--- title: Bucky Barnes' Future After Captain America: Brave New World description: The Winter Solider is apparently running for Congress. How will he explain his antics in Thunderbolts* to his future constituents? canonical: https://time.com/7221647/captain-america-brave-new-world-bucky-barnes/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-02-14T08:04:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-10T23:42:55.758Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Bucky Barnes Is Apparently a Politician Now og:description: The Winter Soldier in running for Congress in Captain America: Brave New World. What that means for The Thunderbolts* og:url: https://time.com/7221647/captain-america-brave-new-world-bucky-barnes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7decc52d002f945/698a18fd929fad9c2ebf749e/sebastian-stan-falcon-and-the-winter-soldier.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: sebastian-stan-falcon-and-the-winter-soldier og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bucky Barnes Is Apparently a Politician Now twitter:description: The Winter Soldier in running for Congress in Captain America: Brave New World. What that means for The Thunderbolts* twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7decc52d002f945/698a18fd929fad9c2ebf749e/sebastian-stan-falcon-and-the-winter-soldier.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Bucky Barnes Has a Surprising New Gig in _Captain America: Brave New World_  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Feb 14, 2025 8:04 AM UTC  Sebastian Stan in Falcon and the Winter Soldier Sebastian Stan in Falcon and the Winter SoldierChuck Zlotnick—Marvel Studios  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Feb 14, 2025 8:04 AM UTC **_Warning: This post contains spoilers for_** **Captain America: Brave New World.** One of the stranger revelations of _Captain America: Brave New World_ is that Bucky Barnes, played by Sebastian Stan, is running for Congress. It's quite the turn for [the Winter Soldier](https://time.com/46760/captain-america-the-winter-soldier-movie-review/), a man who was once brainwashed by Nazis and is responsible for the murder of hundreds of people—including the assassination of Tony Stark's parents. Though when has a shameful past ever stopped anyone getting elected in the United States? **Read More:** [_Breaking Down the_ Captain America: Brave New World _End-Credits Scene_](https://time.com/7221633/captain-america-brave-new-world-end-credits/) The last time we saw Bucky Barnes he was trying to make amends for his wrongdoings by playing second fiddle to the newly-named Captain America, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), in the TV show [_The Falcon and the Winter Soldier_](https://time.com/5947941/the-falcon-and-the-winter-soldier-guide/). Bucky was lost, unsure what to do with his life after his best buddy Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) decided to [travel back in time to reunite with his long lost love](https://time.com/5576656/avengers-endgame-time-travel/) in _Avengers: Endgame_. **Read More:** [_Breaking Down the Finale of_ ](http://All Your Falcon and the Winter Soldier Finale Questions, Answered)[The Falcon and the Winter Soldier](http://All Your Falcon and the Winter Soldier Finale Questions, Answered) Perhaps it's not all that surprising that some enterprising power player would tap Bucky to run for office. He has Kennedy-level good looks and a fun, old timey nickname. He's basically immune to assassination attempts given he has super strength and an indestructible Vibranium arm. He has something that would be coveted by anyone in power: connections to the wealthy yet isolationist nation of Wakanda.He has military experience, albeit of the more checkered variety. He is 108 years old and therefore can boast he's quite experienced. He's the full package. A rumor had been circulating in the fandom that this might be Bucky's next role in the MCU. In what seemed like a possible slip, Wyatt Russell mentioned [during an interview at San Diego Comic-Con](https://x.com/tbolts%5Fnews/status/1817588470753218623) last summer that Bucky "is a congressman now." As of _Brave New World,_ he is, at least, well on his way. However, it's hard to reconcile Bucky taking the oath of office with his antics in the [_Thunderbolts\*_ trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUUszE29jS0). In that movie, due out in May, Bucky teams up with some rather unsavory and morally flexible characters—Yelena ([Florence Pugh](https://time.com/collection/next-generation-leaders/6278537/florence-pugh-leaders/)) and Red Guardian (David Harbour) from [_Black Widow_](https://time.com/6077666/black-widow-scarlett-johansson/) and John Walker (Russell) from _The Falcon and the Winter Soldier_, among others, to form some sort of low-budget Avengers-like superteam. Like, he is literally blasting cars off the road with missiles. That's not a great look for a campaigning politician! Especially after the President of the United States hulked out and destroyed some beautiful cherry blossoms at the end of _Brave New World_. How, exactly, Bucky will explain this to his constituents? We'll have to wait until May to find out. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7221647/captain-america-brave-new-world-bucky-barnes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7221647/captain-america-brave-new-world-bucky-barnes/"},"headline":"Bucky Barnes Has a Surprising New Gig in Captain America: Brave New World","datePublished":"2025-02-14T08:04:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-10T23:42:55.758Z","description":"The Winter Solider is apparently running for Congress. 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