41 Greatest Moments In The Marvel Cinematic Universe

3. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Captain America and Bucky battle

(Write-up by Nick Tylwalk, Bam Smack Pow editor)

The Winter Soldier is a little different from the rest of the Marvel movies. Even though the good guys win in the end, it’s not without the most narrow of brushes with disaster and some heavy choices that need to be made by its starring hero.

With the new SHIELD Helicarriers about to open fire to eliminate a number of targets all over the world — a truly frightening prospect since Hydra has picked said targets — the final sequence would have been high drama on its own as Captain America struggles to place three chips into the control centers of the ships to stave off disaster. Not only is someone actively trying to stop him, it just happens to be his old friend turned brainwashed assassin, Bucky Barnes.

The fight that follows is as brutal psychologically as it is physically. Try as he might, Steve Rogers can’t quite get through to Bucky, who sees him as only as someone the Winter Soldier is supposed to take out. Though he eventually succeeds in stopping Project Insight, Cap ends up physically broken from the battle since he won’t go all out against Bucky, and he loses consciousness thinking he’s failed his friend as well.

He’s at least partially wrong, as we see the Winter Soldier drag Steve’s body out of the Potomac before heading off to parts unknown. Still, as saving the day goes, this is about as rough as it gets.

Next: No. 2: Who needs a secret identity?