucky is a clone and in this case, a clone made in the exact likeness of Sebastian in order to do Hydra's bidding. This theory could involve other unworldly magic or something.
Since that is not the case though, maybe when Hydra was experimenting on Bucky they created a clone of him and kept it under lock and key just in case Bucky were to die due to experimental complications. I wonder this because we saw Bucky visit Romania in Civil War, so maybe before he fell off the train and “died” he had connections there which is why MCU Sebastian Stan is from Romania.
Here is my conclusion: Hydra at some point already had or newly discovered that they possessed the capabilities to clone people.
We rounded up some of the most intriguing fan theories regarding the Winter Soldier himself - Bucky Barnes, from unanswered questions to character peculiarities. For instance, a theory indicates that Bucky's transformation into The Winter Soldier began before his fall, or Bucky's activation phrases are linked to his past. Below are the 15 plausible fan hypotheses about Bucky Banner that can amaze you.
1. Bucky's Transformation Into The Winter Soldier Happened Before His Fall
Source: Marvel Studio
"Bucky's transformation into the Winter Soldier began before his fall from the train. In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, we see that Cap's childhood friend Bucky Barnes has been turned into a Hydra supersoldier, despite seeing him fall off a train into a 400-foot deep gorge in the mountains in The First Avenger.
We know that Hydra went down there, fished him out, and did stuff to him. But in TFA, we see that it's before this event that this experimentation on him takes place. During the scene where Cap is staging his one-man rescue op, he finds Bucky strapped to a table in a lab, delirious and mumbling.
This is actually when Hydra started their work on him; it was just a lucky coincidence for them that it happened to be the same guy who would fall off the train and they could pick up where they left off."
2. He Never Gets Shot Because He Knows Where They'll Aim
Source: Marvel Studio
"Everyone gave Bucky crap for this in Civil War, so I figured I might explain it. A lot of people pointed out that during Bucky's escape, the German SWAT open fire and ever only seem to hit his hand, which is made of metal, thus saving his life and creating something of a minor plot hole.
But .. it's not because he's magic, or his arm is magnetic (hello lawsuit), it's simply because damn near every military and paramilitary operation is taught to fire center-of-mass. Which is to say, straight at the heart. It's drilled into the skull of every fresh recruit until it becomes instinct. The motion of raising your weapon and firing directly at your enemy's heart is forced into muscle memory.
Bucky knew this. He was a soldier, is a soldier, so he knew they would aim there and raised his big metal arm to block the attacks."
3. Bucky's Activation Phrases Are Related To His Past
Source: Marvel Studio
"1, 9, and 17 combined make Bucky's birth year.
The freight car is obviously a reference to his "death," in TFA.
Homecoming is probably about him being sent to America to go on missions or a "return to Russia" order in disguise. So, go "there," do "that," and come "back."
Longing is probably used to trigger his desire to return to the world he and Cap left behind.
Daybreak references the fact that he goes back under after he completes his mission, and is "awoken" when he's needed again.
Benign means harmless, or non-threatening.
Rusted is simply the oxidation of the metal. What color is it? Red.
Now hear me out... Benign and rusted together give you a harmless piece of withered metal. Longing and daybreak could be someone shrouded or hidden in the dark waiting to come out. A freight car is a very large container designed to hold tons of weight. Homecoming... Throw all that together, and you get...
The idea that something very large, red, and with the power to carry immense weight, that is assumed harmless, with an insatiable desire will come from the shadows and return home. It could be a cryptic description of Bucky as a character. It could be about Russia or Hydra returning to power."
4. Bucky Denied The Captain America Mantle
Source: Marvel Studio
"I think the reason why Cap gave the mantle of Captain America to Sam rather than to Buck is that Cap already offered the role to Buck prior to him leaving and going back to the stones.
I think there was an off-screen discussion between Buck and Cap wherein Cap told Buck his retirement plan and offered Buck the mantle for Cap, but Buck respectfully declined and instead told Cap that Sam should get the spot instead. This makes sense to me because 1.)
When Banner couldn't get Cap back, Sam was getting agitated, constantly telling Banner to "get him back," but Buck was just standing there, all quiet and calm, and 2.) When Buck and Sam saw old man Cap, Buck told Sam to go to him and did not come with Sam when he was approaching old Cap. These two show that it's almost as if Buck knew exactly what was going to happen to Cap.
This also answers the question "Why didn't Cap give it to Buck, his closest friend and buddy," so it makes more sense to me that Steve actually went to Bucky already about the position, but Bucky just thought that Sam should get the shield rather than himself."
5. The Winter Soldier Aided Train The Red Room Qualifiers
Source: Marvel Studio
"Simple really, in Age of Ultron when Black Widow has her vision, it shows someone choking her out before she taps out. I think that out is Bucky Barnes, or more specifically, the Winter Soldier. That's why in Civil War when he is choking her out, she says "don't you recognize me?" because the Winter Soldier used to help train the Red Room qualifiers."
6. Bucky Knew Everything About Steve And Peggy
Source: Marvel Studio
"At the end of Endgame, when Cap is preparing to travel into the past, Bucky seems as if he knows what is going to happen. Like he knew that Cap is going to the past and living a life with Peggy. And it's further confirmed when Bucky sent Sam to talk to old Steve. I mean, that's strange! Bucky acts like he already knows everything.
Okay so here's my theory on how Bucky learned of 2023 Cap (in 2014) - if you watch all of Peggy Carter's scenes from The Winter Soldier you will understand. Pay attention to Peggy's lines, those are important. In the end credit scene of The Winter Soldier, Bucky visits a museum to learn more about Steve, what if he visited Peggy Carter's home after the museum and found old Steve there?
I think it's possible. He met old Steve in 2014 and learned everything, but made a promise that he won't reveal anything to the Cap of the main timeline. Of course, Steve wouldn't have told Bucky about everything that happens in the future, he just told him that he is from the future and living a life he never got. So there have been two Steve Rogers living in the main timeline -1st. Prime timeline Steve Rogers and 2nd. 2023 Steve Rogers."
7. The Winter Soldier Slew Ben Parker
Source: Marvel Studio
"What if Bucky killed Peter's Uncle Ben and here's why. Bucky is known for having a violent past, all because of Hydra/ Zemo. Remember in The Amazing Spiderman when a police officer said that the person who killed Peter's uncle had a star on his left arm?
Well, Bucky does too. Marvel is known for foreshadowing and easter eggs, and this thing about the star ties into it. Another reason is Peter's parents, Do you know how Peter's parents were S.H.I.E.L.D agents and someone killed them?
What about if before the whole Bucky thing, Peter's parents had something on Hydra, and when Hydra found out, they killed them. But what they didn't know, is that Uncle Ben knew more too, so this is when they got Bucky to kill Ben Parker for the info."
8. In Another Timeline, Bucky Barnes Is The Original Captain America
Source: Marvel Studio
"Dr. Strange 2 will introduce the concept of the Multiverse in the MCU and it will feature different versions of MCU characters. The first we could see is Captain America as Bucky Barnes,in the comics after the apparent death of Captain America Steve Rogers Bucky took on the mantle of Captain America and joined the Avengers
. People thought we were gonna see him become Captain America in Endgame but the mantle was instead given to Sam Wilson AKA Falcon. But there's still hope that we will see Bucky as Captain America in the MCU because some speculate that when Steve stayed in the past he not only did create a new timeline but a universe altogether and in this universe, Bucky Barnes is Captain America.
It makes sense because Bucky is okay with Sam becoming Captain America because Steve probably told him that in another timeline he gets to be Captain America. With that theory, it could most likely be confirmed in the Multiverse of Madness and we could see Dr. Strange visit that universe and meet Bucky Barnes as Captain America."
9. Bucky's First Target Is SSR Agent Jack Thompson
Source: Marvel Studio
"So, let's if you wouldn't mind looking at Jack Thompson's death scene one more time. The last scene of the series. Now, the assassin is unknown and was obviously going to be a part of the story of the third season, as we haven't seen his face in the scene. So, what do we know about the assassin, wearing a very plain suit, silenced pistol, and gloves, what one would expect an assassin to wear. If you want an assassin to blend in, you give him a very plain look and cover any distinctive features (i.e. a metal arm).
Now, we know that Zola was the one to give him the metal arm and to make him Hydra's personal assassin dog. A lot of people have suggested that this happens after the war, as Bucky is being treated by Zola, during the time of operation paperclip.
However, in this interrogation scene from The First Avenger, we see Zola working with the US during the war, sure to get Red Skull, but he wanted power, and to build Hydra up as much as possible. So Zola makes a deal with the US government, he is technically in prison, but he works on experiments that might advance US weaponry.
So, after the end of the war, he finds Bucky in an old Nazi base and decides he will run experiments on him. He replaces one of Bucky's arms with metal, and does other experiments."
10. The Mind Stone Impacted Steve To Find Bucky
Source: Marvel Studio
"Did Captain America influence himself to find Bucky? On a rewatch of Endgame I noticed after Roger fights himself, he says "Bucky's alive!" And then uses the mind stone. Was this overwhelming emotion the last thing on his mind as he went under the effects of the mind stone?
Did this influence him to find Bucky whatever the cost once he discovered he really was alive? Did it push him to justify Civil War in order to find and save Bucky because of the mindstones influence? I think so."
11. Tony Finally Helps Bucky
Source: Marvel Studio
"TL:DR: Tony Stark will forgive Bucky for what he did and offer to help him finally take back his mind from Hydra's mind hacking, and to maybe stop any chance of what happened to Tony's parents from happening again. By then, Tony's therapy technology will have been improved enough to be effective on Bucky to stop him from becoming a Winter Soldier.
At the beginning of CA: CW we saw Tony Stark showcase his experimental technology that can act as therapy for people with traumatic memories. He demonstrates how it can help with difficult memories of his parents.
At the end of the movie, Bucky voluntarily goes back into stasis, awaiting a time when the brainwashing that Hydra did to him won't be a liability anymore."
12. The Winter Soldier’s Activation Code Refer To Vladimir Lenin’s Return To Russia
Source: Marvel Studio
"The words are: Longing, Rusted, Furnace, Daybreak, Seventeen, Benign, Nine, Homecoming, One, Freight Car
So you take the numbers and rearrange them a bit you get 1917, the year Lenin was placed on a freight car in Germany and sent home to Russia. So that takes care of 17, 9, 1, Freight Car, and Homecoming. The rest of the words are a bit of a stretch but can still work.
Benign could refer to Lenin being a dormant revolutionary sent to topple the Czar’s regime. And Longing is his desire to return home.
Rusted, the old, decaying 19th Century world that was dying in the Great War.
Furnace, the inferno Lenin was sent to stoke
Daybreak, the new day that was the Bolshevik Revolution"
13. Bucky Haven't Been Brainwashed
Source: Marvel Studio
"TLDR: Tony Stark doesn't believe that Bucky was brainwashed because of the lack of evidence of brainwashing and because Steve is too close to Bucky to be objective about him.
So there is no evidence that HYDRA brainwashed Bucky available to Tony and Tony thinks that Steve can't be objective about Bucky. I think that Tony doesn't know that Bucky is brainwashed. Tony does know that Bucky claims he is brainwashed (hence the Manchurian Candidate reference), but he doesn't believe him, which is why he doesn't hesitate to try to kill Bucky once he learns of the real cause of his parent's death.
There's a saying: when you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras. Tony may be aware that brainwashing is totally possible, but is reserved about accepting it in this situation because it's much more likely that Bucky acted with intention and Steve doesn't want to see it.
Tony may have been willing to entertain the notion until he found out Bucky killed his parents. At that point, cognitive bias would take over and Tony's mind (just like any of ours) would hold onto evidence that supports his emotional reaction that Bucky is a monster who must be destroyed."
14. There Is A Doppelgänger Of Bucky
Source: Marvel Studio
When Rhodey referenced Hot Tub Time Machine in Endgame... we know Sebastian Stan starred in that movie... does that mean that Sebastian Stan is Bucky Barnes’ doppelgänger and therefore exists in the same realm/world/universe as Bucky Barnes? OR is he a mere look-alike of Bucky Barnes? Possibly even a descendant in some way or another?
I think if it was vice versa and Sebastian was born before Bucky, instead of the other way around, we could say that Bucky is a clone and in this case, a clone made in the exact likeness of Sebastian in order to do Hydra's bidding. This theory could involve other unworldly magic or something.
Since that is not the case though, maybe when Hydra was experimenting on Bucky they created a clone of him and kept it under lock and key just in case Bucky were to die due to experimental complications. I wonder this because we saw Bucky visit Romania in Civil War, so maybe before he fell off the train and “died” he had connections there which is why MCU Sebastian Stan is from Romania.
Here is my conclusion: Hydra at some point already had or newly discovered that they possessed the capabilities to clone people.
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