The Winter Soldier Killed Spider-Man's Parents

There’s still a lot about Bucky Barnes’ past as the Winter Soldier that the Marvel Cinematic Universe hasn’t revealed, and a fan theory suggests that among his many crimes was the murder of Peter Parker’s parents. The MCU now has over 20 movies with many more coming in the near future, and through them, it has told complete stories while others continue to develop, though many details about the backstories of some characters remain unknown. Such is the case of Bucky Barnes and Peter Parker, whose stories might be connected by tragedy.

Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) made his MCU debut in Captain America: The First Avenger as he’s Steve Rogers’ (Chris Evans) best friend, but that same movie saw his apparent demise when he fell off a train. Captain America: The Winter Soldier revealed that Bucky survived but was captured by HYDRA, who experimented on him, brainwashed him, and turned him into a weapon, giving him the name of Winter Soldier. With the help of Steve and Wakanda’s technology, Bucky has left the Winter Soldier behind, but he’s still in the process of confronting that dark past. Meanwhile, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) finally made his MCU debut in Captain America: Civil War, where he was recruited by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.).

Peter returned in his first solo movie, Spider-Man: Homecoming, joined Bucky and the rest of the MCU heroes in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, and got two more solo adventures in Spider-Man: Far From Home and Spider-Man: No Way Home. However, as Spider-Man was introduced as an already established hero and his backstory hasn’t been explored, there are many questions about it and different theories as well, among those one that suggests that the murder of his parents was one of the Winter Soldier’s missions.

Winter Soldier Killed Spider-Man's Parents: MCU Theory Explained

Following his rescue after that supposedly fatal fall, Bucky Barnes became the first subject of the Winter Soldier program, was given a prosthetic arm (as his left arm was ripped off due to the fall), and had his memory wiped out so he could be under HYDRA’s control. Bucky was then used as HYDRA’s weapon and sent on different missions for years, and they kept him frozen in suspended animation after every mission to prevent him from aging. Every time the Winter Soldier completed a mission, HYDRA put him under the painful process of wiping his memory to ensure he remained memory-free and emotionless towards those he killed. Among his many missions was stealing the Super Soldier Serum from Howard Stark and killing him and his wife Maria, which he effortlessly achieved – and this became the reason for the fallout between Iron Man and Captain America in Civil War.

The Winter Soldier was sent on a number of missions to take down different threats (whatever HYDRA believed to be one), which has made some fans believe he could be the one behind the death of Peter Parker’s parents. As mentioned above, Peter’s backstory hasn’t been revealed yet, so it’s unknown what happened to his parents, making way for many theories on how they died and how their deaths could be linked to the wider MCU. The theory, posted on Reddit, explains HYDRA could have sent the Winter Soldier to kill Peter’s parents before the Battle of New York, when Peter was still a child (he was born in 2000-2001), and the reason why further links the Parkers to the rest of the MCU.

Why Winter Soldier & Hydra Might've Targeted Spider-Man's Parents

According to the author of the theory, HYDRA could have targeted Peter’s parents because they worked for S.H.I.E.L.D., which happened at some point in the comics. The author goes as far as to suggest Peter’s parents had been working on radioactive spiders as part of a top-secret project and “things got a little too deep”, and so the Winter Soldier was sent to kill them. A YouTube video about the theory suggests that, in addition to killing Peter’s parents, the Winter Soldier is also responsible for the death of Uncle Ben, as he knew too much about what Peter’s parents had been working on. To add to the theory, one of the Winter Soldier's trigger words was "homecoming", which some see as a hint to the tragic connection between these two characters. Now, if Peter’s parents worked for S.H.I.E.L.D, they might have met some of the most notable names not only in the organization but in the MCU, such as Hank Pym and even Howard Stark, further linking Peter to his late mentor, Tony Stark.

What The Winter Soldier Killing Spider-Man's Parents Would Mean For Bucky & Peter

Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes The Winter Soldier Spider-Man Far From Home Poster

Although Bucky Barnes and Spider-Man fought together in the Battle of Earth, these two characters haven’t interacted yet and they might not even know each other, so there are many ways in which they can meet and their stories can be connected. The last time fans saw Bucky Barnes was in the TV series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, where he had been going to therapy and doing his best to make amends with those he hurt during his days as the Winter Soldier, showing that even though he has been cured, he’s still tormented by those demons. Meeting Peter Parker could be a shocking moment for Bucky as he would realize that he’s the kid of two of his many victims, bringing tension to the Bucky/Peter dynamic and driving the latter to seek justice as this is a very personal matter.

If Peter’s parents worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. and were experimenting on radioactive spiders and that’s why they were targeted by HYDRA, this could help Peter learn more about his powers while also learning more about his parents and their “secret” side. However, the Winter Soldier being the one responsible for the death of Peter Parker’s parents would also make Peter’s story similar to that of Tony Stark, and if there’s one thing MCU fans have criticized when it comes to Spider-Man is its dependence on Tony, which has prevented the web-slinger from evolving into a character of his own.

Why It's Probably Too Late For The MCU To Reveal Winter Soldier Killed Spider-Man's Parents

An image of Peter crying in the rain in Spider-Man: No Way Home

One of the most refreshing aspects of the MCU’s version of Spider-Man is that viewers didn’t have to go through the same story all over again (and mostly, they didn’t have to see Uncle Ben die one more time), and by now, Peter is a well-established character and one of the MCU’s main heroes in the MCU, especially after the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home. For that simple reason, and because Bucky Barnes is now in the process of fully leaving his past as the Winter Soldier behind and finally becoming a hero under his real name, it’s too late for the MCU to reveal that the Winter Soldier killed Peter’s parents. Although the ending of No Way Home makes the exploration of Spider-Man’s origins and Peter’s backstory possible, as now that no one remembers him he could be on a personal journey to truly find himself, adding the Winter Soldier into the mix would make more harm than good to their stories – plus, it would risk repeating a Civil War-type of storyline as happened with Tony Stark.

The way the MCU has handled Peter Parker and his story gives this universe the chance of not having to address his origins and backstory, and the audience is now more invested in what will happen next to Spider-Man rather than going back to explore the past. The theory about the Winter Soldier being the one who killed Peter Parker’s parents is interesting and makes sense, but it might be too late for that now.

Next: MCU Theory: Iron Man Created The Spider That Bit Peter Parker