In which I actually tried to write meta about Bucky’s hair.





I love that actors have as much invested in their own headcanon of their characters as the rest of us do. I always get really excited, when in interviews or at cons, actors will share what they think is their backstory, their motivations, their perspective of the life and breadth of their character. The exercise of developing headcanons as a writer or as an actor feels similar and that’s kind of a cool thing without breaking the 4th wall.

Character appearance definitely makes or breaks the believability of a character. I don’t always notice the subtleties of a character’s look and feel, but I’m sure I would notice something missing. Clothes can be an interesting representation of character and can speak volumes when done correctly; but I really find hair is just as intriguing as a character’s costume.

Hair is controversial.

For many people, the length of hair has religious and spiritual importance. Hair can be a source of vanity and pride. Some people choose to hide their hair modestly. Some prefer to shave it all off. Hair is political; hair has gender and social connotations and biases and stereotypes. Hair has cultural significance; historical significance. The other day, I was watching the video series of 100 Years of Beauty and I was really excited to see women’s hairstyles from other countries. You guys know the post that I’m talking about. If not, view here: http://www.cut.com/

Hair represents power and control.

In CA:TFA, we first meet James Buchanan Barnes as he saunters into a back alley fight in his perfectly fitted uniform and deftly takes care of the bully beating up on Steve Rogers. He walks into the scene pressed and polished, with a proud and confident swagger, clean shaven, and his goddamn hat cocked – that is NOT regulation, Sergeant Barnes.

In this first scene, we pretty much get to know Bucky Barnes. No one has to tell us who he is and what he’s like. We may not know what his hair looks like under his hat, but we can guess that it’s probably the high and tight cut to meet Army regulation, but probably just a smidge too long to be right on the line. If Bucky pays that much attention to his uniform, he’s probably going to give his hair some pomade love.

Bucky’s in absolute control over himself, his environment; the attention to detail on his clothes and his hair represents a man who takes care of himself and how he presents himself to his world. It wouldn’t surprise me that Bucky of that era emulated the silver screen stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Think leading marquee stars like Clark Gable and Errol Flynn of the 1930s/1940s. Swoon. Think cool cat Cab Calloway. Purr.

In the flashback scene of CA:WS, we see Bucky out of uniform, but yet still pressed and polished in his well-fitted 3-piece blue suit, his hair slicked back with some Murray’s Pomade (est. 1925 and still sold today). He totally owns this. It’s the hair; Bucky’s sense of self-worth and pride in his appearance comes from the clean lines of his clothes and his hair. Look at him in that scene compared to Steve’s too-big ill-fitting mis-matched neutral colored clothes and unstyled hair. Granted, Steve is coming home from his mother’s funeral, but from a character point of view, there is a visual disparity between Bucky and Steve. Bucky stands out, while Steve kind of fades into the background. Invisible.



And then Bucky goes off to war, his platoon gets captured, and he’s tortured and experimented on. Steve/Captain America rescues him. Look at him now. There’s something quite old, experienced, mixed with some dead anger in his eyes now. Plus his hair is a right dirty mess.

He is not a happy camper. While Steve is all so-happy-I-saved-my-best-friend smiles, Bucky is having a bad (hair) day.

But, he’s Bucky Barnes, so he still has a moment to notice the pretty nurse. I love that this moment is blink-and-you-miss-it quick. It’s just enough to remind you that even though Bucky’s been brutalized, rescued by a best friend who doesn’t look like the best friend he thought he left behind safe back home, that at his core, he’s still the same old Bucky who is going to smile at a pretty girl in the middle of a war.

Back in London, while Steve is trying to recruit the Howling Commandos, Bucky still hasn’t gotten back on his feet. What’s been going through his mind? It’s certainly not doing his hair. He’s probably worried sick about his best friend being at the front lines of this war. He’s probably hiding his PTSD. His hair is a mess, his service uniform doesn’t seem to fit him, it looks like it might be a size too large, possibly because he lost weight during his capture and torture as Zola’s prisoner. His sense of self-worth and his control and power have slipped away from him.

I like the dichotomy here - where Bucky looks unkempt while Steve looks fucking awesome. Steve’s hair is cut and brushed and clean with just a hint of pomade. His uniform fits him like sex. The roles are switched between them. And in this scene, it’s the payoff to how Steve now has the upper hand to Bucky. Steve’s gained a sense of pride, he’s in control and he is, literally, powerful. Meanwhile, Bucky is the invisible one.

But of course Bucky is back. He’s fighting with Steve and the HC, his hair looks clean. His new blue uniform fits him like a glove.

But there’s something subdued about him now.

Then we see them, side by side, both looking really swell. For the first time in the movie, Bucky and Steve are on equal footing. They’re in balance.

I love how in this picture, Bucky is starting to show some of that darkness that’s inside of him. Sebastian’s headcanon is that Bucky is the kind of character who gets sent out to the edges, to do the dirty work that Steve can’t do as the hero of the movie. We see that Bucky will do whatever is necessary to protect Steve, the set of his jaw, the determination on his face, the price that he’ll end up having to pay.

And now, we come to the Asset/Winter Soldier. His hair is a wretched mess. He doesn’t have any sense of self or self-worth, that’s been stripped away to become a weapon, a thing to fear. He’s nothing more than an asset; for someone else who has power to wield him, to control him, to use him.

The Asset doesn’t have a name. He doesn’t exist outside his mission. He doesn’t get to keep memories. No one is going to care about the state of his hair, least of all him.

In the closing scene of CA:WS, we see Bucky alive, at The Smithsonian, learning about his past, his identity. He still doesn’t have a sense of self-worth (yet?) but his eyes aren’t dead anymore. There’s a spark of life.

Maybe Steve broke through his HYDRA programming, but it’s still a long way from the Bucky of the past to the Bucky of the now.

So what will Bucky’s hair look like in CA:CW and how will that reflect his character? From the recent pics of Sebastian, it looks like he’s going to keep the hair length and facial hair. But I think that makes sense because Bucky will never be the Bucky of the past. He’s not the cocksure, swaggering Bucky anymore - there’s no way that he can be, not after everything that was done to him, everything that he was forced to do. I’m really quite excited to see what his character will look like, what it will express in his appearance and costume.

Add your own meta on Bucky and his hair.









** If you’re interested in reading an old Sebastian Stan article about Bucky’s hair, it’s here: http://io9.com/the-winter-soldier-reveals-the-secret-backstory-hidden-899842569

** Images/Gifs are not mine. If one of them belongs to you, please let me know and I’ll credit you as the source.