Bucky Barnes: The Prince from Brooklyn

     I'm watching Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Civil War and I just remembered how much I absolutely love Bucky Barnes!!! Actually it was Bucky that got me into the franchise in the first place. Prior to May 2012, I had really no interest in the MCU at all. My brothers and sisters loved it, but I was more concerned about the drama at Downton Abbey. Shortly before The Avengers came out in theaters, my brother got Captain America and was watching it in the living room. Finding out that the movie took place in WWII, I was interested and decided to sit in. 

     At the beginning I thought it was pretty cool. Yet, I wasn't fully into it. Steve Rogers shows up all amped to join the war effort and I began to really feel for him, but unfortunately not everyone else felt that way. However, by the time Steve was getting his ass kicked behind the theater, I was actually beginning to fall asleep. And then he showed up...

And this is where I fell in love

     Tall, handsome, blue-eyed Bucky Barnes showed up in that uniform, protecting the little guy and proving himself to be the most loyal of friends. I was completely awake after that! I continued to watch the movie, was heartbroken when Bucky 'died' and relieved when Steve got his retribution in the end. Then of course all of this led to The Avengers and afterwards I became fully immersed in the MCU! None of it would have happened had it not been for Sebastian Stan and his wonderful portrayal of one of the most complex, but now beloved characters in the Marvel films. 

     While Bucky Barnes is most definitely very easy and enjoyable to look at, his character as the best friend to Steve Rogers/Captain America is just as enjoyable to admire. For years, it was Bucky that was the top man, the guy that all the girls were swooning for, the athlete, the favorite. And through all that, Bucky could have had his choice of any popular friends, but instead, he chose scrawny and sickly Steve Rogers to run around Brooklyn with. Bucky was handsome, intelligent and popular, all qualities that could have made him a bully, yet he befriended the outsider instead of pushing him around. 

I  am absolutely in love with this GIF!!!***

     One of the best lines in Captain America is when Bucky is completely ignored by Agent Peggy Carter and says to Steve, "I have become you. This is a nightmare." Hey, only a real friend is really that honest! Despite his teasing, Bucky is genuinely happy at how far his friend has come. He shows no jealousy or animosity toward Steve and courageously follows Captain America into the jaws of death throughout the rest of the war. 

     Bucky's death is something that Steve never got over. The only person in his life who never let him down, who was always there to pick him up, who showed him that he had value when the rest of the world saw uselessness. Bucky's death wasn't the death of a friend, it was the death of a true brother. So, when Steve finds out that Bucky is alive, even as the infamous Winter Soldier, it's understandable why he fights so hard for him. In Bucky, Steve sees his former life, all his memories  buried so deep inside. He wants that history back. He wants the person who knew him as he was, before Captain America. The person who fought for him and believed in him and set his heart on the path to becoming the famous super soldier.  

Till the end of the line

     And Steve's impact on Bucky is clearly just as strong. After 70 years of brainwashings, it takes one word, one name, to make the Winter Soldier do one thing he could never done before. Think for himself. To ask questions. 

"That man on the bridge...who was he?...but I knew him..." 

     Then it comes down to a choice. Bucky has the smallest glimmer of free will, to choose for himself, either the man or the mission. He chooses to act upon his free will, to allow this man's words to seep into his heart and rescue him from drowning. While also rescuing himself.

     You must be a pretty extraordinary person indeed if you have a friend who is literally willing to go to war for you. To sacrifice his own friendships and good name. And the truth is, Bucky is worth fighting for. Just as he saw that dorky Steve Rogers was worth fighting for. Just as Bucky saw the true worth in his small friend, Steve Rogers sees the same worth in the notorious Winter Soldier. 

Finally at peace

    In stories the prince is meant to be the paragon of true goodness and nobility. The prince usually does more than save the princess. He will slay the dragon, battle the enemy, protect the poor and fight for his kingdom. The prince is meant to inspire all that is right and just. Yet, the prince can also be broken. Sometimes by a spell that can turn him into a beast, sometimes blinded by cruelty and selfishness, or is completely alone. Does that take away from who he is or what he represents? No. Surely not. The prince is human, can be broken and damaged, but not irredeemable. 

     I find Bucky Barnes to be the absolute definition of a true prince because of his values and morals of protecting the weak, never compromising and seeing the worth in others. In many ways, not to different from Thor, but vastly different stories and backgrounds. And while Bucky may not have had a princess to rescue, he did have a brother by his side. A brother to walk along side of, to fight to the ends of the earth and till the end of the line. 

***Supposedly the director had asked Sebastian Stan and Chris Evans to laugh about something and told them 'to act like friends' for a vintage film shot. Both of them literally busted up and Sebastian said, "We are friends!"