MCU: 10 Fascinating Facts About Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
3. Captain America Writer Ed Brubaker Has A Cameo
Marvel
The MCU may not directly adapt Marvel's comics beat for beat, but they do apply elements from specific stories very liberally. Infinity War bears all the hallmarks of 1991's Infinity Gauntlet comic - with a sprinkling of Jonathan Hickman's Infinity for good measure - while Thor: Ragnarok took the idea of a gladiatorial Hulk directly from the Planet Hulk series from the late 2000s.
When it comes to The Winter Soldier, however, it's much easier to see where it takes most of its inspiration. Several storylines are mirrored, including the seventies-era Secret Empire comic and the Ultimates too, but most material is taken from Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting's legendary run on Captain America. It was his decision to bring Bucky back to life as the Winter Soldier, and the film's blend of espionage action with classic superheroics was first pioneered during Brubaker's stint on the character.
It's rare that creators ever get a proper credit for their works when the next blockbuster comes around, but Brubaker was acknowledged during the course of the film. He appears as one of two Hydra handlers when Bucky is brainwashed during the second act, and it serves as a great nod for those familiar with the writer's work.
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.
