Bucky Barnes might not be Captain America, but his story will continue following Avengers: Endgame in Disney Plus’ Falcon and Winter Soldier TV series. Sebastian Stan might already have his next project lined up then, which he’ll co-lead with Anthony Mackie, but the actor would still be down for a prequel movie that explored Bucky’s dark past as a brainwashed agent of HYDRA.
While attending Italian convention Jus In Bello this week, the Marvel star talked about his affection for Ed Brubaker’s treatment of the Winter Soldier in the comics, leading him to discuss the ripe potential in those missing years of Bucky’s life that are just begging to be explored in the MCU.
“I think my favorite is all the Ed Brubaker stuff. That was my favorite stuff, and it was just really great to get to do some of that in the movies, and you know, I would love…I always say this all the time but I think it would be really interesting to see like the whole Winter Soldier that we haven’t seen yet.
If you think about it, he had a whole other life sort of as this ulterior ego so to speak. Like when you see the Winter Soldier now he’s sort of like a machine in the movies, but before that, there was actually a real character there, and that was the character that had friendship with Black Widow. But you know, we’ll see what happens.”
Stan’s last comment is referring to the romance between Natasha Romanoff and Barnes in the comics. In Brubaker’s original storyline, the Winter Soldier was a Russian agent and, as Black Widow was also one to start off with, they once had a brief relationship. Stan suggests this could be canon in the MCU but, apart from the change to Bucky’s backstory, Captain America: The Winter Soldier already established that Barnes tried to assassinate her during his brainwashed days.
We haven’t heard any rumblings of a Winter Soldier solo film coming up, but there are rumors that point to Stan appearing in the Black Widow movie that’s expected to fill in the origins of Scarlett Johansson’s Avenger. If this is true, it’ll likely capture the moment Barnes attempted to kill her. Or maybe a surprise romance will spring up, who knows?
In the meantime, Falcon and Winter Soldier is expected to start shooting later this year before its release in 2020. As always, watch this space for more.
