While setting up an interesting new chapter in the MCU, ‘Thunderbolts’ one odd choice still feels particularly strange. Bucky Barnes joining Valentina Allegra de Fontaine’s New Avengers instead of standing beside Sam Wilson raises some serious questions about his loyalties, especially given his complicated history with John Walker.
Bucky Had Every Reason To Stand With Sam Wilson
Sam Wilson had already told Bucky that he was creating a new team of Avengers. But that talk should have been significant, given their history together. Both men knew Steve Rogers; both had borne his burden; and both knew what it was to be a hero in a world that needed one.
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This wasn’t just a former colleague calling on Bucky for assistance. He was the one who had been his ally and had helped him get over his traumatic childhood as the Winter Soldier. In ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’, they proved that they could respect each other, despite their differences.
Which is why Bucky’s choice in ‘Thunderbolts’ is so bizarre. He doesn’t openly assist Sam’s plans, but instead joins a group of people that Valentina gathers together when her political career is jeopardized. This is a woman who has played with people who are weak and treated superpowered people as tools of the government.
Her New Avengers aren’t exactly the ones that embody the ideals of Steve Rogers. Of course, Bucky joining the team could give him an opportunity to keep these dangerous individuals under control. But the movie does not make his choice feel as emotionally significant as it should.
John Walker Makes The Decision Even Stranger
The biggest problem is John Walker. It’s the same guy who took up Steve’s shield, who brutally killed a Flag Smasher in public, and who later fought Sam and Bucky when they tried to stop him. Walker’s fight with Sam turned particularly violent, as Walker nearly killed him in the fight.
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Although Walker eventually began finding his footing as a different kind of hero, his history with Sam remains difficult to ignore. Bucky saw firsthand the danger that Walker could be. Yet Bucky is now standing beside Walker under Valentina’s leadership, while Sam is trying to build an Avengers team of his own.
That doesn’t necessarily mean Bucky is a traitor to Sam. Honestly, the issue is not that Bucky joined the New Avengers. It is that the movie does not give enough weight to why he would choose this path after everything he and Sam have been through. A little more explanation could have turned a questionable decision into a genuinely compelling character moment.
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