Falcon & The Winter Soldier: Marvel Hints at Bucky’s Bisexuality

While on a date in Marvel’s new series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Bucky mentions swiping on a lot of tiger pictures on a dating app, which could hint at his bisexuality. Where WandaVision exposes the harsh aftermath of reversing the Blip and the consequences on normal human lives, Falcon and the Winter Soldier expands on it in even more intimate detail. The series, which started streaming last week on Disney+, takes place six months after the events of WandaVision and features Sam Wilson as Falcon (Anthony Mackie), as well as the Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) trying to return to semi-normal lives.

The first episode sees Bucky, who was a victim of the Blip, working to make amends for his past crimes while he was brainwashed as the Winter Soldier; he received a pardon for his crimes with Hydra after his return in Avengers: Endgame. In his efforts to seek atonement and work through his trauma, Bucky keeps a list of names of victims from his time as the Winter Soldier to whom he must apologize. He is now trying to live a normal life and get to know himself with the help of a therapist.

As part of his efforts to lead a normal life, Bucky makes friends with his neighbor Yori, who then sets him up on a date with Leah, a waitress of their favorite restaurant. Bucky is extremely awkward during his date with Leah, and it’s probably because his last date was over 70 years ago, during the opening scenes of Captain America: The First Avenger. In an effort to make conversation, he mentions having spent some time on dating apps, which he finds really weird because of all the tiger pictures in the profiles he swipes on. Tiger pictures used to be infamous on apps like Tinder and were found predominantly on men’s profiles prior to Tinder cracking down on them due to the unethical conditions in which the tigers were kept. By inserting this piece of information into Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Marvel hints at Bucky being bisexual, since he has been swiping on men as well as women.

While the MCU is not known to be very inclusive in terms of queer representation, Kevin Feige pledged to include more LGBTQ characters back in 2018, and Bucky could be one of the first attempts. After enlisting during World War II, Bucky is only seen going from fight to fight, until he is deprogrammed from his brainwashing by Shuri in Wakanda. His last fight is as part of the Avengers against Thanos. While he’s never been shown to be attracted to men openly before, he did grow up in the 1920s and 30s, when homosexuality and bisexuality were not commonly accepted. Falcon and the Winter Soldier is the first time Bucky has a chance at exploring his sexuality and personal life more seriously, in a more open, inclusive world.

Meanwhile, Marvel fans have been reading Bucky’s character as queer-coded for many years, shipping the two best friends out of time as a romantic couple ever since The First Avenger came out. The MCU sold Bucky and Steve’s friendship short: Due to being brainwashed as the Winter Soldier, Bucky never had the time to fully form a relationship with anyone other than Steve, whom he grew up with, and their signature phrase, “I’m with you ‘til the end of the line,” is proof of how deep their bond is. While “Stucky” is now a ship that has definitely sailed with the end of Endgame, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is Bucky’s second chance at life. By hinting at his bisexuality with the tiger pictures comment, the MCU is giving the audience hope that Bucky can finally explore his own story on his own terms.

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