It’s weird how people treat Bucky as the mysterious and secretive one within Sambucky when you can look at him for like two seconds and deduce everything you need to know about him. Sad boi, traumatic past, doesn’t like talking about it, quiet, frustrated, you better don’t interact with him unless he lets you.
Sam Wilson on the other hand? I have no clue what’s going on in his head most of the time. (I mean… I kind of do, as a viewer. But I’m not sure the characters he encounters are just as informed.) He seems like a pretty positive, optimistic person, but there are so many moments when he just looks desperate and on the verge of tears. Like he’s not sure anything will ever work in his favour. He doesn’t talk much about his emotions or his past unless it’s very relevant - and he does that mainly to connect with other people through shared experience. That’s why he mentioned Riley’s death. Or his aunt… who also died.
Karli called him a hopeless optimist. But is he an optimist? I wouldn’t say so. He likes joking and smiles… relatively often… but that’s it. For me he seems more like a realist who knows when he can get the job done to fix a problem. And he fixes a lot of problems. It seems like he helps other people all the time, so you might think he’s just selfless. But his desperate attempts to keep the family boat against Sarah’s protests were pretty selfish. (Objectively. I’m not judging him here.) Giving the shield away was not exatly selfish (he had every right to do so), but he still didn’t listen to anyone telling him to take up the mantle, because he didn’t want to, end of discussion.
For people like Walker he seems like a sidekick and a “wingman”. Someone who followed Steve around. But he didn’t. Sam made all the decisions himself - in ca:tws Steve even discouraged him from joining the fight. He went and fought anyway. Even Bucky, who knew Sam way longer than Walker, just assumed that he went against the Accords, because Steve did. But Sam formed his opinion first - it just happened to align with Steve’s. And how can he be a sidekick who just follows other people when during just his second conversation with Steve he said he likes working at the VA, because there’s no one above him giving him orders and that’s nice?
“Sam is the rational one!” - says the fandom. …Sam kicked a fucking helicopter mid-flight. And jumped into one almost falling into the rotor.
“Sam is stubborn and will hold a grudge for a long time” - says the fandom (or at least the part of it who clearly dislikes the guy). … Meanwhile, Sam helped Tony find Steve right after he was shot by him in the face for an accident that was not Sam’s fault. And he helped Vision in Infinity War even thought he was part of said accident. He still talks with Rhodey like they’re okay and nothing happened. And he tried to become friends with Barnes after he almost killed him three times. (As the Winter Soldier, but still.)
Zemo didn’t expect Sam to not hesitate about rejecting the serum.
Karli was surprised by Sam’s character. Later she was suprised again and disappointed that he (of all people) decided to become the new Captain. Isaiah didn’t expect him to take the shield either. But he did take it and Isaiah had to admit he was wrong about Sam after he heard his speech.
“I never said pilot ;)” … Yeah, I know. You never did, Sam. Because you say so little about yourself. And it’s so vague and carefully selected.
“He speaks Arabic…” Yeah, Torres. I was surprised too.
This whole show (and Sam’s entire story in the MCU) seems like it’s just a person after a person, after a person making assumptions about Sam and then realizing that… Actually they were wrong the whole time. Either partially or complitely.
Sam is so secretive about his own thoughts and feelings that he tricked everyone around him into thinking he’s an open book, so no one bothers to even ask any questions. Because they feel like they know him, but… Do they really?
And I can just imagine that the longer Sam and Bucky work and live together the more Bucky sees how other people misjudge his partner… all the damn time. (Just as he himself used to do.) They just assume Sam will let them do anything they want and he doesn’t. Or they assume they can give him orders and he’s like: “Subtle? Got it!” - and does whatever he planned, following only his own rules.
It must be pretty amusing to watch. And it probably feels like some kind of honour to actually get a chance to know the real Sam Wilson.
