10 Amazing Legacy Superheroes Who Proved Fans Wrong

7. Bucky Barnes

Bucky Barnes Captain America
Marvel Comics/Steve Epting

Storylines To Read: Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Death of Captain America

Bucky Barnes, much like Dick Grayson, is a sidekick we've seen grow and evolve since his original appearance. Granted that growth came almost fifty years apart, but he's still a phenomenal hero.

Bucky, Cap's right-hand man during the War, was tragically killed close to the conflict's end. Presumed dead, it later transpired that the war hero had secretly been recovered by the Soviet Union and brainwashed to lead a covert assassination program. Now called the Winter Soldier, Bucky was implicated in dozens of high-profile assassinations over the years before his paths crossed with Steve Rogers, a moment that saw Bucky switch allegiances once more.

The two pals didn't get time to get reacquainted though, as - but a few short months after his return - Civil War occurred. With Cap having been killed off in the wake of the event, the torch fell to Bucky to continue his legacy, however reluctant he may have been to do so.

Ed Brubaker's stories featuring Bucky in the lead have always been a joy to read, and this one was no exception. While fans again took exception to the replacement, those who did get behind the series found a refreshing and compelling narrative to explore, one that hinged its dynamic on espionage, history, and the relationship between Steve, Bucky and Natasha Romanoff.

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WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.