The Winter Soldier vs Bucky Barnes: critical differences between movies and comics

Bucky Barnes is a character who rose to worldwide fame thanks to the movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), but he has a story that is as interesting as it is long-standing in comics. Here are some curious and interesting differences between the comics and the big screen. 

Joe Simon and Jack Kirby created Bucky, first appearing in Captain America Comics #1 (1941). He was conceived as the young and loyal companion of Steve Rogers when he was already established as the captain (in the purest style of Batman and Robin) not as we first saw him in the MCU as a strong young man who defended his best friend from the bullies who harassed him. This was more than anything so that young children had a character with which to identify better when seeing their older brothers or their parents reflected as Captain America himself in the middle of WW ll. 

Another interesting difference that we did not see on the big screen is the sentimental relationship between Bucky Barnes and Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff. Their relationship flourished thanks to the common past they shared, as well as the fact that they served together in various missions. Their love continued to the point where Bucky regained the memories of his old life and they still stayed together. Natasha's romantic interest was exchanged in the MCU for the emerald giant; we could better appreciate it in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2005).

Finally, another difference that those who do not read the comics could not appreciate is the violence and heinous crimes that Bucky committed when he wore the mantle of the Winter Soldier. One of these crimes was the murder of Wolverine's pregnant wife, Itsu, in Wolverine (2006). This led to an inevitable and brutal confrontation. This could not be shown mainly because the MCU focuses on a more familiar audience, the path of Bucky’s origin story, in addition to the fact that Wolverine has not been officially presented in the MCU at this time.