Steve did Sam wrong too
I’ve seen people acting as if thinking that Endgame is absurd is somewhat reserved for fans who cared about Steve and Bucky – and Stucky – above all else. And sure, that’s why some might have been so invested in the first place but don’t misunderstand: Endgame was a shitshow for reasons that go beyond Steve.
But. Steve.
I think I’ve finally, for myself, found the start of things going to shit with Steve’s characterization. And that’s that the writers, for years, made inferences to Bucky being Steve’s best friend when, actually, Steve’s best friend is Sam. Bucky is, as Rumlow so eloquently put it, “his Bucky” and should by all narrative rights be closer to a soulmate than a best friend and, it’s fine, that works EVEN PLATONICALLY. Again, this is not dependent on Stucky.
But Sam? Sam is Steve’s best friend. Sam dropped everything in his life to partner with Steve, whom he barely knew. He looked for Bucky, with Steve and solo, for canonical YEARS. He disregarded the accords for Steve, he was imprisoned on the Raft for Steve, he became an international fugitive and couldn’t go home again. For YEARS. And Sam did it with a smile and affection and determination because he believes in Steve and he’s his best goddamn friend. Iron Man fucking SHOT him and Sam’s cool as long as Steve’s cool.
Which brings us to this:
Sam: You wanna tell me about her? Steve: No. No, I don’t think I will.
Because to get Steve to leave all his people behind they had to demote Bucky from best friend to “childhood buddy I barely talk to these days” and that in turn demoted Sam from good bud to “that one coworker I totally trust with our group project but I wouldn’t chat about my weekend with”.
Which is ABSURD. Because Steve just dumped the shield in Sam’s lap and he of all people knows how fucking HEAVY of a burden that is. How complicated. How erasing. And when Sam, who has for years tried to get Steve to figure out what makes him happy, asks about his life, the life he abandoned them for, he gets that. I don’t even know why they were going for late-stage Clint Eastwood with Old!Steve. Did they think it was charming? Mischievous? What?
So, while I do not accept that the characterization of Steve in Endgame is coherent, I will be even more upset if TFATWS just glosses over it. Old!Steve is horrible beyond what he did to Bucky. He leaves Sam alone, emotionally and practically, with the mantle of Captain America. Without Nat, also, and how much she deserved better is a whole other post or twelve. It’s cowardly and it’s selfish and it’s cruel and it actually breaks Steve’s character to the point where he is unrecognizable. So Sam and Bucky better be pissed.
