How Stucky was Queer Coded

Coding/Subtext

Character Roles & Movie Details

All three Captain America movies were about Steve and Bucky's devotion to each other. The movies constantly showed us that Steve would do anything for Bucky and Bucky would do anything for Steve. All 3 of Steve's movies were about him trying to save Bucky.

It feels like fate that these two ended up in the 21st century. Like they got a second chance.

Let me start with Captain America: The First Avenger. In this movie, Steve starts out in the "damsel in distress" role, because Bucky is always protecting and saving him. After Steve gets the serum, the roles switch, and Bucky becomes Steve's damsel in distress.

The first thing that Steve did as Captain America was to save Bucky from Hydra (the FIRST time Bucky was captured by Hydra.) He literally picked up the shield to save Bucky. As soon as he found out where Bucky was, he stormed the base all by himself just because there was a chance that Bucky MIGHT be alive. He had no idea if he was. That reminds me of in movies when the main character saves the love interest, even if it gets them killed, they still do it.

Not just that, but earlier in the movie, before Bucky was captured, Steve said, "I don't want to kill anyone." After Bucky was captured, he said, "I'm not gonna stop until all of Hydra are dead or captured." This is when he talks about saving Bucky. That's called character inconsistency. That usually only happens in a story when a love interest is in danger.

Later, Bucky and Steve refused to leave a burning building without each other. When Steve told Bucky to leave without him, to save himself, Bucky yelled, "No, not without you!" That was hands down the most passionate and crazed Bucky had ever been about something. He had never been more serious about something in his over 10 year span of him being in the MCU. He would rather die than leave without Steve. Every time I watch that scene I can feel how frantic, how sure he is about that statement. It's one of my favorite Bucky lines. Damn, Sebastian Stan is an amazing actor.

Later in the movie, when Bucky seemingly died, that was Steve's motivator to stop Hydra once and for all. Bucky's "death" was what led Steve to being able to take down Hydra.

Let's not forget that Steve could've probably jumped off the plane. In a deleted scene for Avengers: Endgame, Rhodey asked why Steve had to crash the plane. Steve tells him there were bombs on board. Rhodey then asked him why he didn't jump off, and Steve didn't reply. Steve could have jumped off, but Bucky had "died" 3 days before, and Steve didn't want to live a life without him.

So basically, in The First Avenger, Steve "became" Captain America and picked up the shield for Bucky, and Bucky's death was what motivated him to take down Hydra. That usually is the role of the love interest.

Now, Captain America: The Winter Soldier. That one was basically an act of true love's kiss.

First off, foreshadowing is added a lot in stories. Marvel is no exception, there's many instances of foreshadowing in the MCU. Including a scene between Natasha and Steve not long before Steve meets up with Bucky. The two of them are talking about dating and the like, and Natasha says, "Nobody special then?" And Steve responds with "Believe it or not, it's kind of hard to find someone with shared life experience." Umm? I wonder? It's not like there's anybody who was born in the early 20th century who fought in World War II and who didn't age for decades only to wake up in the 21st century. Besides James Buchanan Barnes, of course. The fact that they used the foreshadowing in a romantic context was so unnecessary, they could have foreshadowed Bucky's appearance in so many other ways. There's no other explanation for this line besides it foreshadowing Bucky.