My Hero Academia is no stranger to superhero shout outs, and the latest episode of My Hero Academia: Vigilantes gave Marvel another fun cameo with a Winter Soldier Easter Egg. Ever since My Hero Academia began its run with Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine over a decade ago, series creator Kohei Horikoshi has never been shy about all of the influences that Marvel superheroes had on the series. This even led to official crossovers with heroes like Spider-Man following its finale, and fans have spotted even more connections between the two worlds over the years through manga and anime releases.
This connection with Western superhero comics even extends to My Hero Academia‘s spinoff projects like My Hero Academia: Vigilantes. The new anime series has been airing its new episodes through the Spring 2025 anime schedule, and with it fans have gotten to see a whole new side of the hero world. This even includes some fun new Easter Eggs and shout outs to more superheroes, and the latest even brings in a Yakuza member inspired by the Thunderbolts* film standout, Bucky Barnes the Winter Soldier.
My Hero Academia Introduces Its Own Winter Soldier
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Episode 6 begins with an introduction to how the Yakuza world operates within the hero society. While fans have gotten to see this side of the crime world in the original My Hero Academia series, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes takes place years before the events of the main series. This means that the Yakuza world seen here is just starting to grow and change with all of the Quirks making the world that much more dangerous. It’s meant that those who are in the Yakuza ranks are getting deadlier thanks to their powers as well, and it’s getting to be a problem.
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes addresses this with a deadly new vigilante who turns out to be Hero Killer Stain before he officially becomes the villain we see later. He kicks off the episode by killing a group of Yakuza, and one of them not only has black around his eyes but then one of his arms is coated with a metal. This makes him look at lot like Marvel’s own Winter Soldier, and while he’s not named, it’s fun and quick shout out to the Marvel Cinematic Universe nonetheless.
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What’s Next for the Winter Soldier in the MCU?
The Winter Soldier’s been through quite a lot in the Marvel Cinematic Universe ever since he was first introduced to the feature films. Bucky Barnes went from being Steve Rogers’ best friend during the World War II era, and was thought dead for many years. It turned out that he was reprogrammed and turned into a deadly assassin known as the Winter Soldier. But after being saved by Steve, Bucky regained his mind back and was able to turn everything back around and is now one of the pillars of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Bucky was a central figure of Marvel’s newest cinematic entry as well, Thunderbolts*. Releasing in theaters earlier this month, this film saw a bunch of scattered characters from across the MCU and put them together into a makeshift team that would allow them to become the heroes they never thought they would be. It ended up being a direct lead into the events of Avengers: Doomsday, and it won’t be long before we find out what’s next for Bucky and the rest of this new team. And considering how well it’s done with fans so far, we’re going to see a lot more of them soon.
The post My Hero Academia Introduces Its Own Winter Soldier With MCU Easter Egg appeared first on ComicBook.com.
