Since his return in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) has undergone an identity crisis. Following his escape from Hydra’s constant brainwashing, the ex-assassin spent years trying to piece together his past. It wasn’t until The Falcon and the Winter Soldier that he finally put aside his wrongdoings and chose to fight for his happiness. But in doing so, he has the opportunity to turn his most negative aspect into something positive: his codename.
When the series started, Bucky was no longer the Winter Soldier and wasn’t operating as a hero or spy. But even as he tried to maintain a normal life, he couldn’t help but be haunted by his past actions. It wasn’t until John Walker (Wyatt Russell) showed up with Steve’s shield as the new Captain America that Bucky felt compelled to join the fight again, not as the Winter Soldier or the White Wolf, but as himself.
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The White Wolf was a title given to him while he recovered from his mind control in Wakanda. When he rejoined his friend Ayo (Florence Kasumba) of the Dora Milaje, she occasionally referred to Bucky by his Wakandan nickname. It was hinted that he might take up this title as he continued to find himself. But as the season progressed, Bucky’s identity crisis went far deeper than a simple name change.
Towards the end of the season, he and Sam (Anthony Mackie) reconciled their differences, and Sam gave Bucky some advice to finally heal. Since being free, Bucky had kept a book of names tied to people he affected as the Winter Soldier, believing the nightmares were tied to the killer within. He thought that to heal, he had to stop the enemies he enabled and apologize to the families of the loved ones he killed. Sam reminded him that to truly receive closure, he had to give closure to the people he affected, to be of service. The truth that Bucky believed was that he was still the Winter Soldier deep down and was never going to find a way out. But in the season finale, he was proven wrong.
In Season 1, Episode 6, “One World, One People,” Bucky helped Sam stop the Flag Smashers from killing government officials in an armored car. Using his strength and his vibranium arm, he successfully saved them and was even thanked, not as the Winter Soldier or the White Wolf, but as Bucky. From then on, he began his slow crawl back to a semblance of normalcy, which included facing the demons of his past head-on to help others gain closure. When the final title screen of the episode read, “Captain America and the Winter Soldier,” it served as a completed arc for Sam and Bucky.
While Sam received a name change, Bucky’s codename remained the same. This is because his story wasn’t about growing past the Winter Soldier; it was about redeeming the Winter Soldier. For decades, Bucky was given a name synonymous with fear and represented actions he never agreed to. Now that he is in control of his life again, Bucky has chosen to take the traumas of his past and turn them into a positive for the world around him. Not only will doing so help him grow as a person, but it will also make Steve Rogers proud.
Directed by Kari Skogland, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier stars Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Emily VanCamp, Wyatt Russell, Erin Kellyman, Danny Ramirez, Carl Lumbly, Florence Kasumba, Adepero Oduye, Daniel Brühl and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The series is now streaming on Disney+.
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