Head canon: hydra never used bucky as a weapon, they were just his stylists who he said brainwashed him to make his back story more edgy.
It just took him 70 years to think of a dramatic way to rejoin society- and when he found out about Steve’s epic return from the ice he had to up his game. I can just imagine him getting ready to appear on the highway saying shit like:
- [Holding gun at stylists head] “make me look pretty”
- “Where’s my anti-aging cream I’m literally 100”
- “Karen smooth out my hair & stop touching my fucking goggles oh my god why do i even pay you?”
- “Im gonna play hard to get…by fighting him and then I’ll pretend I don’t know who he is”
- “Can one of u peasants be useful and get my leather suit - I’ve got to look better than Steve did in that dumb ass cap outfit”
- “Where’s my mask I’ve got a stress spot oh My GoD”