Marvel must have known when they were making Captain America: The First Avenger that Bucky would be brought back in some form down the line, so that begs the question: Why was his death so completely forgettable? Falling from a moving train, the scene was emotional, but Cap's best friend was quickly forgotten about in the third act. As a result, the reveal that The Winter Soldier is in fact the patriotic hero's best friend from World War II was lost on most viewers. Fans already knew who it was going to be anyway, but casual moviegoers likely had no idea that this guy was the same one who fell from the train until it was spelled out to them a little later on in the sequel. The fact the Captain America: The Winter Soldier was so vague in regards to how Bucky survived and was transformed doesn't help, and it's hard to imagine that Captain America: Civil War will have a lot of time to delve into that. Ultimately, it would have been much better for Bucky to have been taken out by the Red Skull in the final act of The First Avenger.
