How Sebastian Stan turned into the MVP of the MCU

The actor behind Marvel’s hero-turned-villain-turned-hero Bucky Barnes has quietly become the heart and soul of the franchise. Ed Power explains why Stan is very much the man

- Ed Power

Sebastian Stan knows all about taking risks. It was just last year that he played Donald Trump in The Apprentice; depicting the president as a blustering sociopath and rapist, the film was released despite preventative efforts from Trump’s lawyers.

Several months ago, Stan attempted an even more perilous jump into the unknown when he said the unsayable and defended everyone’s favourite big-screen punchbag, the Marvel Cinematic Universe – describing the maligned blockbuster franchise as a lifeline for cinema. “It’s become really convenient to pick on [Marvel films],” he told GQ. “And that’s fine. Everyone’s got an opinion... [But Marvel] is an artery travelling through the system of this entire machinery that’s Hollywood. It feeds in so many more ways than people acknowledge.”

Rare indeed is it that an actor will come out to bat for the MCU – even if, like Stan, they’ve been part of the Marvel Universe almost from the beginning. He joined the franchise first as Captain America’s peppy best pal Bucky Barnes (in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger), then played Barnes’s killing machine alter-ego, the Winter Soldier. Resilient, uncomplaining and focused on the task at hand, both Stan and Bucky may well be the underappreciated heroes of the Marvel Universe.

This weekend, Stan is back as Barnes in Thunderbolts* – a teamup movie also starring Florence Pugh as Black Widow’s younger adoptive sister Yelena Belova, and David Harbour as Russian supersoldier Red Guardian. It marks the ninth MCU film Stan has appeared in (plus two TV series). Earlier this year, Stan popped up for one scene in Captain America: A Brave New World – arguably the highlight of an underwhelming film.