It was pretty clear to most who watched Avengers: Endgame that all of the decisions Steve Rogers made at the end were made with Bucky Barnes aware of those decisions and in agreement. This includes Steve choosing to go back in time to live out his life with Peggy and Sam Wilson being given Cap’s shield to take up the mantle of Captain America.

Still (as there always seems to be), there was a vocal minority who didn’t like the decision, believing it should have been Bucky, and not Sam, to become the next Captain America.

There’s at least one Marvel actor, however, who believes the decision to give Sam the shield was absolutely the right call: Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier actor himself, Sebastian Stan.

Speaking to THR, Stan explained that, despite what some fans think, Bucky didn’t want the responsibility of being the next guy to wield the shield. Making the decision to give it to Sam was Steve’s way of giving Bucky the very thing he most needed, which was freedom. The ability for Bucky to live his own life, just like he was getting with Peggy.

“Steve is saying to Bucky, ‘You’re going to go and do that, too. I’m not going to put this thing on you. We’re both going to live our lives — the lives that were actually taken from us back in the ‘40s when we enlisted,’” Stan explains. “So, that’s where I felt they were at the end of the movie. I don’t think there’s a desire or any conflicted thoughts about taking on that mantle. Sam, to me, was always the clear man to take on that mantle for numerous reasons, which also comes with so much more baggage that’s going to be explored in the show. I guess you’ll have to tune into Disney+ to find out why. (Laughs.) At the end of Endgame, for either Steve or Bucky, it’s really not about the shield.”

Later in the interview, he goes on to say that he was surprised some fans seemed to read the scene differently because it was so rife with subtext and clear that he and Steve were in accordance with the decisions. And he’s right. It makes sense – and is the more logical decision – than the one made in the comics to have Bucky pick up the shield after Steve Rogers is assassinated.

For those who have never read the comics, the shield passing to someone else happens not because Steve Rogers travels back in time to live the life he missed out on, but because he was assassinated by a Hydra-brainwashed Sharon Carter (or so it appeared at the time). Tony Stark then chooses Bucky to carry on Captain America’s legacy, but it’s not something that Bucky takes on willingly or happily. At the time, Bucky is still partly brainwashed and under intermittent mind control. Stark has a mental block put on him to curb this, but still, settling into the role of Captain America is not one that comes easy to Bucky.

Bucky’s tenure as Captain America is fraught with insecurity and self-doubt. Bucky is still wrestling with both the damage he’s done and the damage done to him and is well aware that the wiring in his head is still messed-up. His rebirth as Captain America is not always embraced by the public or government officials, and with good reason – though he was brainwashed, he still spent decades as a ruthless Hydra assassin. His past ultimately still taints him too much to continue being Captain America, first being put on trial by the U.S. for the crimes committed as Winter Soldier and then by Russia. Sharon Carter and Black Widow break him out of Russian prison, but he chooses to give up the mantle of Cap knowing that no matter how good and reformed he is now, the image of Captain America needs to be a purer one.

It’s the same in the MCU. Fans seem to forget that just a few years ago, during the events of Captain America: Civil War, Winter Soldier was labeled as an international terrorist who blew up the U.N. and went on a killing spree. Though it was later revealed to be the work of Helmut Zemo, Zemo was whisked away to a secret and secure facility and it’s unlikely it was ever a priority to clear Bucky’s name publicly. Bucky himself disappeared from the public eye into Wakanda. All the public knows of him is that he’s a terrorist who went off the grid. No matter how reformed he is, giving Bucky the shield would be like the U.S. government suddenly deciding to give a school shooter a free pass and new job as a public hero. But worse, because Winter Soldier’s crimes had carried on for decades. And while Bucky is worlds removed from his “Ready to comply” days, he still has no idea – and likely never will – whether or not he’s fully de-programmed. There will always be that fear in the back of his mind that one day, someone with ill intentions will start reciting “longing, rusted, furnace, daybreak…” and he’ll go full murder-Terminator again.

Giving the shield to Sam Wilson makes sense. He is the better choice for Captain America. Not because he is the better man, but because he is the least tainted. It’s not a value judgment on the quality of either of their characters but how the public perceives the quality of their characters. As a person, Captain America is a man free to live his own life and make his own decisions. But as a symbol, Captain America is beholden to public perception. Call it a cynical take, but Captain America is partly a PR role and always was from the early days of his origin.

Sam is quite frankly the better choice for this reason. He’s a legitimate hero, not only a soldier in the Air Force but a pararescue airman, at that. He spent his post-military service days helping other veterans overcome their trauma and PTSD. The only blemish on his record was the brief stint where he went on the run with Steve Rogers in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and that was later revealed as part of an effort to bring down Hydra from within S.H.I.E.L.D., making him an even greater hero. He’s the right choice to carry the shield that Bucky never even wanted to pick up in the first place.

But even if it’s wanted, carrying the shield isn’t always easy and Stan also hinted we’d see more of that baggage for Sam Wilson in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The Disney+ series was, in his estimation, only about two or three weeks away from wrapping filming when production had to be shut down due to the coronavirus. We’re excited to see where Bucky and Sam’s story takes them when the series is finally released.

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