11 Surprise Movie Villain Reveals Everyone Loved

7. The Winter Soldier - Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Memento Ending
Marvel Studios

Whereas Iron Man 3's whole Mandarin reveal - i.e. the badass Mandarin we'd seen bending Tony Stark into submission was really a jobbing actor named Trevor - most certainly split opinion amongst moviegoers, one Marvel Cinematic Universe villain reveal that did get a hugely positive response was the realisation of who was behind the mask of the Winter Soldier.

We all know by now that the Winter Soldier is actually Captain America's presumed-deal pal Bucky Barnes - and comic book fans were already well aware of this fact going in to Captain America: The Winter Soldier - but the way that the Bucky reveal was handled was fantastic.

Even if you knew all along that this metal-armed assassin was Bucky, the eventual reveal of this to the characters in the movie added so many more layers to the picture. Not only is Steve Rogers having to track down an unstoppable killing machine, but Cap has to battle his own emotions at the realisation that this is his best friend to the end.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is rightly viewed by many as one of the very best MCU movies ever, and so much of that is down to that dynamic between Steve and Bucky - and, as such, it's the reveal of Bucky Barnes as the Winter Soldier that's so key to making this fan favourite film such a popular one.

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Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.