In Other Worlds I Think The Marvel Fandom Lacks An Ability To Interpret How Nuanced The Serum Is - Tumblr Posts

just curious why does everyone assume Bucky's serum (and also all the other serums) was inferior to Steve's? There's not any evidence to suggest this, aside from Erskine obviously not being the one to administer it. We don't know anything about what exactly is in Bucky, not for certain (we don't even technically know for certain if he had a serum at all it could come from something else Zola did, except maybe word of god) we can only make educated guesses that it's derived from Schmidt's blood, which is I think the same serum as Steve, Schmidt was just the wrong man.

The perfect serum would entirely depend on what you're after and there was a reason Erskine was after a Good Man for the soldier since who the person is that's taking the serum impacts massively on the end result. Most of the language used to describe Steve's serum relies on the context that "perfected" means the ideal soldier, not the strongest/quickest/sharpest sense etc.

I've always interpreted it that Steve is the ideal soldier, he's the right balance, even if he's not necessarily the strongest (Banner would be that, but just look at the Hulk, not exactly the goal) nor has the quickest reflexes (I'd argue this is Bucky, his reaction times seem quicker than most and he disappears from under Steve and other enhanced people's noses constantly). He's undeniably the Ideal, the best all rounder with minimal impact on his psyche, but I don't think that means the other serums (which there seems to be five variations that have created 'successful' ie surviving soldiers) are weaker.

They are probably "weaker" in the sense that they're not producing all rounders like Steve, but again it hinges entirely on what you're after, if you're after the strongest then you get the Hulk, but if you're after the best senses like sight, smell, hearing etc. you might get another variation coming out on top.

The serums are just like any other tools, the best is defined by what you need it for.