The grand finale of the Avengers: Armageddon event may foreshadow the future fate of Sebastian Stan in the MCU. Stan’s future playing Bucky Barnes had already been called into question after his apparent death in the Armageddon event. However, a novel twist in the final chapter suggests a way forward for the beloved actor.
Avengers: Armageddon #5 explores the aftermath of a superhero battle that devastated the Russian settlement of Plesetsk. On one side was General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, whose Red Hulk form had been turned into a living nuclear bomb. On the other side was David Colton, a former Super Soldier recently empowered by an “origin box” which gave him powers of a hero from another world called Miracleman.
Afterward, Tony Stark and Reed Richards examined David Colton’s new powers and made a frightening discovery. According to Mister Fantastic, all the other origin boxes they encountered in Ultimate Impact: Reborn had corresponded to existing superheroes. That is to say, known superheroes from the Earth-616 reality as opposed to other realities like the MCU. Richards believed this meant that there was another Miracleman on their world, who had yet to discover their powers. This raised the question of just who this mystery hero might be.
The answer came in the final pages of Avengers: Armageddon #5. The desiccated body of Bucky Barnes suddenly began to regrow flesh two weeks after the Plesetsk incident. The dazed Bucky is greeted by Nick Fury Sr., who declares his sudden resurrection “a miracle.” The comic concludes with Nick telling Bucky to pull himself together, as “we gotta save the godddamn world.” This would seem to indicate that Bucky is the Miracleman of Earth 616, which may tease a new role for Sebastian Stan in the MCU.
Why Bucky Barnes as MCU’s Miracleman works
The storyline establishing David Colton seemed forced on several levels. Beyond his suddenly being shoehorned into the Captain America legacy, he was also given connections to Iron Man and Wolverine. Turning him into the Marvel universe version of Shazam (who inspired the original Miracleman character) seemed rushed and unearned.
By contrast, Bucky Barnes taking the Miracleman mantle works on several story levels. Bucky is a great character, who has been developed into a hero in his own right outside of Steve Rogers‘ shadow in recent years. Indeed, some comic readers and MCU fans think he’s a more natural successor to the Captain America title than Sam Wilson.
However, having Bucky become Miracleman (who was originally Marvelman) would give the character a direct connection to Marvel’s past and another Marvel Comics legacy. It would also be ironic, given that Miracleman was originally a boy transformed into a hero, much like the role Bucky filled as Captain America’s boy wonder. Finally, making the MCU Bucky Barnes Miracleman would further separate him from the Winter Soldier mantle and give him the new direction the character desperately needs.
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