8 Worst Things The Winter Soldier Has Ever Done

Presidential assassinations and terrorist attacks? Not cool, Bucky. So not cool.

Winter Soldier Sniper
Marvel Comics

While the notion of death in the comic book world is largely a redundant one. there was a famous stance amongst comic book fans that only three deaths would ever truly stick. Those were Uncle Ben, Jason Todd, and Bucky Barnes.

Bar alternative versions of the character, Ben Parker has actually remained deceased. As for Jason and Bucky... well, all readers should know that hasn't been the case for a long time.

Much like Jason's resurrection as the Red Hood, 2005 saw Bucky shockingly alive and working as a lethal assassin known as the Winter Soldier. Despite certain readers hating the notion that Bucky Barnes' death was being retconned, it didn't take long for writer Ed Brubaker to win fans around as he unravelled Bucky's troubled past. It was a story that nobody wanted to read, but all agreed was phenomenal. And like that, the Winter Soldier became one of the coolest characters in comics.

But, while he may have an undeniable cool factor about him, Bucky Barnes has a history of carrying out some truly horrendous acts. Here are the absolute worst things James Buchanan Barnes has done throughout his extremely murky history.

8. Killed Wolverine's Pregnant Wife - Origins & Endings

Winter Soldier Sniper
Marvel Comics

In the world of Marvel Comics, Wolverine has had more love interests than most heroes have had hot dinners. Seriously, it's nearly impossible to keep track of all of Logan's tragedy-laced romances. And in the case of Itsu Akihiro, this was yet again another relationship destined to end in heartache for Weapon X.

Soon after his time serving in World War II, Wolverine embarked on five years of training designed to simmer his ever-short temper. During that time, he met, fell for and married Itsu, and the couple were soon expecting their first child. That was until Logan returned home to find his pregnant wife brutally murdered.

Years later, in the Origins & Endings arc, the Winter Soldier revealed that he was the one who wiped out Itsu in order to draw Wolverine out from his self-imposed hiding.

The one silver lining of all of this was that Wolverine and Itsu's child was able to be saved and would be adopted. Less of a silver lining, of course, is that this son would return years later as the unrelenting, villainous Daken - with Logan eventually having no choice but to drown his own flesh and blood as the last resort to stopping his murderous ways.

Senior Writer
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.