Captain America: Brave New World Brings Back A Beloved Marvel Hero In A New Role

Contains spoilers for "Captain America: Brave New World"

"Captain America: Brave New World" wouldn't be a Marvel movie without a surprise cameo or two thrown in. During the big Indian Sea aerial battle, the new Falcon, aka Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez), suffers grave injuries. Captain America, aka Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), visits him in the hospital when he's at his lowest point, feeling as though he let his friend down. As we hear someone enter the room, Sam says he doesn't want to talk, and it's revealed that his old pal Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) has come to pay him a visit. 

It's undoubtedly great for fans to see him again. Bucky and Sam have been good friends for a while, given how close they both were to Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), and they were co-leads of the Disney+ series, "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier." By the end of that show, Bucky continues making amends for all the people he hurt and killed as the Winter Soldier, and it looks like he's in a much better place mentally here. He gives Sam a much-needed pep talk as Sam wonders why Steve gave him the mantle of Captain America, something he also grappled with in the show.

The cameo also gives Bucky a new role within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Specifically, he's running for Congress, as Bucky mentions needing to go to a campaign fundraiser,. It's a shame he has to leave so soon: shortly after, Sam fights President Ross (Harrison Ford) as Red Hulk, and he probably could use an extra (metal) hand with that. 

Bucky's cameo isn't the first time it's been mentioned that he'll run for Congress. During 2024 San Diego Comic-Con, Wyatt Russell, who plays John Walker — aka U.S. Agent — in "Thunderbolts*," spilled the beans that Bucky will be a congressman in the upcoming MCU movie. That means "Thunderbolts*" will occur after the events of "Brave New World" since Bucky's still running for a seat here, but he clearly wins by the time "Thunderbolts*" is set. 

Bucky's new job can also be inferred from the "Thunderbolts*" Super Bowl trailer, which got fans even more hyped for the anti-hero team-up flick. The trailer begins with Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) addressing Congress about needing a new team since the Avengers aren't coming. It then cuts to Bucky in the same room as her, and it seems her remark strikes a nerve with him. Sam hints at trying to put the Avengers back together by the end of "Captain America 4," but he must still be recruiting if Valentina's saying this in front of Congress. It's also a safe bet that Valentina, like Ross, wants a government-sanctioned Avengers, whereas Sam and Bucky would want to keep the team politically neutral. 

Our main question now is: how exactly does Bucky get elected? Sure, he's an Avenger and helped save the world against Thanos (Josh Brolin) in "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Endgame." That probably buys him a lot of good will. However, he was also the Winter Soldier, a Russian operative, for many years and killed a lot of people. He even assassinated John F. Kennedy within the MCU, which seems pretty hard to bounce back from.

Bucky running for Congress comes a little out of left field. Did he always have political aspirations? Regardless, fans seem to think it's not a great move in terms of his character development.

Redditor u/Interesting-Count815 disparaged the plot point: "It's so random and weird. It's not who his character is at all." Many others agreed that, aside from setting up why he's in "Thunderbolts*," it doesn't really jibe with how his character has been portrayed thus far. It's likely a way to justify him having access to information the other Thunderbolts wouldn't be privy to. Elsewhere on Reddit, u/D-Speak thought this could set up something fascinating: "Does anyone think that they may be building to him eventually taking over as President in the MCU post-Ross?"

Steve Rogers has run for president several times in Marvel Comics, even winning the election in the "Ultimate" timeline. Now that the MCU's Steve is out of commission, the franchise may aim for Bucky to take on that role. Of course, who knows what the MCU holds after "Avengers: Secret Wars"? There are rumors that the conclusion to the Multiverse Saga could reboot the franchise, keeping certain characters while eliminating others. Given Bucky's popularity, it would seem ill-advised to drop him after "Secret Wars," but fans can rest easy knowing they'll see plenty of Academy Award nominee Sebastian Stan in "Thunderbolts*" and probably "Avengers: Doomsday" and "Avengers: Secret Wars" after that.