The Black Widow Comic Book Storyline the MCU Ignored Makes Bucky’s ‘Thunderbolts*’ Role That Much More Important

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The upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movie Thunderbolts* will continue the story arcs started by Black Widow, with characters introduced in the latter film, such as Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) and Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour), crossing paths with figures from other corners of the franchise including long-time fan favorite James “Bucky” Barnes/the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan). But while the MCU version of Bucky already has significant similarities and differences to the Black Widow cast that will make for interesting interactions, a part of his comic book backstory that was not included in the MCU would have made him meeting Yelena and company even more dramatic. In the comics,Bucky has a complicated romantic history with the MCU’s original Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), who was Yelena’s sister and Alexei’s adopted daughter.

The Winter Soldier Trained Black Widow in Marvel Comics

In both the MCU and the comics, Bucky is revealed to have survived his presumed death during World War II. In the intervening decades, he was brainwashed and molded into a superhuman assassin (in the MCU it was for the fictional terrorist organization Hydra, though in the comics it was for the Russian KGB). After his reintroduction, the comics began fleshing out his history as the Winter Soldier, connecting him to various characters and groups from across the Marvel Universe. Most significantly, it was revealed that he was involved in the training of other Russian government operatives, including Natasha, in the infamous Red Room, during which time they also began having a secret affair. However, Natasha was ultimately ordered into an arranged marriage with Alexei (who she did not have a prior familial relationship with in the comics) and when Bucky’s commanding officers began to suspect that his relationship with her (among other things) was reducing the efficiency of his brainwashing, they began having him placed in suspended animation between missions.

In modern times, after Bucky was freed from the Winter Soldier conditioning, he encounters Natasha while attempting to steal mutual friend Steve Rogers/Captain America’s shield from forces who had supported the Superhero Registration Act. The pair discovered that their respective superhuman enhancements had allowed them both to live abnormally long lives. Since Bucky’s transition into the role of a superhero (first as Steve’s successor as Captain America and later after reclaiming the Winter Soldier mantle), they have frequently worked together to fight crime and terrorism. They have also made attempts to rekindle their romance, and while these have not had much long-term success, they consistently remain close friends and important parts of one another’s lives.

Bucky’s Red Room Connections Would Make His ‘Thunderbolts*’ Role More Meaningful

Although it was Hydra who controlled Bucky as the Winter Soldier in the MCU, Stan’s version of the character does have significant Russian connections, having been kept in Siberia between missions during most of his enslavement, and there are a few details in the franchise that nod to his and Natasha’s history in the comics. In Captain America: Civil War, when Helmut Zemo (Daniel Brühl) uses Bucky’s Winter Soldier conditioning to force him to break out of a CIA base, Natasha is one of several superheroes who attempts to stop his ensuing rampage. Bucky quickly gains the upper hand in their fight and nearly chokes her to death before she is rescued by King T’Challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman).

During their struggle, Natasha dryly quips that Bucky, “could at least recognize me.” This line could definitely be suggesting that their romance may indeed have happened in the MCU, although it could also be explained as simply referencing their canonical prior encounters shown and described in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. In Black Widow, Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz) also explains that the chemical mind control the Red Room uses on younger Widows such as Yelena was developed based on research for the Winter Soldier program that she and Alexei stole from Hydra, emphasizing that while Bucky and the Widows were controlled by different groups, they endured similarly horrific treatment.

These experiences already give Bucky and Yelena (and to a lesser extent, Alexei, who was initially a more willing participant in Red Room operations) connections to bond over in Thunderbolts*, and promotional material for the film suggests that the former may indeed serve as a mentor of sorts to Yelena. In a recently released trailer for the film, Yelena notes that “We can’t escape the past,” and Bucky says, “So you can either do something about it now, or live with it forever,” seemingly alluding to his own efforts to redeem himself for his actions as the Winter Soldier.

The editing of the trailer makes it seem like these lines are successive, or at least part of the same scene, but even if that ultimately isn’t the case, the connection between the characters’ respective emotional arcs will still presumably be made clear in the film. Bucky may instead develop a romance with Yelena herself, which would help enrich the latter’s story going forward, as Yelena has much less comic book source material to draw from. But regardless of whether that happens, Bucky’s interactions with Natasha’s family, as well as other former Red Room operatives like Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) would gain an additional layer of meaning if his history with her and/or the program was intact in the MCU.

Thunderbolts* is in theaters May 2, 2025.

“}]] Natasha isn’t the only Avenger who’s been to the Red Room.  Read More