Bucky Barnes aka Winter Soldier is one of the most fierce mercenaries and a fighter who sometimes managed to overwhelm Steve Rogers too. He was his best friend, they fought Nazis together and brought glory home. But then he turned rogue.
He was lost to time at the closing stages of World War Two. Hydra captured, replaced his severed arm with a bionic one and mentally and physically conditioned him to become the greatest assassin Hydra had ever fielded. He became a weapon at the disposal of Hydra to take down Shield and Rogers.
In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Bucky was a force to be reckoned with, matching Captain America’s moves and almost defeating him in one on one combat. He was totally brainwashed and was doing he bidding of Hydra.
After his role in killing Tony Stark’s parents came to light in Captain America: Civil War, he and Tony are not exactly on speaking terms after the events of the movie. Safe to say, Bucky Barnes’ aka Winter Soldier’s transition from a villainous assassin into a superhero was neither smooth nor uncontroversial.
In fact, the actor Sebastian Stan recently at TIFF drew parallels between his character and GOT’s Jon Snow. He said:
“I feel a lot like that Jon Snow character in ‘Battle of the Bastards.’ When there’s that shot of Jon Snow, from the back as horses are charging at him and he’s just standing there, that’s kind of how I feel on set at times. Will I make this stampede or not?”
Well, he did face his personal “Battle of the Bastards” when he became a one-man killing machine.
Civil War saw Bucky Barnes ending up in cryogenic sleep until the Wakandan scientists could find a cure for his brainwashing. And thanks to a new Marvel Infinity War tie-in comics, we now know that Wakandan Technology is indeed far superior to the rest of the World’s. Bucky’s brainwashing finally has a cure.
Bucky’s return shouldn’t come as that much of a surprise to the fans. Since he was already seen fighting alongside Cap and the rest of the Secret Avengers in Wakanda against Thanos, it was safe to assume that he was going to be cured soon before Infinity War takes the MCU by storm. But it’s not Black Panther that Bucky Barnes should be thanking for helping eliminate the mental protocols.
In Marvel Infinity War Prelude #1, it is T’Challa’s sister Shuri, whose genius rivals that of Tony Stark, who helps Bucky release him of his psychosomatic hold to restore him to the way he used to be.
The prelude comics that Marvel Comics releases as a tie into the movie act as a precursor, setting up events for an upcoming movie event. The Wakanda section of the comics begins in a similar fashion. In Civil War, before Bucky is put to sleep, Steve Rogers shares some final words with him.
Bucky Barnes is then left behind to be taken care of T’Challa’s Kingdom’s best minds. The “Best Minds” here being a reference to Shuri, Black Panther’s sister and Genius Extraordinaire (played by Letitia Wright in Black Panther).
Shuri is not only a pioneer in the field of technology and engineering but also one of the foremost experts in Neurology. If anyone could break the mental hold within Bucky Barnes’ mind, it is her.
Bucky is now under the constant supervision of Wakanda’s brightest mind. Shuri has created a digital replica of Bucky’s brain. The Cyber brain acts and behaves in a similar way its organic counterpart does, which also includes the trigger words and the mental conditioning imposed on the latter by Hydra.
By analyzing the way the neural triggers make the Cyber brain react, Shuri aims to find a way to cure Bucky Barnes without further breaking him apart. And as it turns out, Shuri has made more progress than one would possibly expect.
Shuri claims she would need to target the most traumatic memories hidden beneath Bucky’s psyche which would probably include Bucky’s best friend, Steve Rogers. The conditioning and the trigger words will slowly be phased out of his mind, but they will come at a price. They are as follows – Longing, Rusted, Seventeen, Daybreak, Furnace, Nine, Benign, Homecoming, One and Freight Car.
Since it is a comic book world, anything is possible no matter how impossible they sound. Superheroes have returned from the dead and defeated literal Gods in several storylines.
So helping a person forgo his brainwashing might sound impossible in the real world but it is possible in the comic book world. Shuri can do it. She is said to be smarter than even Tony Stark, who until now was considered the brightest mind of the MCU.
Tony performed an impossible feat by hacking an Infinity Stone to create an Artificial A.I called Ultron. Shuri claims by cleansing Bucky of his neural triggers, she may have outdone Tony Stark. Maybe one day, Black Panther and the rest of the superhero suits will be created by none other than Shuri herself. In fact, there is a possibility that Tony Stark will seek brain power of Shuri to design his new suit of armor for Avengers 4.
The Winter Soldier will return. With his bionic arm long gone, don’t expect him to single-handedly (pun intended) defeat Thanos by himself.
A Vibranium lined bionic arm for the Winter Soldier is going to be featured as Bucky’s new right arm in Avengers: Infinity War. With a mind and body as good as new, Bucky will be a welcome addition to the good guys in their fight against Thanos, the Mad Titan.
Earlier, there was speculation that Bucky Barnes aka Winter Soldier may appear in Black Panther movie but it was then totally ruled out. This means that he will remain under cryo-sleep while Black Panther figures out a way to fix him. We know that he will succeed with the help of Shuri as we have seen him fighting alongside Cap against Black Order in Avengers Infinity War trailer.
Here’s what Sebastian Stan said about Infinity War:
“It’s chaotic, but it’s great. That’s another insane juggernaut. It’s a war. It’s chaotic, but it’s fun. Anytime you get down there, there’s a lot of jokes and a lot of pranks. It’s a family.”
He added:
“There was a party for the 10-year anniversary, and that was the one day that everybody was there. It took eight months to plan one day. Almost everybody was there. When Jeff Goldblum and William Hurt are in the same room, since The Big Chill, that gives me the chills. It’s pretty special. It’s good. It’s gonna be wild.”
Before Infinity War, Black Panther is all set to be released worldwide on February 16, 2018. Here’s the official synopsis of the movie:
“After the death of his father, T’Challa returns home to the African nation of Wakanda to take his rightful place as king. When a powerful enemy suddenly reappears, T’Challa’s mettle as king — and as Black Panther — gets tested when he’s drawn into a conflict that puts the fate of Wakanda and the entire world at risk. Faced with treachery and danger, the young king must rally his allies and release the full power of Black Panther to defeat his foes and secure the safety of his people”.
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