Avengers 4 Theory: 10 Clues Bucky Will Take Over As Captain America

7. There's Precedent Elsewhere

One thing that's important to note is that the movement to cast Bucky as the new Cap isn't a new one. In fact, it's been rumbling for some time, and when the arc that brought Bucky to that level of prominence is as revered as it is, the excitement is easy to understand.

When Mark Millar and Steve McNiven's Civil War left the Marvel Universe fractured in 2006-7, one character whose fate had to be addressed was Steve Rogers'. Arrested in the conclusion to that arc, the burden fell to Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting to wrap things up in the main Captain America series. Their solution was as controversial as it was shocking, as Steve Rogers was assassinated without ceremony by an unidentified shooter while awaiting trial.

To many, this was where Brubaker and Epting's run kicked into overdrive. The focus shifted to the book's supporting characters, namely Bucky, Natasha Romanoff, Sam Wilson and Sharon Carter, as they attempted to unmask the conspiracy that had felled their friend. In the ensuing story, Bucky is offered the role of Cap by Tony Stark, and while he's reluctant to accept at first, with a little of encouragement from Nat, he does.

Bucky's time under the shield marked a somewhat darker shift in tone for the series, but it only illustrated the depth and nuance of the character. More important was that it reiterated that Bucky could be a leading man, and while Steve would return from the dead years later, he proved popular enough to retain his own solo Winter Soldier series in its wake.