Even though Avengers: Infinity War was by the far the bloodthirstiest Marvel movie of the lot, wiping out many of the franchise’s most popular heroes, we imagine next year’s Avengers 4 will take out even more. In fact, one person we’ve been expecting to bow out of the MCU after this movie is Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers, as the actor has teased his exit for a long time now.
If that does come to pass, then the Captain America mantle could well be given to one of his best pals – Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes – as in the comics. But which one would it be? Most fans support the idea that Bucky should take over from Steve, as the friends go back so long and Sergeant Barnes still needs to redeem himself for his past actions as a brainwashed assassin for HYDRA.
But what does star Sebastian Stan think his character would be like if he inherited the red, white and blue shield? Well, the MCU actor gave an interesting response when asked this very question, explaining that he thinks Bucky would have a lot of hang-ups as he would have to deal with continuing Steve’s vision and everything he stood for.
“I mean look, it would have to be a very different “Captain America,” like it just wouldn’t be the same. In the comic books it was always interesting because it was an emotional turmoil – there was a guilt there that was driving that character. Because of Steve’s absence it sort of felt like the guy [Bucky] had to once again carry on this vision that his best friend had for years, and what he stood for.”
Continuing on, he said:
And that struggle – you have that coming into conflict with some who’s still grappling with their own past, and what’s the right thing to do now. And you have a character who’s always searched for identity, and he finally gets an identity, only to have lose his identity again to another “idea,” then it makes for a very complex take on it. So if they were to ever explore that, it would be a very different – definitely way darker – take on that situation.”
It’s worth noting that Stan doesn’t mention the fact that Bucky becoming the next Captain America is currently impossible as he was killed off by Thanos in the final moments of Infinity War. We can perhaps take that as a confirmation that the former Winter Soldier’s demise will be one of the deaths that’s reversed in Avengers 4. Not that we were expecting a character with so much more potential to be bumped off so quickly, mind you.
Of course, this isn’t the first time Stan has teased that he could be the next Captain America. Earlier this year, he said that he thinks it’s “possible” for this to happen and that he would “love” to get the chance to take on the mantle of the iconic hero. Whether it ends up coming to fruition or not remains to be seen, but we’ll likely find out what the future holds for Bucky when Avengers 4 arrives next May.
