Bucky Barnes with a child? Fighting crime side by side? Yes, please and thank you! The second issue of Winter Soldier features would-be Winter Soldier RJ and his relentless attack on Bucky, which inevitably fails, because he’s the Winter Soldier. Did Hydra really think this child could take on James Buchanan Barnes?
Essentially, Hydra trained RJ from a young age to be the next Winter Soldier. Going through the same training as Bucky and even sporting Bucky’s first outfit, RJ is meant to take him down and become Hydra’s new pet. The problem is that RJ isn’t trained properly and isn’t ready for his task—that’s not to say he doesn’t hurt Bucky. He does nearly cut his vibranium arm in half, but still, Bucky captures him, ties him to the back of his motorcycle, and begins to take RJ somewhere safe.
The problem is that RJ calls his “boss” to finish the job, but his boss shames RJ for not being able to take on the Winter Soldier, which, to be fair, the boss can’t do, either. By the end of the issue, RJ and Bucky are together, and Bucky calls Tony for backup, insinuating that he and RJ are about to start working together.
Bucky Barnes as a makeshift dad for this child of Hydra? Sign me up and make it a television show right f**king now. Throw Falcon into the mix and make Disney make this comic into the Falcon/Winter Soldier show that’s in the works, because Winter Solider writer Kyle Higgins masters Bucky’s true nature in a beautiful way.
Bucky knows what it is like to be under Hydra’s control, what it feels like to not be your own person because of Hydra’s wants and needs. So, when RJ attacks him, Bucky knows that this kid is someone he has to help, even if RJ will try to kill him any chance he gets.
He’s the kind of character that would willingly sacrifice himself if it meant stopping Hydra and what they were doing to people, especially a kid who didn’t know any better.
The last image of the issue shows Bucky and RJ together, fighting side by side, and if that’s where this comic is going, sign me up right now for any and all content of Bucky Barnes and RJ working together.
“Having pulled RJ out of Hydra, Bucky begins diving into the mystery of the young killer’s past. Where does he come from? Who are his parents? How do you rehabilitate someone who’s only ever known death?
“You give him something new to live for.”
Where is Winter Soldier going to take us? Who knows? As long as Bucky Barnes is RJ’s father figure, I’m in.
(image: Marvel Entertainment/Kyle Higgins and Rod Reis)
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