I’m posting this on behalf of a good friend of NGE @CoffeeZ0mbie. Hope y’all enjoy as much as I did!

Lately my mind has been obsessing over the MCU Bucky Barnes (When isn’t it, honestly?). Not comic Bucky, since I haven’t read a large number of Cap comics. Just MCU, broody Bucky. And in hindsight this may be caused by my incessant watching of Sebastian Stan interviews.

So when I decided to kick my butt in gear and start writing articles more often, I could hear the gears in my brain all simultaneously grind to a painfully loud screeching halt.

The stress level when you have to think of something to write is overwhelming.

Finally, as I stared at a blank screen for a good 4 hours, mentally going over subject after subject, the little voice in my head that had been getting ignored all day finally stood on the mountain of scrapped ideas and screeched “Bucky Barnes!”
So, why not write a little ramble on the hero?

Yes, I said hero in reference to Bucky “Shoots Up a Main Road During What Can Only be Described as Rush Hour” Barnes. Not villain. Not anti-hero. Not sidekick.
Hero. Say it with me: H-E-R-O.
Good, now that you’ve swallowed that possibly bitter pill we can continue.

A lot of you probably still view the precious man as a villain, and you would be correct, for the most part; but only when he’s The Winter Soldier.

If you haven’t seen the films, and I mean all of them, all the way up to the newest Civil War film, there will be spoilers so: SPOILER ALERT.

Now, this is about Bucky. While I have more knowledge of the man who brings one of my fave MCU characters to life, from the fact he face planted on a car during Winter Soldier to him walking into a fridge while fangirling (fanboying? Is that a thing? Or should we stick to fangirling even for the boys?) over Robert Redford, I do have a slight bit of knowledge about the poor cinnamon bun known as James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes.

First off, we all know he’s not mean. Just watch The First Avenger to know that. Sure, he may be a bit of a ladies man (okay but have you seen his face? Could you really blame the ladies?), but that isn’t something to condemn him for. I don’t think? Plus, the guy used himself as a human shield to protect slow Steve from being shot by the crazy blue boom-boom gun the Hydra agent was using on the train (and we all know how that ended.),  but still people call him a villain, even though he died fighting against Hydra. Only makes sense then that he comes back after being held prisoner by, experimented on by, and then “killed” by said evil organization to work with them, right?

And that brings us to point number two: he isn’t Bucky. In reference to Civil War, we learn Bucky was, in fact, basically a puppet. That special set of words no one would ever say in a random chat (unless you could somehow manage Longing, Rusted, Seventeen, Daybreak, Furnace, Nine, Benign, Homecoming, One, Freight Car into a conversation?) turns our precious Bucky, who offered to let Steve live with him after his mom passed and make a fort like old times, into a perfect Super Soldier. Under Hydra’s control, that is. We see Bucky wasn’t a killer, since it took Civil War for people to notice that. Never-mind Piers chatting with Buck while he was questioning how he knew Cap and telling him he was helping fight for the people’s freedom.

But you know; only crazy people paid that much attention.

And yet, here we are, still fighting for people to view Bucky as a hero. What does a man gotta do to make people realize he’s not mean, just a little brainwashed?

I mean, watch Civil War. As Winter Soldier you see him use his left arm for offence, something Bucky doesn’t do since he knows how much stronger that arm is and instead uses it for defence. Look at The Winter Soldier when he seems confused as shit that this supposedly evil man known as Captain America calls him by a name and refuses to fight him.

Look at the fact he dragged Cap’s damn ass outta the water even though he probably had a dislocated arm and would have probably been fine never having to deal with that pain in the ass again.

Now to finish off why he’s not a baddie, all you gotta do is watch Civil War. Yes the entire film really puts his life without Steve into perspective, but I mean the end. The veeeeery end. That nice little snippit Marvel likes to hide in the credits. That little piece you suffer through the entire end credits for at the theatre when you just really need to pee, all the while Marvel is laughing away as they rub their hands together like evil masterminds. That little piece where Bucky voluntarily goes into cryo until someone can fix his jumbled brain so he doesn’t shoot civilians or try to kill anyone else’s parents (RIP Howard and Maria.).

But really, how can you stay mad at someone who smiles like this over plums? PLUMS!! I am aware I am up Bucky’s ass. I have a zoo now. But the defence stands, how can you call a man who innocently buys plums while living in hiding a ‘villain’?

If you’d like to talk more about Bucky, hit Jay up on Twitter @CoffeeZ0mbie and check out her personal page at coffeezombieblog.WordPress.com
Let her know your thoughts below