Oscar-nominated actor Sebastian Stan is back to his MCU roots.
The “Apprentice” star reprises his role of reformed villain Bucky Barnes in “Thunderbolts,” alongside fellow misfit Marvel characters played by the likes of Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and more.
The official synopsis reads: “‘Thunderbolts’ is about an irreverent team-up featuring depressed assassin Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) alongside the MCU’s least anticipated band of misfits. The film also returns to the screen Marvel Cinematic Universe characters Bucky Barnes (Stan), Red Guardian (David Harbour), John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), in addition to some exciting new faces.”
Jake Schreier directs “Thunderbolts” with Kevin Feige producing. Louis D’Esposito, Brian Chapek, Jason Tamez, and former MCU staple Scarlett Johansson serve as executive producers.
The film was scripted by Eric Pearson (“Thor: Ragnarok,” “Black Widow”), Lee Sung Jin (“Beef”), and Joanna Calo (“The Bear”). Both Lee and Calo were set to reunite with their respective series stars in the film: “Beef” alum and executive producer Steven Yeun, plus “The Bear” breakout Ayo Edebiri, initially were both signed on to appear in the film. However, due to scheduling conflicts amid the delayed production, Lewis Pullman (“Lessons in Chemistry”) and Geraldine Viswanathan (“Drive-Away Dolls”), replaced them.
“Thunderbolts” has been teased since 2021 with the release of “Black Widow” and later was included in Disney+ series “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier.” “Thunderbolts” was originally slated to release in 2023 when Phase 5 of the MCU was announced at Comic-Con in 2022.
Now, the film is finally soon to be in theaters. Stan compared “Thunderbolts” to being Marvel’s version of Miloš Forman’s Oscar-winning 1975 film “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” which centered on a mutinous uprising in a psych ward. Stan told Variety that his character Bucky Barnes “was kind of like ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ — a guy coming into this group that was chaotic and degenerate, and somehow finding a way to unite them.”
Stan has played Bucky Barnes for more than a decade, starting with 2011’s “Captain America: The First Avenger.”
He added of slights towards the franchise, “It’s become really convenient to pick on [Marvel films]. And that’s fine. Everyone’s got an opinion. But they’re a big part of what contributes to this business and allows us to have smaller movies as well. This is an artery traveling through the system of this entire machinery that’s Hollywood. It feeds in so many more ways than people acknowledge. Sometimes I get protective of it because the intention is really fucking good. It’s just fucking hard to make a good movie over and over again. In the last couple of years, I’ve gotten much more aggressive about pursuing things that I want, and I’m constantly looking for different ways of challenging myself.”
“Thunderbolts” premieres May 2 in theaters. Check out the trailer below.
