Bucky Barnes

James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes is a fictional character in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was first introduced as a sidekick to Captain America. The character was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. He first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 (cover-dated March 1941). That comic was published by Marvel's predecessor, Timely Comics. Barnes' original costume (or one based on it) and the Bucky nickname has been used by other heroes in the Marvel Universe over the years.

Fictional character biography

The character is an American Soldier turned Soviet spy and assassin. He was recruited to the U.S. Army during World War II after being a ward of the state. He fought alongside his best friend, Captain America, the "Sentinel of Liberty" and the Invaders, and together they helped the Allies win the war. Bucky was believed to be dead near the end of the war, only to have been found and brainwashed by the Soviets led by Vasily Karpov, who made him the Winter Soldier. He was sent on clandestine missions and committed some of the worst assassinations over the next 50 years. His memory was returned to him decades later and he became the new Captain America after Steve Rogers was seemingly murdered and also joined the Avengers. When Steve returned, he took up the identity of the Winter Soldier once again. The character has been a superhero, supervillain and a sidekick over the years.

In other media

The character is played by Romanian-American actor Sebastian Stan in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He is in the movies Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Ant-Man (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Black Panther (2018), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019). He is also in the Disney+ miniseries The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021) and the animated series What If...? (2021). He has been announced to be in the upcoming movie,Thunderbolts* (2024).