When Captain America: Civil War released in 2016 it not only featured the return of Bucky Barnes - AKA The Winter Soldier – but also a series of trigger words designed to activate the sleeper agent within him. Having been supposedly shaken loose of his brainwashing following Captain America: The Winter Soldier, new villain Helmut Zemo (Daniel Bruhl) tracks down former Soviet Hydra agents to find a way into Bucky’s head. Zemo’s grievance against the Avengers, following their antics in Sokovia in Avengers: Age of Ultron, was enough to drive him to frame Bucky for bombing a U.N. assembly.
Following Bucky’s capture in Captain America: Civil War by a joint terrorism task force, Zemo infiltrates Bucky’s temporary prison posing as a psychologist, recruited to analyze the wayward assassin. Of course, instead of psycho-analyzing the poor, hundred-year-old Brooklyn native, Zemo speaks Barnes’ trigger words to stir up even more trouble.
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Bucky attempts to resist the conditioning but when Zemo finishes reciting his trigger words - ”Longing,” “rusted,” “furnace,” “daybreak,” “seventeen,” “benign,” “nine,” “homecoming,” “one,” and “freight car” – his head bows and Bucky responds in Russian “Ready to comply.”Here are Bucky’s trigger words in Captain America: Civil War, explained.
“Longing” could refer to what Hydra would know about Bucky, in that he would want to return to his former life. Bucky’s character arc post-Winter Soldier can be defined by as longing to be free of his brainwashing and remember his past. “Rusted” – whilst a bit of a stretch, – could relate to his metal arm. Having lost his left arm following his supposed death in Captain America: The First Avenger, Hydra fitted him with a new, powerful metal one. Of course, metal rusts over time and Bucky is coming on a hundred years old. Whether the code word is used to denote this is up for debate.
Captain America: Civil War’s “Furnace” trigger is most likely nonsense, although it could be perceived as a subliminal threat. Where Bucky’s usually kept on ice between missions, the opposite could be implied as a potential fate should he refuse to comply with orders. “Daybreak” could be interpreted as Bucky embarking on a new life within his revamped existence as a Hydra assassin. “Seventeen” could hold any number of connotations, like maybe Bucky was the 17th test subject on which this brainwashing was tested. “Benign” could reference his state of inactivity between missions, whilst “Nine” can refer to the Greek myth of the Hydra, which has nine heads.
“Homecoming” is a popular one within the fan community as many suspected Captain America: Civil War was referencing the then-upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming. That said, screenwriters Christoper Markus and Stephen McFeely came right out on Movieweb to state that was merely a coincidence; “Sometimes unintentionally you can create a connection and then play with it later – even if you didn’t mean it that way in the first place! This one… it’s simply not.”
“One” could reference Bucky being the first Winter Soldier, or it could be the trigger word in the countdown to his awakening for a mission. Lastly, “Freight Car” is the most obvious – when Bucky “died” in Captain America: The First Avenger, he was thrown from a freight car into an icy river. In addition to Bucky himself, it’s possible audiences could see his trigger words from Captain America: Civil War make a comeback, as Helmut Zemo is set to return as an antagonist in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
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