James 'Bucky' Barnes

Congressman James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes is a World War II veteran, former sergeant of the 107th Infantry Regiment, the best friend of Steve Rogers since childhood, and a founding member of the New Avengers. Barnes had enlisted into the Army following the attack on Pearl Harbor and was assigned to the 107th in 1943. His unit was captured by Hydra, where Barnes was injected with the Super Soldier Serum by Arnim Zola. Barnes was rescued by Rogers, who had become Captain America. Barnes and Rogers then formed the Howling Commandos to battle Red Skull's forces. However, during the attempt to finally capture Zola in the Austrian Alps, Barnes was caught up in the ambush and plummeted hundreds of feet. As no body was recovered, Barnes was presumed deceased and honored as a hero who died in service to his country.

Unbeknownst to his team, Barnes' enhanced abilities allowed him to survive the fall, albeit with the loss of his left arm. Once he was found by the Soviet Armed Forces and Hydra, Barnes was brainwashed and armed with a new cybernetic arm in order to become their operative, known as Winter Soldier. Over the next seventy years, he killed anyone who posed any kind of threat to Hydra or the Soviet Union, including John F. Kennedy, as well as Howard Stark and his wife, Maria. Between missions, Winter Soldier would be put back into a cryogenic stasis to ensure his longevity. In 2014, Winter Soldier was ordered by Alexander Pierce to kill Nick Fury, in order to ensure that all Pierce's schemes with Project Insight could go ahead. However, Winter Soldier was challenged by Steve Rogers, leading to him to begin remembering his prior life.

In the wake of the Battle at the Triskelion, Barnes, now free, deserted Hydra in order to remember his past and end his long, violent history. Two years later, Barnes was framed for the bombing of the Vienna International Centre, which claimed the life of T'Chaka. As Black Panther then sought his revenge for his father's death, Barnes was repeatedly saved by Captain America, which sparked the Avengers Civil War as a team of Avengers led by Iron Man was sent to capture him. However, they learned that Helmut Zemo framed Barnes and reactivated his brainwashing so that Zemo could reveal that Barnes had murdered Stark's parents years ago. Having just survived Stark's revenge, Barnes was given amnesty in Wakanda by T'Challa and was placed in cryostasis until all Hydra's control could be removed.

With the help of Shuri, Barnes was finally cured of his brainwashing, earning the nickname White Wolf. However, as Thanos attempted to kill Vision for the Mind Stone, Barnes received a new vibranium arm and joined the defense of Wakanda. Winter Soldier defeated many of the Outriders alongside Rocket, only for Thanos to defeat them and assemble all of the Infinity Stones. Barnes was killed when Thanos eliminated half of all life in the universe. Five years later, Barnes was resurrected by Hulk and participated in the final battle against Thanos. In the aftermath of the battle, he attended the funeral of Tony Stark with all the other heroes. Later on, Barnes bid Rogers farewell, knowing of his intention to time travel back to the 1940s. Barnes then witnessed Rogers, as a much older man, return home in order to pass the shield onto Sam Wilson.

With his name pardoned, Barnes sought atonement for all his actions as the Winter Soldier. His attempts were interrupted when John Walker was made the next Captain America, and the Flag Smashers emerged to act against the GRC's efforts to handle the aftermath of the Blip. He and Sam Wilson would go on a mission to stop the Flag Smashers, working with Helmut Zemo and Sharon Carter. However, their mission was complicated by Walker's attacks, until Walker murdered a Flag Smasher over Battlestar's death. Barnes and Wilson were forced to defeat Walker to stop him from continuing to be Captain America. Barnes would then join Wilson and Walker in the final battle with the Flag Smashers, helping in their defeat and making amends with his past. By 2027, Barnes entered into politics and began a campaign to get elected into the United States Congress.

Halfway through his term in Congress, he worked to gather incriminating information against Valentina Allegra de Fontaine for her upcoming impeachment hearing. This pitted Barnes against Valentina’s former assassins, although he would eventually work with them against de Fontaine. With them, he would go on to confront de Fontaine in the Watchtower, only to be forced to retreat by the genetically modified Sentry. As soon as New York was attacked by the Void, Barnes worked with his newfound team to stop the threat, letting themselves be engulfed by the void to aid Yelena Belova in trying to convince Sentry to fight the Void, his dark ego, for control. They eventually succeded and returned, where, in an attempt to confront de Fontaine, Barnes and the others were tricked into being announced as the New Avengers.

New avengers members: bucky barnes, yelena belova, Robert 'bob' Reynolds, John walker, ava starr, alexei Shostakov.