Summary
- Bucky Barnes, like Steve Rogers, has lived for several decades due to cryogenic freezing and the super-soldier serum.
- Bucky's life expectancy could potentially sur Steve's 116 years, depending on circumstances.
- Despite outwardly aging at the same rate as Steve, Bucky can still live for at least another 80 years.
Bucky Barnes is one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's super-soldier heroes, and has been one for some seven decades. Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) first appears in the MCU alongside Steve Rogers in 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger, with the two best friends fighting side-by-side in World War II after Steve becomes Captain America. Though Bucky seemingly dies after falling from a train in the movie, he returns decades later un-aged in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, with Bucky having become the brainwashed HYDRA assassin known as the Winter Soldier.
Bucky would continue to be Steve's ally throughout the MCU's Infinity Saga, and has continued as a hero in the franchise in the Disney+ series Falcon & the Winter Soldier. While Bucky will return in the MCU team movie Thunderbolts, the heroes journey of Bucky Barnes as the Winter Soldier has been quite different from that of Steve Rogers, including in how the two have lived as long as they have. However, despite traveling very divergent paths, Bucky's longevity is the result of similar factors as Steve's.
Bucky Survived Through Cryogenic Freezing And The Super-Soldier Serum
After surviving his fall from the train, Bucky would be kidnapped by a HYDRA cell in the Soviet Union, and then placed in the same super-soldier experimentation that Steve was. With the super-soldier serum putting Bucky into peak physical condition for a human, he would also be placed under mind control by the nefarious Arnim Zola (Toby Jones) to make him into HYDRA's assassin. Bucky would also be further robbed of decades of his life by being placed in cryogenic stasis whenever he was not carrying out HYDRA's bidding.
Steve himself would survive into the 21st century in a similar manner as Bucky, being cryogenically frozen in the North Pole after crashing a HYDRA aircraft bound for the United States. With both Steve and Bucky having been given the super-soldier serum, both emerge from their cryogenic stasis as if they have not aged a day. Of course, with both Steve and Bucky essentially skipping over 70 years to arrive in modern times the same age as they were upon being frozen, there is a question of just how long each of them can live.
How Old Could Bucky Live In The MCU?
The ending of Avengers: Endgame (which takes place in 2023) offers some perspective on how the super-soldier serum impacts the aging process when Steve goes back in time to live his lost years with Peggy Carter (Haley Atwell), with an elderly Steve ing his shield on to Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie). Steve's MCU birth date is canonically July 4, 1918, which would make him roughly 25 when he was frozen, and about 36 when he traveled back to the early '40s to live with Peggy. This would make Steve an astounding 116 years old at Endgame's conclusion, which gives a good idea of how long Bucky can live.
Bucky's MCU birth date is March 10, 1917, which makes him 26 upon his capture by HYDRA, and roughly within his mid-30s. With the super-soldier serum turning him into the Winter Soldier, Bucky could surely live at least as long as Steve's age of 116, and - given it is not even fully clear if Steve is still alive or has finally ed away after the final scene of Endgame - possibly even longer depending on circumstances. In any case, Bucky Barnes is still able to live at least another 80 years as the Winter Soldier, though unlike Wolverine's greatly slowed aging process, Bucky will outwardly age at the same rate as Steve Rogers.
