Recent issues of Captain America have depicted Winter Soldier (aka Bucky Barnes) betraying Steve Rogers. Barnes shot and killed the Outer Circle’s Revolution, before facing Rogers in a brutal battle, and then joining the group as their new Revolution. The Captain felt totally broken, while Barnes simply wanted to destroy the sinister society from the inside.
Now, he’s finding that easier said than done as the group has fail-safes for him turning on them. No matter what, Bucky has to play the game and help them manipulate the world. Well, as the Captain America and the Winter Soldier Special #1 (by Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, Kev Walker, J.P. Mayer, VC’s Joe Caramagna, and K.J. Diaz) is illustrating at the moment, Bucky’s back is up against the wall as the Outer Circle is predicting every move, coming off as powerful and proactive as the Secret Empire an evil Captain America ran in 2016.
Marvel’s Secret Empire Reshaped the World
Without a shadow of a doubt, Secret Empire was one of Marvel’s most controversial arcs. Spearheaded by Nick Spencer, it focused on Red Skull manipulating a sentient Cosmic Cube named Kobik to rewrite history. This produced an alternate reality where Steve was a Hydra spy, who helped the group take over America and set down the order he felt the planet needed.
Rogers saw himself as a hero, and used the mantle and shield of the Sentinel of Liberty to spread the movement across the world, recruiting the likes of the Punisher, while killing heroes like Rick Jones and Black Widow. It was a frightening event, with many hating how the hero’s image was tainted in what was deemed a Nazi, fascist light. However, the newly dubbed ‘Hydra Cap’ wasn’t a full-blooded dictator, as he had the likes of Zemo and Madame Hydra helping, all before they were thankfully stopped and reality reset.
Winter Soldier’s Outer Circle is Another Evil Empire
The Outer Circle has the vibe of Hydra, mixed in with the Illuminati, as they control economics, politics, arts, online trends, and just about the entire essence of the world — including how heroes and villains sway. It’s why, in this one-shot, Bucky’s petrified over their reach. He knows they manipulated his history, as well as Steve’s, making them weapons, but he can’t grasp how much of a grip on the reality they have in the present. It’s why he falls in line, quickly playing Steve and Sharon to try to gain some modicum of trust from his peers. In the process, as the Revolution, he very much has a degree of power and the ability to reshape the world.
It’s why he hires Peggy Carter, as his Black Widow of sorts, as he has to destabilize things and set the chessboard up how he sees fit to rage against this machine. Even amidst a degree of self-righteousness, Barnes comes off like Hydra Cap, but much less trusting of his ‘team.’ In a sense, they are a secret empire themselves, complete with plenty of in-fighting and turmoil that is sure to eventually boil over.
