How Marvel Rivals’ Winter Soldier Lore Transcends Backstory

The best hero shooters present players with an expansive roster filled with interesting and distinct characters. The visual and gameplay designs of these playable characters are so important, as much of the game’s success hinges on how it feels to play as these heroes. But an underrated aspect of hero shooters is these characters’ in-universe history, and Marvel Rivals is packed to the brim with lore.

Somewhat hidden inside each character’s Hero Profile, most of Marvel Rivals‘ lore takes the form of long text passages that players unlock by completing specific events. Though Marvel Rivals‘ roster is filled with household names, every playable hero and villain has at least one unique twist in their lore that separates them from their comic counterparts. That’s certainly the case for Marvel Rivals‘ Winter Soldier, whose lore goes far beyond just a screen full of text.

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Marvel Rivals’ Winter Soldier Has Really Been Through The Wringer

Marvel’s James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes has an infamously grim origin story. Captain America’s right-hand man during World War 2, Bucky is believed to have been killed-in-action towards the end of the war. In actuality, Bucky isn’t killed, but instead captured by Soviet forces. Bucky is then subjected to years of brutal torture, eventually succumbing to the Soviets’ brainwashing attempts and becoming their super-powered assassin, the Winter Soldier.

Though various comic and movie continuities shake up Bucky Barnes’ origin story, the key beats usually remain the same, and the horrific nature of his torture and brainwashing is usually kept at the forefront of his characterization. Marvel Rivals‘ Winter Soldier lore, however, takes things a step further.

Years after breaking free of his Winter Soldier brainwashing, Marvel Rivals‘ Bucky Barnes heads to the secret Hydra Charteris base in an attempt to infiltrate and destroy the facility. Though he makes it deep into the hive, Hydra’s forces overwhelm Bucky, rip off his metallic arm, and throw him into a large test tube filled with strange eldtritch energy. Inside the tube, Bucky starts to grow squid-like appendages out of his shoulder socket.

Eventually, Hawkeye comes to rescue his old friend, and in a battle against one of Hydra’s super-soldiers, Bucky uses his bizarre new tentacle powers to hurl the enemy out of the window. Before escaping the facility, Hawkeye agrees to help Bucky finish the job he came here to do originally. The duo stumble upon a giant kraken-like monster on the other side of an ancient portal at the heart of Charteris base, and to sever the connection to it, Bucky gets Hawkeye to cut off his new tentacle-ridden arm.

The kraken is defeated, the portal closes, and the base begins to fall around them. But right before Hawkeye and Bucky are crushed, an alternate universe version of Captain America steps through the portal. The three escape the crumbling base, ending up in an alternate version of Wakanda where Bucky is gifted a new cybernetic arm that enhances his new eldritch abilities.

Marvel Rivals’ Winter Soldier Is Unlike Anyone Else on the Roster

Many of the heroes in Marvel Rivals‘ ever-growing roster have slightly different origins to the ones fans know and love. Those slight tweaks and twists occasionally inform the hero’s in-game abilities. For instance, Marvel Rivals‘ Captain America actually stayed trapped in the ice much longer than his comic counterpart, only being thawed out in the 2080s. As such, Marvel Rivals‘ version of Captain America has a more futuristic costume and wields a Wakandan-made shield.

But Marvel Rivals‘ Winter Soldier is the only character on the roster to have a completely new set of abilities based solely on the original lore created for the game. All of Bucky’s abilities revolve around his new cybernetic arm, the tentacles that suddenly shoot out of it, and the eldritch energy that imbues his attacks. Though it strays from the usual Marvel canon, it makes this version of the Winter Soldier a wholly distinct one, and it paves the way for some exciting gameplay.