Marvel Studios DID Consider Having Bucky Become Captain America After AVENGERS: ENDGAME

Marvel Studios DID Consider Having Bucky Become Captain America After AVENGERS: ENDGAME

Many fans wanted Bucky to become Captain America after Steve Rogers's "retirement," but the mantle was passed to The Falcon instead. However, the former Winter Soldier was considered by Marvel Studios!

By Nighthawk01 - Apr 28, 2020 05:04 AM EST
Filed Under: Avengers: Endgame

Avengers: Endgame ended with an elderly Steve Rogers passing his reforged shield to Sam Wilson instead of Bucky. Both characters have held the mantle in the comic books, but it was the former Winter Soldier who first inherited the role after Cap's apparent death. 

Some purists took issue with that, but writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely have offered yet another compelling explanation as to why they didn't choose Bucky as the new Captain America. 

However, they reveal that Bucky was briefly considered by Marvel Studios before the decision was made to move forward with The Falcon becoming Captain America, a plot thread which is going to be addressed in Disney+'s The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. There's also more cultural relevance to the Marvel Cinematic Universe having an African American Cap for Phase 4 and beyond. 

Given the way Bucky's story has played out on screen, some have argued that he's not deserving of taking Steve's place despite their history as friends and allies. He only broke free of his HYDRA programming shortly before Avengers: Infinity War, and has yet to fully find redemption.

Click HERE for more Avengers: Endgame news from CBM!
 

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kylo0607
kylo0607 - 4/28/2020, 5:37 AM
Keep them Endgame articles falling!
WakandanQueen
WakandanQueen - 4/28/2020, 5:43 AM
Sam makes more sense than Bucky to me. I mean, Bucky was a brainwashed soldier up until a few years back. Sure, he isn't at that point, but I think there would be backlash in the MCU world if Bucky took the mantle. Of course, as we know, there's going to be backlash anyway (because of Sam's race) but I can see Sam having more supporters in that situation.
Scarilian
Scarilian - 4/28/2020, 6:13 AM
@WakandanQueen -
That backlash in-universe, due to Bucky being a criminal, is exactly the reason why Bucky would make a more interesting choice. I'd rather see them explore the idea of a Captain America who is trying to live up to ideals of someone he used to look down upon rather than someone who already fits the mold perfectly.

Sam having to deal with racism because he's Captain America would be arguably the dumbest thing the MCU has ever done because we've just had Wakanda reveal themselves as basically the bastion of science/technology/health/whatever to the world. Together they saved the entire planet and brought half of humanity back from the dead, it makes zero sense that anyone would be racist towards the heroes who did that.

I'm fairly sure Wakanda is also going to be responsible for technology contributed to S.W.O.R.D (seen in Captain Marvel) and potentially to helping the world rebuild after the events of Endgame.
ShimmyShimmyYA
ShimmyShimmyYA - 4/28/2020, 7:09 AM
@Scarilian - having a world renown terrorist become the symbol of justice makes perfect sense . Also that wakanda thing........minorities the world over have made plenty of technological advancements but still get treated like 2nd class citizens so why would wakanda all of a sudden change that? People feel how they feel that’s like saying Obama was president so racism is over forever
Scarilian
Scarilian - 4/28/2020, 7:44 AM
@ShimmyShimmyYA -
'The Winter Soldier' was more of a myth, even Black Widow had not particularly seen him other than when he almost killed her. He barely appeared in media and everything he did was hidden by Hydra, until the information was leaked at the end of Winter Soldier - which would have included the idea of his brainwashing because that was the reason Zemo tracked down the book to use that to get to the information he needed.

This is on a much larger scale than anything seen before, Wakanda effectively will have rebuilt the world after a loss of half of humanity. I'm fairly sure it would result in a split opinion at least - but even then it's a matter of some people are racist, some are not. It's not something interesting to develop as a story.

At the end of the day I am looking for interesting new storytelling that throws concepts around and explores them in unique ways. Nothing new can be said regarding racism and it's become a sort of generic fallback when writers are afraid to tackle deeper subject matters.

If they have to delve into IRL politics, I would rather see them deal with the two-faced nature of American military via exploring how they shift public opinion - which is primarily the concept of U.S. agent in the first place (For whom they framed terrorist attacks to rally his approval)
ShimmyShimmyYA
ShimmyShimmyYA - 4/28/2020, 7:49 AM
@Scarilian - I don’t know how racism isn’t a deep issue but ok. I find it very interesting that they could explore possibly the early super soldier experiments and guys like Isaiah Bradley , while also even aside from a race thing a story about the man who was chosen by cap himself having to prove his worth and find his own way to the people who don’t approve of caps choice , which is nearly the same story that you’re asking for Bucky, so why not Sam Wilson ?
patgreyc
patgreyc - 4/28/2020, 9:35 AM
@Scarilian - I agree, too many times they don't have anything interesting or new to say about topics A, B or C, they just fall back on stereotypes or tropes which are lazy writing.
patgreyc
patgreyc - 4/28/2020, 9:40 AM
@ShimmyShimmyYA - Let's be honest, there is nothing deep about people hating people for various reasons. We are tribal creatures, we've been that way forever. If it isn't race, gender, religion, nationality, politics, etc., it's always something and almost always stupid. Also, these are Marvel films made for the GA in mind, you aren't going to get something like the Roots or even the Black Klansman. And I would prefer not to get garbage stereotype writing in my Marvel productions. I get enough of it trying to watch the Arrowverse.
ShimmyShimmyYA
ShimmyShimmyYA - 4/28/2020, 12:05 PM
@patgreyc - idk how speaking on a real world issue is stereotypical but ok, and maybe to you that’s not deep but and a lot of others find it interesting to see how people would react to Sam CA,
Chaos200
Chaos200 - 4/28/2020, 1:31 PM
@Scarilian - The Leader of shield is a black man, the Howling Commandos in the 1940's had blacks and asians in it, even asgardians have black people in it. You can't have a stroryline about racism in this universe where they've made it abundantly clear racism barely exists, it would be so stupid. There's aliens attacking every 2 years but LET'S HATE BLACK PEOPLE LOL Yeah right.
bkmeijer2
bkmeijer2 - 4/28/2020, 5:44 AM
Wouldn't make sense anyway to have Bucky as Cap anyway. To me it seems Bucky wants out (which I guess is gonna happen in FATWS), even though he physically might be the best fit for a new Cap
James695
James695 - 4/28/2020, 5:55 AM
Some of the reactions on twitter to the writers comments are insane! Like 12 year old girls after you have said something negative about a boy band they like.

Makes me realise how the comment section on this site is normally a lot more mature and insightful than a lot of what’s out there.
Scarilian
Scarilian - 4/28/2020, 5:55 AM
Then you (Russo's) shouldn't have spent at minimum three movies establishing that Bucky was going to take the mantle.

It's obvious you had no plan other than a general vague concept, but the least you could have done as writers was follow-up on the concepts, ideas and set-up your wrote into your movies.

The decision to have Sam become Captain America, while not a mistake, is the least interesting of the replacement options you have, let's compare characters:

• You have Steve Rodgers, a symbol of truth, honesty who was rewarded for his courage and compassion by the government enabling him to become a hero. He inspired people, he won wars and he's unwilling to back down making him the perfect soldier and becomes as such the best leader.

• You have Sam Wilson, a symbol of solidarity, caring who was rewarded for his courage and dedication by being selected by the government for a secret program enabling him to become a hero. He's shown capable of planning and strategy which would make him a great leader.

• Then you have Bucky, arrogant and big headed who never seemed to take things seriously. He's implied to have joined the war because he wanted the fame of it. He's always somewhat looked down on Steve despite acting like his friend and enjoyed being looked-up to by Steve, but he's never really had any of the qualities Steve possessed. He's an outlaw, framed for crimes he did not commit and haunted by a past of evils that he had no control over.

They basically admit they chose Sam because he represents the same 'Idealism' as Captain America, which is rather underwhelming from the perspective of someone wanting to see a new portrayal of the character. I'd rather see a different take on someone trying to live up to the legacy of Captain America.
James695
James695 - 4/28/2020, 6:01 AM
@Scarilian - the idea that even a fictional America would accept someone who, whilst totally against his will, took part in countless assassinations of their own countrymen and was a terrorist, is absurd.

Bucky is a much more interesting character than Sam I agree. And you can buy that people may forgive Bucky enough to accept not sending him to jail for those crimes as he was forced to do them.

But out of all the 300 million people
in the country choosing Bucky as the one to represent what people see as the “America way” would be insane.
SerKurtWagner
SerKurtWagner - 4/28/2020, 6:10 AM
@Scarilian - Someone "different" taking on the mantle only works if there is no choice. Steve CHOOSES his successor here. And he is obviously going to choose someone who matches the ideal of what Captain America is all about, not place an unbearable burden on his best friend who only recently overcame decades of brainwashing and is incredibly unfit for the role.
regularmovieguy
regularmovieguy - 4/28/2020, 6:10 AM
Have the movies ever referenced Sam’s idealism? I feel like the most we’ve gotten from Sam was in Winter Soldier by a long shot. And I wouldn’t describe him as idealistic but maybe he is.
Tonic24k
Tonic24k - 4/28/2020, 6:51 AM
@regularmovieguy - Yeah. It's implied but definitely not explored. Which I think lends to the upcoming series; we'll get some fresh storytelling and character development. I think we'll gain a lot more understanding from the decision.
Greenman
Greenman - 4/28/2020, 6:11 AM
I really wanted Bucky as cap just due to the history of the comics and him being an actual super soldier. I am completely fine with it passing to Sam though with the way the stories have played out in the movies. Especially since Bucky hasn't really gone through a full redemption arc yet.
Ha1frican
Ha1frican - 4/28/2020, 6:20 AM
I think it means more core Bucky to have it personally. He’s the person who’s been with Steve through everything, he’s the actual super soldier, and more importantly for me he has a lot more to atone for. I feel setting him on the path of having to live up to the mantle of Cap would have been and interesting place to take the character, give him a chance to be redeemed in the eyes of the world and live his future trying to erase and cope with what he’s done through no fault of his own. I don’t hate that they chose Sam but to me it’s less impactful and makes less sense but at the same time hey I’ll take a black character being elevated to more than a background character at the same time
RokoVII
RokoVII - 4/28/2020, 6:21 AM
As the new Cap, who could Sam take on physically? Steve was a super soldier, Sam is a ordinary guy with a shield. Am i the only one wondering about this? 😂
Zer0squad
Zer0squad - 4/28/2020, 6:30 AM
@RokoVII - Hopefully the show somehow has Sam become a super soldier. Perhaps Cap made arrangements before giving Sam the shield? New super soldier serum using his blood?
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