Black Panther‘s post-credits scene revealed that Bucky Barnes is unfrozen and laying low in Wakanda, which means that he’ll factor into Avengers: Infinity War when Earth’s Mightiest Heroes converge on the high-tech African nation to use it as their chosen battleground against Thanos and his forces. But which of the many heroes will the reformed HYDRA assassin be paired up with the most?
Sebastian Stan revealed the answer to that when talking to Entertainment Tonight about what it was like to part of such an enormous ensemble cast. It turns out that we can expect Bucky to be mostly seen with Sam Wilson AKA Falcon, as played by Stan’s real-life pal Anthony Mackie, in Infinity War.
“It’s a lot of people. You stay in your lane and try not to bump into anybody. I’m sure there are a lot of parallels between real life and the relationships that are in the movie. People get to know each other for the first time and scope each other out, I guess. I don’t really know what I’m talking about because I have not read a script. I haven’t met even half the people in this cast yet. I’ve done a majority of my screen time with my friend Anthony Mackie who couldn’t be here because he had to have one of those Cuban cigars for all the effort that he’s making on wires.”
Bucky and Sam have had an interesting time of it in the MCU so far. The pair were enemies when they first met in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but Sam was willing to work alongside Barnes when he began to reform in Civil War. By the looks of things, the duo will be on firm friendly terms in this latest film. Hell, Stan even said he’d be down for a Bucky/Falcon spinoff.
Apart from mostly being paired with Sam instead of Steve Rogers, the other big change for Bucky in Infinity War is that he’s got himself a new codename. In his aforementioned Black Panther cameo, Wakandan children called him White Wolf, which evidence has since suggested will be used more prominently in this movie. It makes sense that he would leave his Winter Soldier identity behind now, too, given that he’s no longer a HYDRA stooge. The change of name also comes with a replacement cybernetic arm, which we’ll get to see in action when Avengers: Infinity War hits cinemas on April 27th.
