Bucky Barnes/the Winter Soldier’s prosthetic arm is pretty damn cool. The original version seen in Captain America: The Winter Soldier was designed by HYDRA and proved more than a match for Cap. However, it wasn’t destined to last. The events of Captain America: Civil War showed its limitations, proving useless against Black Panther and Spider-Man and eventually being disintegrated by Iron Man’s unibeam. However, since the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War we’ve seen Bucky wielding a new Wakandan prosthetic (designed by Shuri), and it seems that this is full of surprises we’ll get to see in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier.
Sebastian Stan started shooting the Disney+ show today, and he hinted at its hidden features in a recent appearance on the Fandemic Tour. Responding to an audience question as to which arm he preferred, Stan replied:
“The one from Wakanda has a couple more features that we haven’t explored yet. So I think I like that one, but I miss the old star. I do. There was something about that. I don’t know, maybe I’ll have to get it back.”
Cool! While it was nice seeing Bucky in action in the final battles of both Infinity War and Endgame, neither clash really gave him much room to shine. I mean, when your unique attribute is ‘having a gun that fires bullets,’ you start to pale in comparison next to the Asgardian gods, weird outer space aliens and all-powerful cosmic entities.
So, what special features could a Wakandan arm have? Well, the sky’s really the limit, but perhaps we could expect some form of the ‘energy redistribution’ tech seen in Black Panther’s suit. As you’ll have seen in his solo movie, the tech allows his suit to absorb and accumulate energy directed at it and redirect it into his strikes. But I’d like it to have some genuine surprises.
Either way, I’m looking forward to seeing the duo handling the fallout from Steve Rogers’ decision to pass the Captain America mantle on in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, which is scheduled to release on Disney+ in Fall 2020.
