It’s been more than two years since Avengers: Endgame hit theaters, but we’re only now starting to see its effects on the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Spider-Man: Far From Home was hardly enough to convey the state of the world after the Avengers restored order to the universe. Last year was the first year not to feature any new MCU content. All the movies were postponed due to the pandemic, and new Disney+ TV series didn’t begin rolling out until this year. Marvel has once again started releasing new MCU content, and we began to explore the aftermath of Endgame in earnest with WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, shows that take place after the final battle with Thanos. The newly launched series Loki also happens after the Time Heist in Endgame, although it’s exploring a different, unseen side of the MCU.
These stories will provide more context about what happened in Endgame and will include the developments that Marvel could not add to its most recent Avengers movie. For example, one of these stories concerns Bucky’s evolution to becoming a true Avenger, something we saw happen in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. But Marvel planned to hint at that character development during the epic final battle scene in Endgame, where Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) would have shared a great moment. Unfortunately, the scene was ultimately cut.
We’ve talked extensively about how Falcon is a must-see MCU story because it shows us how difficult it was for Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) to accept the Captain America role. However, it’s far from being the obvious conclusion, and it’s the kind of detail that Endgame never captured. You have to see Sam become Captain America in the TV show before watching him suit up in Cap armor in a future MCU film.
But Falcon isn’t just about Sam’s arc. Bucky also sees plenty of character development, and we finally witness him putting his Winter Soldier days behind him for good. Here’s what I wrote after the Falcon finale:
In addition to Sam’s arc, the TV show offers us Bucky’s (Sebastian Stan) evolution into a true Avenger. That’s something we weren’t really privy to before now. Bucky was on the run after Civil War, and while he came to help the Avengers save the day in Infinity War, he was blipped away for five years. He played his part in that final battle against Thanos in Endgame, but the audience only witnessed his fighting skills in the film.
This brings us to a massive leak from a Redditor who claims they’ve had access to MCU data for years. The person said they posted the “the most complete and accurate rundown of Endgame” before the film came out, as they’re in a situation “to hear or see things that cross” their desk.
According to the leaker, the final Endgame fight was much longer and had to be shortened, both for time and pacing reasons. He says the battle was meant to offer “extra fan service movements, and moments of character closure.” This is where he mentions the Tony-Bucky scene below, which would have been so awesome to witness:
For example, Tony was being overwhelmed by outriders at one point, to the point of his almost death, but is saved by Bucky. Tony gives a silent nod of approval, and goes back to the fight (this is the first time they would have seen each other since Civil War).
I made a point to quote myself earlier to remind you that Bucky’s Endgame scenes were limited for his arc. We knew he was a good guy and we thought of him as an Avenger. But let’s remember that after Civil War, he had to go into hiding. He only returned to the fold in Infinity War to fight alongside the heroes from previous movies, where he proved he was a different person. But he has never anointed an Avenger. There were no Avengers at that time, after tall. And he never got a chance to interact with Tony gain.
The audience was already aware that Tony had accepted what happened to his parents by that point in the movie. He had put everything in the past by patching things up with Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) earlier in the film. But that silent nod of approval would have done wonders both for Tony and Bucky’s stories, and it would have been a heartbreaking scene. That would have been the moment where Bucky became an Avenger.
As always with leaks, there’s no way to verify any of this, but the full leak is definitely worth a full read. Check it out at this link.
