We all saw Rocket pull Bucky Barnes’ vibranium arm out of a box onThe Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. And despite fan theories, director tweets, and confusing speculation, barely anyone has bothered to wonder: what will Bucky do without his arm? No one knows how he lost it, especially when it’s attached to his shoulder. We didn’t see Nebula go to Earth. We didn’t even see the Guardians that went to Earth come anywhere close to visiting Bucky. But according to James Gunn, it happened, and now we have to deal with the consequences.
Bucky has gone without an arm before. While he was living in Wakanda, he purposely refused to wear it, perhaps because it was made by the people that brainwashed him, perhaps because it symbolized a time in his life when he had no control over himself. But eventually, the Wakandans made him another one, andthe Winter Soldierused it to fight Thanos. One thing we saw though, is that arm came with a quick release. Okoye pressed a button and the arm dropped off Bucky’s body. Now Bucky is walking around without a right hand again, but what threats are out there that he has to prepare for, and how will he deal with them using only one arm?
One-Armed Bucky
After Bucky ran from Tony Stark and the Black Panther inCaptain America: Civil War, he found asylum in Wakanda when Black Panther realized his cycle of vengeance would not bring him peace. When Bucky was deemed an innocent puppet in Hydra’s scheme to assassinate powerful people, he spent some time living alone in Wakanda. He hadn’t been in control of his own mind, but he still blamed himself for the murders he was forced to carry out. He lived in guilt, throwing off the metal arm that made him kill those people. We saw him inAvengers: Infinity Warfarming the planes of Wakanda, using only one arm. But eventually, when Thanos reared his ugly head and the need grew dire, theWakandans made Bucky a new armwith their vibranium.
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We saw Bucky put his new arm on, but Okoye showed us how it was easily detached. Apparently, the Wakandans added a quick release in the shoulder that could easily take the arm off, if you knew where to press. But it didn’t matter for Bucky. Last we saw him, he was still in fighting shape duringThe Falcon and the Winter Soldier, andhe still had his arm. What happened inThe Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Specialmust’ve been something momentous for Nebula to go and grab Bucky’s arm. James Gunn tweeted thatBucky is much weaker than Nebula, and it wouldn’t have been a hard fight for her to get his arm off. Many fans were displeased with the explanation, but unfortunately, we’re going to have to wait to find out the specifics of what canonically happened to Bucky’s arm.
Though right now there are a lot of possibilities. Nebula could have wrestled it off him in a fight, simple as that, but Bucky may have ditched his arm for one reason or another. What we do know is that Bucky would only get rid of his arm for a big life-changing event, and there may be one of those coming up for him in the MCU.
Bucky’s Next Appearance
The next time we’ll see Bucky is most likelygoing to be inCaptain America: New World Orderwhere we might get some kind of explanation. But we’re all aware that the Winter Soldier is going to be a member of Valentina Allegra De Fontaine’s Thunderbolts, and will be in the subsequent movie. There are a lot of things that could happen between now and then that might get Bucky a new arm. One thing’s for sure, Valentina is not going to let him go into combat arm-less.
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Bucky won’t really be able to fight without his arm, but he is still involved in circles that could make him quite powerful. Remember,at the end ofThe Falcon and the Winter Soldier, we found out that Sharon Carter was the Power Broker. Though she’ll keep this position secret from Bucky, she, Valentina, and most of the US government would be willing to invest their time into getting a new arm for Bucky. In fact, it’s likely that these powerful people would come together to get an arm for Bucky made out of adamantium. Now thatShe-Hulkgave us that little easter egg, and we know Wolverine is running around, the US government probably invested their time in developing adamantium, due to the recent stonewalling from Wakanda who refused to give them vibranium. Valentina Allegra De Fontaine will probably work her hardest to get as much of this metal as possible and get Bucky his arm back.
