Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) will return to close the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase 5 in Thunderbolts*, which can fix a The Falcon and the Winter Soldier season 2 missed opportunity. The MCU’s Multiverse Saga has continued the stories of characters introduced in the Infinity Saga and has introduced many others, including new teams. The Multiverse Saga has welcomed the Eternals and a new Guardians of the Galaxy line-up, and coming up in the near future are the Fantastic Four and the Thunderbolts, the latter formed by already-introduced characters, of which some haven’t been seen in a long time.

Directed by Jake Schreier, Thunderbolts* will be the closing chapter of the MCU’s Phase 5 and will see the formation of a new, one-of-a-kind team of antiheroes who will go on missions for the American government. The official Thunderbolts team will be formed by Bucky Barnes, Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), John Walker/U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell), Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Red Guardian (David Harbour), Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), and Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). Although plot details of Thunderbolts* remain unknown, it will be the perfect chance to fix a huge The Falcon and the Winter Soldier season 2 missed opportunity.

The Falcon And The Winter Soldier Season 2 Should’ve Focused On Bucky

Bucky Barnes Was Expected To Return To The Falcon And The Winter Soldier

Bucky Barnes made his MCU debut in Phase 1 in Captain America: The First Avenger, alongside his best friend Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), and as such, he’s one of few characters from Phase 1 that continue to be active in the MCU. However, Bucky seemingly died when he fell from a moving train, and it wasn’t until Captain America: The Winter Soldier in Phase 2 that his survival was revealed, as well as his role as HYDRA’s main assassin, the Winter Soldier. After breaking free from HYDRA’s control, Bucky was used as the trigger for the Civil War conflict in Captain America: Civil War.

Bucky was finally given a chance as a hero when he teamed up with fellow heroes in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, and his story continued in the TV show The Falcon and the Winder Soldier. As the title says, the series followed Sam Wilson a.k.a. Falcon (Anthony Mackie) as he took the mantle of Captain America while he and Bucky joined forces to take down an anti-patriotism group known as the Flag Smashers. In addition to that, Bucky was struggling with his past as the Winter Soldier, but he was still able to help his friend.

At the end of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier season 1, Bucky was starting to make peace with his past and move on, and was last seen at a cookout in Louisiana with Sam and his family. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier season 2 was expected to focus more on Bucky, but a second season hasn’t been announced by Disney, and instead, the movie Captain America: Brave New World will serve as a continuation, but it won’t feature Bucky Barnes.

As season 1 focused more on Sam’s journey, the next natural step would have been for season 2 to cover more of Bucky’s story – after all, he’s in the show’s title, too – but there might not be a second season and Bucky isn’t part of the show’s official continuation.

Thunderbolts* Must Progress Bucky’s MCU Story More Than The Falcon And The Winter Soldier

Bucky’s Best Chance To Expand His Story Is Thunderbolts*

With The Falcon and the Winter Soldier season 2 possibly not happening and Bucky not returning in Captain America: Brave New World, the MCU’s best chance to expand Bucky’s story is Thunderbolts*. As mentioned above, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier focused more on Sam’s journey as he became the new Captain America, with Bucky being more of a side-character despite his name being in the show’s title. However, Thunderbolts* is expected to give Bucky a much bigger role than any of his previous MCU appearances, thus progressing his story more than The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and most of his past movies.

What Bucky’s Story In Thunderbolts* Will Be About

Bucky Has A Key Role In Thunderbolts*

Bucky’s life post-Winter Soldier hasn’t been properly explored in the MCU, and given all the trauma he has been carrying and everything he did under HYDRA’s control, there’s a lot to see in this new phase of his life. With that in mind, Thunderbolts* is expected to show more of Bucky’s life after the Winter Soldier, both in his personal and professional life. Bucky will be the leader of the Thunderbolts, so he will have a big role in the story, and his interactions with other characters outside his circle of Steve and Sam will be key to the development of his character and story.

As such, Thunderbolts* might include some flashbacks to further flesh Bucky’s story, and there’s a lot in his long and troubled past that can be explored. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier season 2 is one of the MCU’s biggest missed opportunities, but, at least, Thunderbolts* will give Bucky Barnes’s story a bigger chance to expand and evolve.