(tinkling light music)
- With Captain America Civil War now out,
a big part of the conflict revolves
around Cap's only remaining friend from the old days,
James Bucky Buchanan Barnes, the Winter Soldier.
Cap believes he deserves a chance at redemption.
Iron Man believes he needs to face
a long and violent history.
You may think this is just a cool name
for a Russian Cold War-era spy,
but, you may be surprised about
what else is behind the name.
Hey, I'm DK and you are watching Alter Ego,
the show where we take a deeper look at
some of the names in our favorite comics.
Today we have a fun one with ties
all the way back to the Vietnam conflict
and even further back to America's War of Independence.
Who knew such a cool name would be so deep.
The character that would come to be
the Winter Soldier started out as
Captain America's sidekick, Bucky,
in 1941s Captain America Comics Number 1
as created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby.
In his sketches for this new hero,
Simon included a young sidekick simply named Bucky.
The character would end up being
in almost every appearance
Captain America had made at that time.
He was a scrappy, 16 year old Army-adapted scamp
with a talent for heroics.
People loved the super duo,
and Bucky made his rounds in the comic world
until Captain America comics
was cancelled in 1950.
That was it for Captain America and Bucky for awhile
until Cap made his triumphant return
to Marvel Comics and Avengers Number 4 from 1963.
It was revealed that Cap was frozen for decades
after a mission involving a plane crash
that seemingly killed Bucky.
There is a lot more detail in Captain America's Avengers
during the late 40s and early 50s
that we could cover but Scott already did that
so you can watch that, after you're done here.
But, anyway, this is Alter Ego.
We're all about the names here.
The names. So Bucky was dead.
In fact, he was often cited,
along with Jason Todd and Uncle Ben
as being one of the few characters in comics
who would always remain dead.
But, it turns out, that the fans may have spoken too soon.
As we come to the modern-age of comics
and Ed Brubaker who had been tasked
with writing Captain America comics in 2004
and with this he released Captain America Volume 5 Issue 1
in January 2005 reviving a few olds villains
and an old friend, turned enemy, Bucky Barnes,
now as the Winter Soldier.
Same as what can be seen all the way back in 1963
in Avengers Number 4, Captain America and Bucky
had both been killed in a plane crash,
but in this new continuity both men had been frozen.
Aside from that, the major continuity changes
comes when Bucky had been found
by a nearby Russian experimental spy submarine,
beaten, with his left arm missing,
and most definitely dead.
They worked quickly to increase his temperature
and managed to revive him with a healthy dose
of electricity, some CPR, and a bit of adrenaline.
When Bucky woke, he could not remember anything
about his old life, but found he new how to fight
and that he knew how to speak four languages.
There's a potential Jason Bourne shout-out there,
but, let's get back on track.
Seeing his potential, the Soviets put Bucky
into a code-named program called
The Winter Soldier Project,
and began brainwashing him to be loyal
only to the Soviet Union.
Oh you silly Russians.
Upon completion and operating under
his new Winter Soldier codename,
he began to complete missions to
assassinate Soviet Cold War targets.
This worked out well for the Russians
who would freeze him again,
only bringing him back at times
when they needed his skills.
This idea served as half the inspiration
for the Winter Soldier name.
Being a soldier that they could freeze at times
and just wake him back up again
when they needed to send him on a
dangerous and difficult mission.
A cold killer to be put on ice
until the next body needed to be dropped.
When pitching the idea to Marvel,
Brubaker explained that it sounded like
a very cool name with the Russian assassin angle.
An agent from the Cold War frozen between missions.
When he was asked later about the inspiration, however,
he said that "He liked the name, yes,
"but it was also a shout-out to a story
"written by Thomas Paine, his favorite Founding Father,
"in the first release of his
"pamphlet series, The American Crisis."
The pamphlet spoke of the American Revolution
that was now taking place and opened with
a dialogue about what it truly means
to be a soldier and a patriot.
"These are the times that try men's souls,
"the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will,
"in this crisis, shrink from the service
"of his country, but he that stands it now,
"deserves the love and thanks of man and woman."
The article referred to the summer soldier
and the sunshine patriot as men who will only
perform their duties when it is convenient or easy
such as the soldiers who deserted at Valley Forge.
Whereas the true soldier will stick with the cause
until the end no matter what that end may be.
However, even though you could stop here
and make the assumption that the Winter Soldier
would be a term for a soldier that fulfills his duty
even in the most trying of times we don't find the true
meaning with the term until the historic
Winter Soldier Investigation from 1971.
In this national media event John Kerry
had testified that the play on the words
for the investigation was of
Thomas Paine's summer soldier.
To show the true responsibility of a soldier
was to speak out against the crimes
that were being committed in Vietnam.
They would not stay quiet as a summer soldier would,
but instead maintained the cause and speak out
as a true Winter Soldier.
The soldiers of the investigation had felt
that the crimes that were being committed
were threatening America and they needed
to speak up and make them known.
Over the course of 300 days,
over 100 veterans and 16 civilian contractors
testified at The Winter Soldier Investigations
to hold themselves accountable
for the War Crimes that were committed in Vietnam.
Brubaker had taken direct inspiration from this.
Feeling that a name lifted straight from the atrocities
of the Vietnam War and also served as a callback
from the founding of our nation,
would make a perfect Captain America villain.
Even to this day the name still
holds meaning in the military.
As recent as 2008 there was an event named for
the Winter Soldier Investigation
organized by the soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan.
The new Winter Soldier event had more than
200 U.S. military veterans and active-duty soldiers
provide accounts of their experiences.
This was used as a forum to speak-out against the war.
It makes me wonder,
with Bucky becoming a large player in the MCU,
how much of this are they going
to project into the character, if anything?
Could the Winter Soldier represent
the hardships experienced by some of our
men and women fighting overseas?
Making a more meaningful and grounded
connections with the fans?
Or is it just a cool name?
I guess we'll have to wait and see.
In the meantime, what do you think?
Do you think the Winter Soldier
should become a face for the military war crimes
and repentance in the MCU?
Maybe he is already.
Let's talk about it in the comments below.
If you guys happen to like this video
and want some more of this show,
go ahead and click this link right here.
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But if you are as hyped for
Captain America Civil War as I am,
and I am recording this before I've seen it,
you can click on this link over here
to go to a little playlist we put together for the occasion.
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Once again I'm DK, thanks for watching.