Disclaimer: This post contains spoilers for Avengers: Endgame.
The instant Bucky Barnes held up Captain America’s shield in The Winter Soldier, audiences cheered. To many, it was just a fun little nod to the source material, where Bucky takes up the shield and moniker of Captain America. To others, it seemed like a confirmation that Bucky, in the films, would also be taking over for Cap when his time was eventually up. But that ain’t exactly how it happened.
In Avengers: Endgame, Old Cap instead ended up giving Sam Wilson his shield, in a move that seemed to rub some fans the wrong way. Why give it to the dude with no superpowers — especially when Bucky has been Cap’s best friend for decades and decades. Don’t think the directors haven’t thought out this. While at a Q&A, co-director Joe Russo has some insight into their decision.
“Cap and Bucky are brothers but you know what’s interesting about them is they’re very different people and I think that Bucky always has the ability to have his mind corrupted, it can always be taken over by someone else. That hasn’t been resolved for him and Sam has his free will and I think that Sam also had a similar ethic as Cap as far as service goes in the military.”
“Sam still retains that spirit of service to the community and he lives in that circle very clearly in the movies. Comic books and movies are very different and our interpretation of the characters if you’ve been following the movies are very different from what the books are so as it stands in these films, Bucky is still a damaged character who I think feels like he doesn’t want the shield and I think that ultimately Sam is a character with free will who is the closest in morality to what Cap was and Cap believes he deserves it.”
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I have to agree with Russo here. While I knew a few people who weren’t too happy with Cap’s decision to hand the shield to Sam, the reality is that Bucky still has a whole lot of unresolved baggage. He spent years in hiding following his decades as an assassin, and the rest of the time he basically spent in exile — not really enough time to form a moral identity. Yet. Maybe someday.
What did you think of this decision? Did it bother you at all? Let us know down below!
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SOURCE: ComicBook.com
