X-Men ’97 Major Winter Soldier Connection Explained

Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for X-Men ’97 season 2, episode 5

X-Men ’97 season 2 continues to prove itself as more than just a continuation of the original animated series. It’s also a love letter to Marvel Comics as a whole. In the first five episodes alone, we’ve seen characters like Kang, Celestials, Captain America, Black Widow, and more characters connected to the wider Marvel Universe beyond the primary X-Men mythos.

Keeping that in mind, X-Men ’97 season 2 episode 5 continues the exciting ties with a critical return of Weapon X, featuring several Easter eggs and references to established Marvel Comics history. This includes a nod to Bucky Barnes, aka The Winter Soldier with a reference that is undoubtedly one of the episode’s most exciting.

While Logan’s true mission is mainly focused on reclaiming the adamantium Magneto ripped from Wolverine’s skeleton at the end of X-Men ’97’s first season, this new episode also takes the time to explore and tease the greater history of Weapon X and the greater shadow government program it was part of in the comics. Keeping that in mind, here’s why the Winter Soldier reference in X-Men ’97 season 2, episode 5 is so important.

Weapon X’s Winter Soldier Files in X-Men ’97 Explained

X-Men ’97 season 2, episode 5 opens with Logan recruiting Morph and several former Weapon X/Team X operatives under the pretext of infiltrating an old Weapon X facility to eliminate Doctor Cornelius. However, Wolverine’s true objective is to regain his adamantium claws. However, the group quickly encounters far more than they bargained for.

Eventually, Wolverine and company discover that the entire facility has been overrun by an alien Brood infestation, forcing them to fight for survival. Amid their chaos, Morph, Sabretooth, and Lady Deathstrike find archived DVD recordings documenting various Weapon X agents and test subjects, including one in particular labeled “Winter Soldier”.

This is a major nod to the established comics history of Marvel’s Earth-616. On the page, Bucky Barnes has a history with the Weapon Plus program, originally conceived in the aftermath of Project Rebirth (Steve Rogers’ transformation via the Super Soldier Serum). From there, Weapon Plus branched into various offshoot programs trying to replicate and/or replace the process.

While Bucky Barnes was brainwashed into becoming the Soviet Union’s Winter Soldier, Logan became Weapon X, the program’s tenth major iteration developed through Canada’s Department K and the CIA. Beyond that, The Winter Soldier crossed paths with Wolverine more than once. Bucky even played an inadvertent hand in facilitating Logan’s escape from the Weapon X program. Having been tasked by the Soviets to monitor and disrupt weapons programs in the West, Bucky secretly infiltrated Weapon X on their behalf, sabotaging the facility’s security systems. This ultimately gave Logan the opening he needed to make his escape.

However, Bucky and Logan’s history is bigger and goes back even further. When Bucky was still brainwashed as the Winter Soldier, the duo faced off a handful of times. However, one of the darkest encounters was when the Winter Soldier was hired to kill Logan’s pregnant wife, Itsu, before Wolverine joined the Weapon X program. Believing both his wife and unborn child had been murdered, Logan had no idea that his son had survived. As a result, Daken was secretly raised by the manipulative villain Romulus, who also had a significant role in Weapon X’s creation.

Will X-Men ’97 Explore Bucky And Wolverine’s Complicated Past?

As exciting as this new Winter Soldier Easter egg is, we probably shouldn’t expect Bucky to become a major player in future episodes of X-Men ’97 season 2. The animated series already has plenty on its plate. Even so, acknowledging Bucky’s existence does create some fascinating possibilities for future seasons, especially if it leads to threats like Romulus.

Across the board, Logan and Bucky are among Marvel’s most tragic heroes. Both were captured by shadow government programs, and both were brutally remade into living weapons. It’s no wonder Marvel’s most recent version of the Ultimate Universe continuity reimagined Logan as its Winter Soldier. While it remains to be seen if Bucky will actually make an on-screen appearance in X-Men ’97’s future, the reference alone (and its implications) is really cool on its own.

New episodes of X-Men ’97 season 2 release Wednesdays on Disney+ from Marvel Studios.

Release Date

March 20, 2024

Network

Disney+

Directors

Jake Castorena, Emi Yonemura, Chase Conley

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