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The way that the message of Thunderbolts* is that to get through depression and past traumas you need to reach out and rely on your support system and the whole time Bucky is separate from his and by the end there's a wedge between him and Sam.
I don't know how you can be a Bucky stan and approve of that pcs in Thunderbolts*.
I love Bucky and that scene gutted me.
How are we supposed to believe that:
The Bucky who spent what seems like his entire career in Congress trying to put together the evidence to bring down Valentina would then turn around and work for her? For 14 months?! After what she tried to do to Wakanda?! After he makes a point of telling Mel early in the film that he never had a choice who he worked for but she does? This is the choice we're supposed to believe he would make?
The Bucky who dropped everything to go to Sam when Joaquín was injured in Brave New World, who told Sam that him being Captain America gave people something to aspire to, who knew that Ross had charged Sam with rebuilding the Avengers, wouldn't be at Sam's side as he built that team?
The Bucky who is canonically best friends with Sam (at minimum), who can comfortably tell him he loves him, would allow him to be spoken of the way they talked about him in that pcs? That he would just stand by and allow them to suggest that Sam's the one at fault, that Sam's the one being unreasonable, that Sam should recognize that the Thunderbolts are the legitimate Avengers because the government (?? is Valentina the government now) said so?
This isn't Bucky. This isn't where he's at in his arc by Brave New World. I'm so upset that this is the direction the writers took him (and if it was the Russos who shot this scene, what this means for how they're going to treat the character in Doomsday).
I am also absolutely gutted about how they treated Sam in that pcs, but I haven't seen any positive takes from Sam fans - the consensus (I think) is that that scene was horrible and it's going to have so many repercussions outside the MCU. I am seeing posts from Bucky fans cheering about Bucky's new 'found family' or suggesting that people upset about the pcs are exaggerating and...that is not how I feel right now.
Well, I have preemptively salted on this movie for so long now, that I'm betting at least some of you are curious to know my opinion on Thunderbolts* by now. Specifically Bucky's role in it.
Disclaimer, I have not actually watched the movie and I have absolutely zero plans to go to the theaters and spend money on it, but I have read several plot summaries for it and seen many spoilers. So I do know about 90% of what happens in it, and my opinion is solely based on that. And let me tell you, it's a strong one.
Spoilers ahead, if anyone cares.
Bucky is not a "NeW aVenGeR".
Because he already was an actual Avenger.
Because he already was working with Captain America and already had done heroic acts working beside him.
He was referred to as an Avenger onscreen, by Walker no less.
This movie refuses to acknowledge any of that.
You can throw all the technicalities you want at me, you can hit me with all the "Uhm, but aCTUALLY..."s that you want.
The truth is this movie takes away so much of what Bucky had already worked so hard to achieve. Including a stable and reliable friendship with Sam Wilson, a clear name, a newfound purpose...
But most importantly, they took away one my man's most defining traits, and one of the biggest reasons why I fell in love with Bucky in the first place: his loyalty.
The man who showed up for Sam Wilson time and time again (especially when he needed emotional support after his protegé was in critical condition), the man who reassured him, the man who was visibly, personally offended when his late friend's shield, title, and legacy was handed by the government to someone who hadn't earned it, the man who fought to give it back to the person Steve had actually trusted with it because he believed only he could carry that legacy with the respect that it deserved...
I refuse to believe that's the same man who tried to talk Sam into just "letting them" use the title of the Avengers, despite knowing damn well why Sam would be opposed to letting the likes of Valentina and the government in general just appropiate it so thoughtlessly. Or heck, even the same man who would just hear Alexei casually insult his best friend and just say nothing??? Like what have they done to him, that's not the Bucky I know!!!
I can and will only accept that ending if they confirm that Sam and Bucky are actually secretly working together to outsmart that woman, and have to keep up appearances in the meantime and pretend to be in a tiff. Otherwise, it does not make sense for either of them and just character-assassinates my fav.
From what I'm seeing and hearing, this movie probably should've just been Black Widow 2 and focus on Yelena and Alexei helping out Bob. Those three seem to be who the movie cares the most about anyway. It's certainly not Antonia. 🙄 (That's my second biggest gripe with this film by the way, I get that she wasn't the most popular character, but that was straight up NASTY of them)
So there may be many good things about this movie. But unfortunately, they decided to rope my favorite character into it in a way that ignores most of what was so great and inspiring about his character arc so far. And they also chose to shamelessly insult and undermine my second favorite character and paint him as a petty bully (which is very OOC for him I might add). And they also chose to do all of this with a cheeky little "LOL we're the New Avengerz now 🤪" attitude and publicity campaign.
And for that alone, they could never make me like this movie.
James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes did NOT valiantly serve in WWII, fight decades of torture and brainwashing to save his best friend's life, spend 2 years in Wakanda recovering from said brainwashing, fight against Thanos' army before AND after getting blipped, and help Captain America take down the Flag Smashers, directly saving the lives of several hostages in the process, only to be treated as a "spare" and "not a hero".
Give my man some respect.