Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) has been through the physical, mental, and emotional wringer throughout his tenure in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After his apparent death in Captain America: The First Avenger, he has had to deal with issues related to Hydra brainwashing all the way from Captain America: The Winter Soldier through Captain America: Civil War. It looks like he will finally be free from his trigger words when he joins his friends in this year's Avengers: Infinity War, and a new comic seemingly explains how he will have folks in the Black Panther corner of the MCU to thank for that.
This evidence specifically comes courtesy of a brand new Marvel comic that's going to tie together some of the backstory leading up to Avengers: Infinity War. Titled Infinity War: Prelude #1, the comic shows an extended version of the end of Captain America: Civil War in which Black Panther officially apologizes for falsely accusing Bucky of killing his father. After that reconciliation, he makes a promise to help The Winter Soldier, and we see more scenes of T'Challa's sister Shuri (Letitia Wright in the movie) sifting through Bucky's bad memories (of which there are many) in an attempt to remove the brainwashing that made him a threat to his friends in the previous two Captain America movies. The result: a seemingly more stable Bucky who can fight alongside his friends when Thanos (Josh Brolin) and his Black Order stroll into town.
However, one thing not addressed in Infinity War: Prelude #1 (via CBR) is whether or not Bucky Barnes will factor into the narrative of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's first Wakanda-based adventure. For answers to that question, however, we can turn to remarks made to CinemaBlend and other outlets by Black Panther producer Nate Moore during a recent visit to the set of Ryan Coogler's upcoming film. When asked about The Winter Soldier's potential presence in the forthcoming Black Panther movie, Moore explained that it's "pretty safe to assume" that Cap's best friend is still on ice and waiting for his big return in Avengers: Infinity War.
Of course, one thing that remains to be seen is whether or not this development will do anything to ease the hatred that Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) feels towards Bucky. The ending of Captain America: Civil War confirmed that The Winter Soldier was responsible for the deaths of Howard and Maria Stark, and while we were left with a tease of a possible reconciliation between Cap and Iron Man, we still don't fully know how Tony will deal with The Winter Soldier even after the cleansing of the latter's brain.
Bucky Barnes will make his next appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe when Earth's mightiest heroes thaw him out for Avengers: Infinity War on May 4. As for the MCU's next major outing, Black Panther will premiere on the big screen next month on February 16. Here's what we know about Black Panther, and here's the information that we currently have on Avengers: Infinity War.
