Captain America and the Winter Soldier: Why Bucky’s Title Didn’t Change

WARNING: SPOILERS FOR THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER EPISODE 6 “ONE WORLD, ONE PEOPLE”

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier has concluded its run but the heroes are far from being done. Don’t we love how Marvel always sets up upcoming projects? You finish watching something, but you are all prepared to see the follow-up projects right away. In the final moments of the finale, “One World, One People“, the show changed its name. This was in respect to the second season of the show. The name changed to “Captain America and The Winter Soldier.”

The show focuses on Sam and Bucky’s personal lives. Even though that would have been enough to make it interesting, the add-ons are just purely entertaining. With little to no complexity, the show immediately sets its narrative. Beginning with Sam’s decision to give up the shield, to Bucky going through therapy sessions. From introducing the Flag-Smashers to welcoming John Walker, the show established the impending threats. And of course, as the show progressed, we saw more and more. Zemo, Sharon aka Power-Broker, and Valentina, all were like icing on the cake.

The final moments of the finale changed the name of the series to Captain America and The Winter Soldier. This has set something really important. This goes on to conclude that the show was always about Sam becoming the new Cap and respecting Steve’s legacy. Bucky, forever supportive to whoever he calls a friend, is also the face but mainly it is Sam. It has always revolved around ‘that shield’. With characters like John Walker and Isaiah Bradley, it was broadcasted that even though other elements will be active, the viewers must never forget that the show about the new Captain America, Sam Wilson.

Changing the title has made it affirmative that the second season will come. But it will not focus on Sam as much as it did earlier. This time, Bucky will lead the series. It will be really interesting. His past is not simple, and the MCU has been vocal about that. We can finally see him transitioning from the Winter Soldier to the White Wolf. At the end of Captain America: Civil War, Steve took Bucky to Wakanda. That is where he got this nickname. Adding the cameo of the Wakandas in the series and Bucky’s close relation with them, Captain America and The Winter Soldier can very easily incorporate his time in Wakanda and dwell into the process of them turning him into a normal human from a lethal killing agent serving HYDRA.

Bucky has confessed that there is still a part of Winter Soldier that is left in him. His arc as an agent for HYDRA is not over. He has come a long way and I don’t think we can deny that. He made up with people he had wronged. This includes Yori Nakajima as he came clean about how his son died. But the show has deliberately left out a major part of Bucky’s past as the Winter Soldier, that is the death of Tony Stark’s parents. This could be a possible story plot for the second season where the show dwells into his past comparing it with the present.

Bucky was a supporting cast in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. But we can definitely see him leading Captain America and The Winter Soldier, and maybe by the end of the second season, the name of the show might change again to Captain America and The White Wolf. The series can focus on Bucky and Ayo’s relationship and how she personally helped him to get over the activation words that were assigned to him by HYDRA.

It has been announced that the new Captain America movie, the fourth installment in the arc is in development. We can definitely expect to see Bucky playing a major role in that film as well. The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is currently streaming on Disney+.

Directed by Kari Skogland, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier stars Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson, aka Falcon, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, aka The Winter Soldier, Daniel Brühl as Baron Helmut Zemo, Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter, Wyatt Russell as John Walker, Desmond Chiam, Miki Ishikawa, Noah Mills, and Carl Lumbly.