Who the Hell is Bucky?

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is one of the best Marvel movies ever made. It was the first movie the Russo Brothers did in the MCU, and now they’re moving on to Doomsday. This is the movie I had in mind when I first came up with the notion of doing this blog. I wanted to write up a list based on Steve’s notebook; an explanation of all the pop culture things he missed while doing time as a “Capsicle.” International versions of the movie had different lists based on whatever country they were in. Crazily enough, I also wanted to listen to the Troubleman soundtrack, based on Falcon’s recommendation. More on that later in the week. Anyways, this movie is really a political \ spycraft movie like they had in the 70’s. It’s Steve trying to acclimate to the 21st Century after WWII and the events of The Avengers, gaining new allies and old enemies. It’s the movie that turned everything we knew about that time period on its head, including the TV show Agents of SHIELD. It’s the best opening sequence, the best Cap suit and two of the best fights ever captured up to this point: the street fight and the elevator fight. Hands down. Even the posters are great. It made me generally love the characters of Captain America and The Winter Soldier. Additionally, their roles parallel each other: childhood best friends, WWII veterans and both were made super-soldiers (one by choice, the other brainwashed). Both were frozen for significant amounts of time and never aged.

Before I begin, there’s a great Jim Lee X-Men comic from the 90’s that had Captain America, Wolverine and Natasha Romanoff team up during WWII. Natasha was just a little girl but her genetic makeup showed her having a martial arts aptitude. Her Red Room handlers would give young Natasha a serum that would slow down her aging. She was kidnapped, by the way, by The Hand – the future enemy of Spider-Man Brand New Day. Cap and Wolvie rescue her
We watch Sam Wilson, AKA the future Falcon running around DC with Cap just flying past him with his above-average speed. He mentions “on your left” several times, a running etiquette that shows you’re in their way and will be coming up behind you on their left-hand side
The two of them pass by then then-not-ruined Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool
The line about sleeping like a caveman is later revisited by Bucky in his apartment in Falcon and The Winter Soldier, sleeping on the floor. Poor guy probably hasn’t had a bed in like 70 years
The 58th Para-Rescue Unit is a real unit in the US Air Force. They are an elite rescue unit made of medics, divers, etc. They don’t fly helicopters but also don’t have jet packs
Steve’s notebook. A list of everything he missed while he was on ice. Sam mentions Troubleman, a 1972 blaxploitation movie about a private detective who gets involved with a case about robbery and murder. There was also a 2025 reboot with Spawn and martial artist Michael Jai White. The soundtrack is by Marvin Gaye. I’m going to have a whole separate blog post about the list and the Troubleman soundtrack. Stay tuned, turkey
Batroc the Leaper is a weird Marvel comics character with a purple and yellow costume (the MCU paid homage to this with their Batroc’s track suit) and an outrageous French mustache. He is a savate (a form of kickboxing) expert and is a traditional comics Cap villain. According to Google, the DGSE is “The DGSE (Direction générale de la Sécurité extérieure) is France’s principal foreign intelligence agency, equivalent to the American CIA or British MI6. Operating under the Ministry of the Armed Forces, it safeguards French national security through global intelligence gathering, counterterrorism, cyberdefense, and clandestine operations”
And Interpol’s “Red Notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action. A Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant.”
A Barbershop Quartet is an acapella singing group with 4-part harmonies. They were big in the 1940’s. Does Steve have a singing voice? Also, does Natasha know who Cap’s neighbor Kate really is?
Cap goes onto the Lemurian Star Launch Ship. Cap does it without a parachute and has one of the first great fight sequences of the movie, stealthily plowing through mercenaries. SHIELD taught him modern special-ops fighting techniques and how to properly use his SHIELD offensively. Launch Ships do exist, one actually just launched a rocket containing satellites into space a few days ago.
We’re also introduced to Brock Rumlow played by awesome character actor Frank Grillo. Rumlow will later be known as Crossbones. The other new guy was in the 300 sequel. STRIKE is like SHIELD’s anti-terrorism special forces and SWAT team all in one: it stands for Special Tactical Reserve for International Key Emergencies
I like that in addition to the Stealth suit (so nobody knows they’re getting their butts kicked by Captain America – a lower profile) SHIELD also wrapped his shield in mute colors. It can be easily taken off, too. It’s back to red, white and blue after the mission
Georges Batroc is played by Georges St. Pierre, a well-known Canadian Mix-Martial Artist and regarded as one of the best. His second in command is played by another Lost actor, Adetokumboh M'Cormack. He played Mr. Eko’s priest brother Yemi in Lost and had a crucial role in setting up a key piece of Island mythology
I like Natasha’s SHIELD USB flash drive. I couldn’t find any for sale online, but you can make your own 3D-printed version and make it a flash drive. This damn thing becomes a plot point throughout the movie. One thing I noticed in the movie is that Natasha NEVER ejects the drive properly, she just pulls it out of its hub all willy-nilly
We’re at SHIELD HQ, The Triskelion. In the Ultimates comic, this base was in NYC. Now it's on the Potomac, on Theodore Roosevelt Island. Currently, it’s a National Park
Last time Fury trusted somebody, he lost an eye. Fury trusted a Flerken named Goose in Captain Marvel. According to Coulson, he never told anybody how he lost it – the story probably gets bigger every time
We’re introduced to Project Insight, 3 next-gen helicarriers that never have to land with massive guns and Quinjets. The engines are like the repulsors in the Iron Man armor, just bigger. He got a close look at them while being smashed by them in Avengers. In another reality, HYDRA tried to jumpstart it a few decades earlier. A spiderhole is a term from when the movie came out: it’s a camouflage hole where a person can remain hidden or fight. Saddam Hussein made the term famous when he was captured
Fury says they need a “quantum surge” in threat protection after New York. Loki, the Tesseract and the Chitauri came from outer space and there was no way to avoid that. Was he referring to the bad guys that Hawkeye and Loki recruited?
I used to be an intern in the Smithsonian National Museum of America History in DC and it’s damn difficult to put together a whole exhibit. This one for Cap is in the Museum of Air & Space
You can see Joss Whedon coming down the escalator. The only spot I really recognize is where the gift shop was, my time there was a long time ago. That and The Spirit of St. Louis
This particular Captain America exhibit is narrated by Forrest Gump and CSI: NY actor Gary Sinise. He has a foundation that helps wounded veterans and is pro-troops
Bucky’s Smithsonian plaque. He also has a “star” on the wall of SHIELD HQ as fallen in the line of duty
Gary Sinese says that Bucky was the only time a Commando lost his life, but that’s not quite true. In the excellent Agent Carter episode “The Iron Curtain,” a little Black Widow stabbed Dum-Dum Dugan and killed Junior Juniper
According to the first few signs, Cap got big! He grew nearly 10 inches and gained nearly 145 pounds in muscle. That super-soldier serum can work! On the other hand, Bucky didn’t really seem to change physically that much except the actor got a little bulkier and gained muscle. In Falcon and The Winter Soldier series, the scientist who re-created the serum made sure there was no physical change, all the change was on the inside – stronger, faster etc. Both John Walker and Karli Morganthau looked the same
We still don’t know about Peggy’s kids or whom she married. Marvel released the full 1973 “interview” that Peggy gave and it’s very interesting. The Battle Of Azzano was in Italy during WWII and was a Nazi victory, Cap’s rescue not-withstanding. Peggy says her husband fought there, and they probably didn’t meet until after the war
Couple thoughts on Peggy: So Peggy had kids after Cap went into the ice and after her show Agent Carter. Does that mean these Non-Cap kids never existed in whatever Multiverse her and Cap went into? I still want to know who she married post-Endgame? Was it always Steve?
Scratch that: if Steve was in the background of our MCU, quietly behind the scenes, why would Peggy say it’s been so long? If Steve was her present husband, her Alzheimer’s wouldn’t have allowed her the luxury of keeping that kind of secret
In Avengers, the faces of the World Security Council were obscured and everything was classified. In this movie, these Council guys are out in the open. Charles Widmore from Lost mentions Fury’s costumed thugs. I think he’s referring to Captain America but also War Machine and Black Widow. Also, Algeria is located in Northern Africa but was initially colonized by the French in 1830
Robert Redford stars as Alexander Pierce, Secretary of The World Security Council. I was shocked that Marvel got an actor like Redford for this role, but it makes sense: The Russos based this movie on old 70’s political spy thrillers like the ones Redford used to star in like All The Presidents Men. Yes, Pierce is secretly HYDRA
He must mean his great niece. She wants Iron Man for her birthday party
Sam talks about his wingman, Riley. Another possible graduate of this program is Adrian Toomes, who talked about military service and his “Vulture” suit looks like a hefty falcon rig and probably flies the same way
Fury’s out on the street in his SUV (a Ford, the first on many Ford product placements) after inadvertently saying the wrong thing to Pierce. The bad guys have a SHIELD-issued hydraulic battering ram device (Coulson later used it on Mr. Hyde in Agents of SHIELD). A great chase takes place throughout the streets of DC. The “Statler Arms Hotel” sign seen on the street is better known as the Capital Hilton. The Roosevelt Bridge may be the same bridge that leads to the Triskelion
A funny thing the Russos said at the time was that it was the Punisher driving the Penske trucks that creamed both the cop car and Stillwell
We see a figure in the tactical superhero gear. It’s the Winter Soldier. He takes down Fury (he must have been their last resort to kill Fury) with a funk mine-grenade launcher. It’s the same one he uses on the limo in Thunderbolts. The mini-cutter tool that Fury uses was invented by none other than Leo Fitz!
It’s Sharon “Agent 13” Carter as a cute neighbor nurse from the infectious disease ward, but we don’t know if she's related to Peggy yet. No last name until Civil War. Steve later refers to her as “Kate.” As I said in the Agent Carter writeup, I wasn’t sure where she came from so to speak. Peggy’s only brother was supposedly killed during WWII, but we know that’s a mystery for Season 3. Peggy and her future husband (not Daniel Sousa) would have raised Sharon’s mom at some point. Anyways, was she talking to Peggy over the phone?
Steve’s DC apartment that was bugged by Fury. On the shelf he has a bunch of history books that look interesting: here’s the list
Fury mentions he has a wife. He actually does, Priscilla Davis AKA Varra the Skull. He gets shot through the freakin wall by the Winter Soldier. Fury says “don’t trust anyone,” which was engraved on a lighter in the X-Files. Sharon breaks cover to treat Fury
Steve takes off in an incredible chase, destroying an office building as only a determined super-soldier can. He’s so fast he has papers flying around when he runs past, leaving holes in the walls. He throws his shield but the Winter Soldier catches it and sends it back
Hospital time. The doctor is played by Joe Russo, one of the directors. Natasha seems genuinely crushed, so does Maria Hill. Hill must have been told soon after that Nick was still alive
Steve wants answers. A Soviet-made slug, no rifling. Once again, according to Google, it “refers to smoothbore shotgun slugs commonly found in the Soviet Union. Because they are fired through a barrel without rifling, the projectiles themselves must be stabilized (often with fins) or designed with "rifling" cut directly into the soft lead of the slug so it can safely compress as it leaves the barrel. Historically and culturally, this phrase ties directly to the Soviet Union's practical, resource-conscious approach to manufacturing and espionage, as well as an iconic pop-culture moment"
Steve now has the fancy USB drive and hides the device in the hospital vending machine with the “Hubba Bubba Gum.” Still a popular gum brand today
Steve meets with Alexander Pierce. Pierce says his father fought in WWII and served in the 101st. What would his father think of his son betraying everything he fought for and joining the enemy (HYDRA was involved with Nazis initially). The 101st Airborne Division was involved in Normandy’s D-Day Invasion and the Battle of the Bulge during WWII. The next time we see Batroc he has escaped custody and attacks US helicopters in Falcon and The Winter Soldier series
There are a number of 1435 Elmhurst Drives throughout the United States. ELN rebels refer to the National Liberation Army of Columbia. They're a terrorist organization. Bogota is the capital of Columbia
Pierce says the same thing Peggy said about tearing the old world down. Is it possible SHIELD/HYDRA is bugging her nursing home? She did have access to valuable state secrets and now has Alzheimer's and is a security risk?
Steve picks up his shield from the couch after talking with Pierce and it magically phases through the arm of the couch
Another favorite fight: The Elevator!! It’s jam packed with beefy guys who are sweating. Cap gets a second chance at this situation in Endgame but it goes a different way
After escaping, Cap heads back to the hospital but Natasha’s already there. She must have spent $5.00 on Hubba Bubba. She mentions a nuclear engineer and getting shot in Odessa. Bye-bye bikinis. Yeah, no. In the comics, she and Bucky share a past in the Soviet Union and had a relationship. The reason they call him the Winter Soldier is because he’s put on ice as soon as a mission’s completed, he doesn’t age except a few years between sleeps. Also, a winter soldier is tough, perseveres through the worst
The World Security Council is awfully smug and patronizing when they posthumously deny Fury’s request to delay Project Insight. They have no idea they just played into Pierce’s hands
Natasha and Cap on the run. They’re in a generic mall, there are several in the DC area. I saw US Marshals in the Pentagon City one. They go to a Genius Bar and run into Aaron. MCU lore says he’s the infamous “NoobMaster69” that plagues Thor and Korg
Steve and Howling Commandos probably stole many vehicles in Nazi Germany
Camp LeHigh: they find where SHIELD started but I’m shocked that Natasha doesn’t know who Director Peggy Carter is. We are re-introduced to Arnim Zola. His digitized face is almost the same as his comic version (except he had a body and his face was on his chest). He identifies both Avengers, saying Natasha was born in 1984 (as was Scarlett). He casually says that the Winter Soldier killed Tony Stark’s parents but it was almost a throw-away line that doesn’t get important until Civil War
Google says 1972 was the year that computers began to be miniaturized, not 200,000 feet of computers. Zola’s basement is almost like a primitive data center. Info about those types of computers are available through the internet but is super complicated. Lots of servers with rotating wheels and IBM 360’s
OperationPaperclip similarly existed, its how we got on the Moon with NASA. It was a classified program that brought thousands of Nazi scientists to the US to work on the Cold War. Based on First Avenger, I didn’t think Zola was too into HYDRA, except when he was scared by Red Skull. But apparently he was the guy who grew the second head and made HYDRA into SHIELD. Zola is subsequently destroyed when a Pierce-ordered short-range ballistic missile was fired. He may have fired it from New York or Philadelphia
We’re in Pierce’s home and it’s pretty nice. We see a bottle of Newman’s Own salad dressing, made by his old buddy Paul Newman. We see the Winter Soldier all in the shadows with a gun on a table. Nope, we find out Pierce is the big HYDRA head honcho when he kills his housekeeper for not knocking. No milk for Bucky
Cap and Natasha survive the missile attack and go to Sam “Falcon” Wilson. They discuss trust and what they’re going to do. Falcon used to fly an “EXO 7 FALCON” according to the classified file HE HAD IN HIS HOUSE. A rig is located at Fort Meade in Maryland and they claim it’s no problem to go get it
We are now at the Occidental Hotel in DC which has “Timeless American Dining.” We see Agent Stillwell from many MCU movies. Sam says the crab cakes are quite good, and they should be for $37 a pop. He’s there with the Senator from Iron Man 2, Gary Shandling. Senator Shandling talks about banging a young constituent and is being quite intimate with Stillwell, space-wise. They whisper “Hail HYDRA” and walk away. Stillwell is kidnapped by Sam, Steve and Natasha
Sitwell is HYDRA (has been since he was a kid in Agents of SHIELD) and explains Zola’s algorithm: it mines a person’s past (their SAT scores, papers, tweets, etc) and uses them to predict their future, as in if they go against HYDRA’s new world order! Stillwell mentions a High School Valedictorian in Iowa City (located in Iowa), a TV anchor in Cairo (Egypt which could mean Mona El-Shazly or Osama Kanal, the Undersecretary of Defense in 2014 may have been either Christine Wormuth or James Miller. Maybe in the MCU it was Thaddeus Ross, future Secretary of State and President? It also mentions Bruce Banner. Would Insight’s guns even kill him? Or would he turn into the Hulk automatically? Or would his human form be so utterly destroyed he can’t change?
And off course, there’s Dr. Stephen Strange! Years before he became Master of the Mystic Arts! At this point in MCU history, he was a brilliant surgeon but evidently Zola’s program saw past the arrogance and predicted the threat he would become to HYDRA. Probably not magic, but maybe in another way?
The third best fighting sequence of the movie starts on the highway. Attacked by the Winter Soldier who kills Stillwell by throwing him into a Penske truck and then rips the steering wheel off Sam’s car
All the mercenaries (presumably Russian) have that Jason Statham look. I also find it interesting that they will give their weapon over to the Winter Soldier when he needs one. He also has bulletproof goggles since they took a round from Black Widow’s guns. One of the mercs has a freaking gatling gun and Steve’s able to redirect the rounds using his Vibranium shield
That lady on the bus will never finish her Sudoku book
So did Natasha have that whole fake radio exchange on her phone from the start? It couldn’t have been something she recorded just then, there wasn’t enough time. Like she was with the Hulk, she’s terrified. She’s never “officially” gone up against a killer super-soldier before
Cap fights Winter Soldier and rips off his remaining mask. It’s Bucky Barnes, presumed dead by everybody in 1944!!!! Bucky was experimented on by Zola when he was captured, it’s where Cap found him when he infiltrated the HYDRA base
Interesting fact alert: both Captain America and Superman were arrested on the same street in Cleveland, Ohio (Superior Ave, coincidentally) by the same guy – Frank Grillo – in two different movies years apart
Maria Hill must have taken the agent’s place after they captured Sam, Cap and Natasha and put them in the van. She then manages to overpower the driver of the van, drive the van out of formation without anybody in HYDRA\STRIKE knowing anything (all off-screen). Also, where were they going to dig 3 holes? It looked like an urban construction site with lots of metal
Fury is still alive and has a plan to stop Project Insight. Cap overrules him and takes command, and says both SHIELD and HYDRA have got to go. Fury also mentions Tetrodotoxin-B. The real Tetrodotoxin is a real drug that stops the respiratory functions. B was developed by Bruce Banner for stress relief to prevent turning into the Hulk. It apparently slows the heart rate (but not breathing like its namesake)
Bucky and HYDRA are in an abandoned bank, in their safety-deposit vault. The real bank is the Ideal Federal Savings Bank. There’s not one by that name in DC, but there is in Maryland. I wonder how long Pierce has been in charge of the Winter Soldier? In the 90’s, he was under Russian control and Pierce probably joined HYDRA around the late 70’s and had to go up in rank. I mean, he hits the poor guy which shows he doesn’t see Bucky as human. You also see Ed Brubaker, the writer and creator of the Winter Soldier. I also noticed that the bank had Bucky’s “halo” device that wipes his mind after a mission. It was present in the Siberian HQ. No notebook, though: it was still in Siberia. Guess they didn’t need it at this point in his “career”
Pierce apparently declined his Nobel Peace Prize. I wonder if this was before or after becoming HYDRA? Fury presents his plan to swap out 3 targeting blades in the Helicarriers. Otherwise, the algorithm will identify threats and eliminate them! I would have loved to see this as a subplot somewhere -- that somebody else got a hold of the algorithm's list and started to kill people
WWII Skinny Steve Flashback. I always thought Steve and Bucky lost their parents young (that’s what it said in the early MCU graphic novels). In this sequence, Steve just buried his mother and his buddy Bucky is with him for support. He offers Steve a place at his house like when they were kids. He knows Bucky well enough to know where their spare key is. “I’m with you to the end of the line” is a phrase among these two soldiers
Stan Lee, a constant security guard, is about to get fired. Think maybe that’s why Cap invited him to the Veteran’s party in Age of Ultron? Steve must have more than one uniform (and custom motorcycle) during the War since he was wearing one of them when he went into the ice
The group infiltrates the Triskelion and runs into Danny Pudi from Community as a technician and take control of the radar control room. Steve gives a patriotic speech and encourages all SHIELD agents to go up against HYDRA and Pierce.
Rumlow and STRIKE try to launch Insight early and run into a determined technician who won’t do it: “Captain’s Orders.” Guns are drawn and you know who’s SHIELD and who’s HYDRA! Our technician shows up again in Age of Ultron on Fury’s Helicarrier rescuing Sokovians
Sam and Cap attack the carriers, intending to replace those blades in order to save lives. Natasha’s on the inside of the Triskelion, disguising herself as a Council woman, the same one as New York. She’s played by British veteran character actor Jenny Agutter (who was also in Call the Midwife). At first I thought Jenny was a kick-ass martial artist agent for an older lady, but it’s Natasha in disguise. She must have caught up to her prior to Pierce getting the other members to the Triskelion. Natasha uses a funky SHIELD mask (something that a Melinda May impersonator will use with Grant Ward on Agents of SHIELD a few years later)
Natasha, along with Nick Fury (who comes back from the dead in front of Pierce) puts all of the SHIELD data on the Internet (something that Zemo uses in Civil War). I kinda wish the TV shows would capitalize on this: using stuff off the internet to help save the world, or at least super-powered people. Beneath his eye patch, Nick still has a nasty scarred eye from the Flerken, but I was under the impression he lost the whole eye to Goose (considering he had glass eyes to choose from)
Falcon says “I’m in” too many times since he was only “in” the helicarrier once and the first time was aborted by Quinjet fire. Cap fights Bucky again, this time Bucky is wiped again and doesn’t remember their previous fight, but I think he does in some way. Cap is shot multiple times by Bucky but still manages to get the blades in.You can see Tony Stark in the Avengers Tower being targeted as well as some baseball players. Maria Hill takes over, also following "Captain's Orders. One of the Helicarriers has 645,427 targets before going to only 3. The Hellicarriers are destroyed.
Beneath his combat vest, Rumlow has crossed straps on his chest, a clue to his future nickname of Crossbones. He fights Falcon and seemingly wins until a Hellicarrier crashes into their building. Rumlow is seemingly crushed
Steve tells Bucky to finish his mission and drops the shield into the Potomac (watching the movie first time I thought the shield was gone forever until it’s in his hospital room). Bucky beats the crap out of Steve and watches him plummet into the Potomac. Bucky follows him and saves him from the river
Cap wakes up in his hotel room with the Troubleman soundtrack playing. “On your left,” even though Sam is to his right
Sharon joins the CIA, Maria joins Stark Industries and the HYDRA Senator is arrested. Rumlow is alive but thoroughly burnt. The comics said that he can no longer feel pain
Fury burns his storage locker with all his cool spy shit and gets sunglasses. On Fury’s grave is the Ezekiel 25:17 quote from Pulp Fiction
Black Widow testifies in front of Congress. The only time I can tell she’s really acting and just reciting slop is when she gets technical: “I thought Captain Rogers made his point…” and when she's giving Fury a briefing at Randy's Donuts. Otherwise she acts and disappears into the role. Senator Steven Culp always does a great job of playing a political scumbag
Natasha hands Steve a file on the Winter Soldier with Russian writing on it: "James Barnes–military record of service, deployment and experiments," and is from the "KGB of the Dnepropetrovsk Region"
This movie has severe consequences throughout the entire MCU, and it especially effected Agents of SHIELD. I mean, there is no more SHIELD, how can you continue to have a series? One of the biggies was that Agent Grant Ward, a supposedly trusted member of the team turned out to be HYDRA. Coulson and his team decided to continue to be SHIELD agents, just more underground with Nick Fury's help
Post Credit Scene #1: Secret HYDRA base with Baron Von Strucker and a SHIELD scientist. They have Loki’s staff and mention volunteers. The dead will be buried and the survivors are Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. They’re in adjoining cells and are shown barely containing their new powers from the Mind Stone
Post Credit Scene #2: Bucky, finally free from HYDRA control after 70 years has gone to the Smithsonian and sees himself (as dead) in the Captain America exhibit. Imagine seeing yourself in a damn Smithsonian exhibit but not quite remembering everything? That has to be frustrating. In Civil War, Bucky kept the exhibit brochure and slightly remembered Steve, but maybe as only somebody he read about. The real memory breakthrough didn’t seem to happen until he was in international custody