There is a lot of anger from fans at the end of Avengers: Endgame and i’m going to talk about it from a storytelling standpoint.
SO with the recent release of Avengers: Endgame, fans have reacted online about their thoughts on the ending of the movie (Steve being with Peggy and Sam becoming the new Captain America) Personally when I saw this I was crying because I was so happy because Sam was Steve’s parallel as Captain America (click here for a post that perfectly sums up this) and Steve needed his dance to finish off his arc.
Obviously, people weren’t happy with this.
But I’m going to start off by saying that Bucky knew what Steve was going to do.
Bucky during that entire scene said to Steve “I’m going to miss you” and he knew Steve was only going to be gone for a few seconds. He wasn’t going to miss Steve for the amount of time of him being gone, he was missing Steve being around, the Steve who came up from the ice when they both didn’t live their lives. He was going to miss his present self because he knew what Steve was going to do. Offscreen, Steve and Bucky talked about what he was going to do and he went with Bucky’s allowance and blessing.
Not to mention the parallel between the “Don’t do anything stupid til’ I get back/ You’re taking all the stupid with you” because that is symbolic of the beginning of their journeys through the seventy years and now they made a round trip back to that saying with Steve leaving. It’s a motif, a reoccurring topic or theme in the story. This is them leaving each other, only this time it’s different because Steve is coming back, just with more life on his belt than before.
Also, we know Steve well enough to understand he wouldn’t have gone without Bucky’s blessing. So we can conclude that Bucky knew before hand.
And we can also conclude that during that talk, Steve knew he wouldn’t be able to be Captain America anymore, and that Sam would take over. This is where a lot of people are mad because they wanted Bucky to be Captain America but remember, Bucky is tired of fighting, he has a past on him and he isn’t a parallel to Steve like Sam is. (Again, refer to that link) No, Bucky is a parallel to Peggy.
Before you all start screaming, remember that song in Winter Soldier that played when Bucky first returned? “It’s been a long, long time” yeah that’s the same song that played at the end of the movie that Steve and Peggy dance to. That’s only the surface. There are so many more parallels to these two than that one song.
They are both Steve’s connections to the past. Peggy was still alive when he came up from the ice and he talked with her, Bucky also considering the fact that they connect after the ice too. In the last two Cap movies, Bucky was his center motive because he was the only thing from his past that he had left and could still hold onto. In the first movie, he knew Peggy would be what his life would have in it, she was going to be his life if he hadn’t gone under the ice. They both connect to the life Steve never had, to the time he lost. Bucky actually lost that time himself, and Peggy lived on through it but still loved Steve.
They also both believed in him, even when he wasn’t strong. They both went through the role reversal of once protecting Steve and later having Steve protect him. They both love him and they both factor into his decisions and are both his motives. Yes, Peggy was a love interest but remember, CA:CW was said to be a love story, and Bucky is a basic parallel to a lover without being one.
Bucky and Peggy are parallels, Steve and Bucky are not. Steve and Sam are parallels. “I do what he does, just slower” they both fight for what they want and go by their gut (go read this fricking post I linked at the top)
From a storytelling standpoint, it would make no sense for Bucky to be the new Captain America because of how he is told, his past, and his own motives. When you actually think about it, Bucky wouldn’t want to be CA because he is tired of fighting. He wants peace, he’s tired of killing and wants a calm life. Yeah, of course he wants Steve and Sam in it too, hence the “I’m going to miss you” but he doesn’t want to be CA. He doesn’t want to fight anymore, he’s tired. This goes back to the arm symbolism but, more on that for another day.
Bucky isn’t just some broken man that Steve needs to “fix” and should automatically be rewarded with being the new CA. He has depth, flaws, and so much more to his character than what people give him credit for, and has grown between Black Panther and IW. Steve also isn’t Bucky’s therapist and fixer upper, Steve also has flaws, motives, and his own depth that people don’t give him credit for in his own light.
Bucky also is the one who tells Sam to go over to Steve to retrieve the shield. He’s the one who tells Sam to go over and talk to him. Bucky doesn’t talk to Steve after he comes back because he already talked to him. He already said what he wanted and knows it’ll be okay and that it’ll be different but also the same between them.
Also, ever since CA:TFA, Steve has been waiting for his dance. “I had a date.” He kept Peggy’s picture in his pocket all these years, he never moved on from her. He knew what he wanted and when he got the chance to live the life he never had with her, he did it because he earned that happiness after years of longing and separation and fighting. He earned it. He got the ending they’ve been foreshadowing and building up to since the start.
Also, Bucky had his ending too, because he got Steve in his timeline still, he still gets to talk with him and have him by his side. Sam has his ending because he’s now Captain America. Now onto the Falcon and Winter Soldier show, we will see this dynamic grow.
From a storytelling standpoint, it would make no sense for Bucky to have been Captain America, nor for Steve not to go back in time or ask Bucky for permission to do so, nor for Sam to be the new CA. This is all meant to be and was led up to from the start and the fact that people are upset about it is really annoying and upsetting because it was built upon from the start.
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