Cap And Bucky, Together Again
The bond between Captain America and Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier has underpinned The First Avenger’s entire series, and continues to affect Cap’s relationship with his fellow Avengers. When last we left them, in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the two men were fighting aboard a damaged helicarrier. That sequence ended with the suggestion that Barnes had remembered something of his childhood friend, as he saved him from a river and wandered off into the sunset.
Now, with Barnes implicated in the bombing of a United Nations treaty signing, Cap has sought him out in a run-down apartment block, with the intention of protecting him from the authorities that intend to shoot him on sight. Cap continues to believe in Bucky, and his faith is unshaken. Armed forces are moments away, however, and the pair are about to have their friendship tested once more.
Cap and Bucky have a brief, tense exchange, in which two things become clear. Firstly, Bucky is not necessarily guilty of this particular crime, and secondly, having spent more time without having his psychological HYDRA conditioning maintained, he is able to remember more of his old life.
This is enough to spur Cap on, although once the two are in heat of battle, there is a level of distrust around the actions of Bucky that cannot be denied. Cap implores him not to kill anyone, to which he replies, after pausing, “I’m not going to kill anyone,” before bludgeoning a man with a breeze-block.
Cap wants to take him in alive to help him clear his name and get the help he needs to rid himself of HYDRA. Bucky simply wants to escape. This results in an epic action sequence through a stairwell, ending on a rooftop with the appearance of a brand new super-powered character.