Winter Soldier- Dream A Little Dream - Dan Hill

Page One- Four Panels

1.1
WIDE PANEL. A CLOSE UP on the WINTER SOLDIER as he’s put to sleep by his Soviet masters. He floats in a glass tank, surrounded by a green liquid, an oxygen mask around his mouth. His eyes start to close.

VOICE (OFF): He’s under...*

CAPTION (JAMES): Every time I close my eyes it's the same thing. Always repeating.
(link)
Glimpses of someone I feel I used to know and a place I’ve never seen.

CAPTION: *Translated from Russian.

1.2
WIDE PANEL. CUT TO BUCKY holding onto that infamous rocket as it hurtles into the atmosphere, towards CAMERA. He's trying to hold on with all of his might. Below him we can see the rocket's trail, the frozen sea and a falling figure.

CAPTION (JAMES): There’s heat there.
(link)
Cold too.

1.3
WIDE PANEL: ZOOM IN on Bucky. His teeth are gritted, his neck muscles straining.

CAPTION (JAMES): I know somehow that he’s scared. That he’s trying to hold on.
(link)
But he can’t. He always falls.

1.4
WIDE PANEL: CUT TO another CLOSE UP of the Winter Soldier in the tank. He looks a little older this time (5-10 years). His eyes are wide open. He’s awake.

VOICE (OFF): Get him up and prepped*.

CAPTION (JAMES): But he’ll keep trying.

Winter Soldier – In Soviet Russia, Target Hunt You – MK Stangeland Jr.

(6 Panels)

Panel 1: WINTER SOLDIER hides behind cover somewhere in RUSSIA, weapon armed. In the background, OMEGA RED is approaching, tentacles out and ready to strike.

OMEGA RED: < Come out now and I promise not to make this more painful than it needs to be. >

WINTER SOLDIER: < Tell me how you knew I was coming and maybe I’ll comply. >

Panel 2: OMEGA RED knocks away WINTER SOLDIER’s cover with one of his tentacles. WINTER SOLDIER starts to move and brings his rifle up to aim it at OMEGA RED.

OMEGA RED: < Knew you were coming? >

Panel 3: One of OMEGA RED’s tentacles wraps itself around WINTER SOLDIER.

OMEGA RED: < I’ve been hunting you myself! >

Panel 4: WINTER SOLDIER grabs part of OMEGA RED’s tentacle with his metal ROBO-ARM OF DOOM. It starts to cause an electrical surge that starts from the hand and feeds out.

SFX: (Surge) ZxxzZ!

WINTER SOLDIER: < Is that so? >

Panel 5: The surge starts a feedback loop, which spreads out from WINTER SOLDIER’s ROBO-ARM OF DOOM and flows back to OMEGA RED, electrocuting him.

SFX: bzzzZZAAKXZ!

OMEGA RED: GUAAAAAAAH!

Panel 6: WINTER SOLDIER stands over a half-unconscious OMEGA RED. He has a weapon pointed down at OMEGA RED, ready to kill him if he tries anything.

WINTER SOLDIER: < Looks like I might have a reason not to kill you yet after all. >

(END PAGE)

Winter Soldier - Is It Hard? - Grant McLaughlin

Okay, so I haven't exactly read a ton of Winter Soldier-related books, so my knowledge of the character is maybe a little sketchy.  Consequently, I didn't know of a villain to fill the role necessary for this script, so I present to you Sickle, a villainous Soviet woman who worked with Hammer (now deceased) during Bucky's brainwashed time as Winter Soldier.  She has done some nefarious wrong (let's say break into the Avengers Mansion and hack their computer system or what-have-you), and he has chased her to a church.  This would take place shortly after Bucky regains his memory and the (shaky) trust of his colleagues and friends.  If it doesn't make a ton of sense in continuity, think of this as part of "Winter Soldier: Year One" or its equivalent.

Disclaimer done, this page has three rows of panels.  Row one is a single panel.  Rows two and three are comprised of three panels.

1 – Interior establishing shot. Bucky has entered the cathedral. It's big. Grand. The entire area stretches out before him, dwarfing him. It is shrouded in darkness.

SICKLE (off-panel): Is it hard?

BUCKY (whispering): Where are you...

SICKLE (off-panel): To be a devil.

SICKLE (off-panel): (2): Among angels?

2 – A stained glass window depicting Jesus forgiving some men and women. It, like everything else, is dark.

SICKLE (off-panel): Your companions have welcomed you back, mouthing words of forgiveness.

3 – Pull out a bit. The bottom of the stained glass from the previous panel is visible at the top of this panel, but the focus is on the confession booth below. Bucky is walking by it, ignoring it. His face is hidden by the darkness.

SICKLE (off-panel): But I can't imagine how much you've been sharing about all the terrible things you've done.

4 – Another stained glass window. This is definitely one of those Old Testament style ones, showing a significant amount of death and destruction. Real fire and brimstone type thing.

SICKLE (off-panel): Cities burned. Bodies broken. Lives ended.

5 – Bucky is moving towards the front of the church. His body language is tense, frustrated, and angry.

SICKLE (off-panel): You must fear what they'd do if they ever somehow found out the entire truth.

BUCKY: You can't run forever!

6 – One more stained glass window. A number of Roman soldiers march onwards, their weapons and shields at the ready. No dialogue.

7 – Bucky stands at the front of the cathedral, kneeling at the prayer bar. His face is visible for the first time. He is crying.

SICKLE (off-panel): Maybe I'm not the one who should be running.

Winter Soldier – The Cracked Mirror – Ryan K Lindsay

PAGE 5 - 5 PANELS

1. James Barnes sits at a café table. The setting is a Russian café and there is snow around. He is facing to the right, so we see him in profile on his right side. This panel is wide and covers the top of the page.

Caption: It stands to reason I’d eventually find myself.

2. These three panels are tall and evenly wide. They fill the gap between the wide panel at the top of the page and the bottom. Here we see a fat bureaucrat walking toward the café. We cannot see Barnes in this panel but the people sitting around the bottom of the panel show us he is approaching the café.

Caption: I never thought myself so precious as to believe I’d be the only one.

3. The man is closer.

NO COPY

4. The man is just getting to the first tables.

Caption: The odds were stacked against me.
Caption: Yet even still…

5. Malachai Nikitin sits at the same café. He faces to the left. He sips his steaming coffee and looks straight ahead.

Caption: …I never truly thought about what I would do, what I should do, in this situation.

Winter Soldier - 1956 - Rol Hirst

Panel One.

Close on a file, in a brown folder, with a Russian emblem stamped in the top corner. A hand holds the file. A metal hand.

On the front of the file, the following words are written (though we don’t need to see them all):

О культе личности и его последствиях

Caption: February 24th, 1956.

Panel Two.

Pull out to show Bucky, as The Winter Soldier, holding the file. He’s reading it. He’s in a grim, 50s, Russian hotel room. A balcony window looks out over Moscow… we may even be able to see The Kremlin in the distance. It’s dark though so we won’t see much. In the foreground, two shadowy men are standing watching him, wearing long KGB trenchcoats. #1 is wearing a furry hat, #2 isn’t.

Man #1: [Premier Khrushchev intends to deliver the speech tonight, in a closed session of the Congress.]*

Caption: *Translated from Russian.

Panel Three.

Bucky stares at the men. Their faces are mostly in shadow. He is listening and taking in their information without judgement. He has a job to do, that is all that matters to him now. He hands the folder back to them.

Man #1: [We went to considerable lengths to find you. Comrade Stalin kept you well hidden.]

Man #2: [But we got you out of there, and we can keep you out. You can have a normal life again, James. Leave all this behind…]

Panel Four.

Bucky stands at the open balcony window. The curtains are billowing in the breeze. He’s preparing to leave. The man (#1) holding the speech has stepped more into the light. He is young (30s), dark-haired and handsome, but we do not recognise him.

Man #1: [As long as this speech remains a secret.]

Panel Five.

The Winter Soldier is gone. The first man takes off his hat as he turns towards us. The second man is staring after Bucky, facing away from us.

Man #2: You think he can pull this off?

Man #1: I think he’s the best chance we’ve got. No way we could have sent one of our own men in there.

Panel Six.

Close on the second man, his face also in the light now. We recognise him. The eye patch is the give away. He’s gritting his teeth in anger.

Nick Fury: Helms, you bastard…

Nick Fury: We just did.

Winter Soldier - Commander in Chief - Simon McDonald

WINTER SOLDIER

COMMANDER IN CHIEF

PART 1 [of 4]

PAGE 20

PANEL ONE

Inside the Oval Office, Captain America has his hand clasped around the President’s arm, pinning it to the desk, preventing POTUS from lifting the cordless red telephone to his ear Outrage is plastered on POTUS’ face, his eyes wide, struggling to comprehend why the SHIELD agents posted around him aren’t responding to the threat.

CAPTAIN AMERICA

Put him in holding.

POTUS

What - - !

You can’t - - !

PANEL TWO

In the foreground of the panel, Captain America stares out the window at the White House grounds, his iconic shield strapped to his back. In the background, POTUS is being led away, visibly agitated, equally powerless.

CAPTAIN AMERICA

I can.

POTUS

Let go of me - !

PANEL THREE

POTUS is shoved into a White House board room where other members of the President’s cabinet and staff are seated, surrounded by armed SHIELD agents, all stone-faced.

SHIELD AGENT

Inside!

POTUS

Huff!

PANEL FOUR
The SHIELD agent returns to the Oval Office as Captain America faces of his men, his arms crossed.

CAPTAIN AMERICA [1]

Gentlemen.

CAPTAIN AMERICA [2]

The White House is ours.

PANEL FIVE

Cut to the lower levels of the White House, beneath the White House. In a scene intentionally reminiscent of the panel of Wolverine in Uncanny X-Men#133, Winter Soldier stands over the unconscious bodies of three enemy SHIELD agents. He’s battered and bruised – and determined.

WINTER SOLDIER

My turn.

CAPTION

“The single greatest fear that America faces today is that its military forces no longer tolerate the continuing incompetence of its civilian leadership.”

Mr George K. Suskind

Defence Intelligence Agency

Evidence given before the House Sub-committee on the Armed Forces, 22nd July 1996

Why The Winter Soldier?

Winter Soldier #1 hits stores on February 1, brought to us from Marvel by the all-star creative team of Ed Brubaker, Butch Guice and Bettie Breitweiser, and I couldn't be more excited. The road to Bucky Barnes reclaiming the Winter Soldier mantle has been long and convoluted - see Fear Itself - but just check out those preview pages: it has been worth the wait.

Brubaker pitched the premise of his newseries in a recent Next Big Thing press conference: Bucky Barnes operating in the shadows as a Black Ops-esque soldier, delving into his past and mixing real world Soviet history with Marvel continuity.

Oh, and there'll also be some globetrotting; just in case that Soviet stuff isn't up your alley. This is espionage  in the Marvel universe, people! Sounds awesome, right?

Let's prove it.