It must’ve been an emotional and somewhat worrisome day on the set of Avengers: Infinity War when the stars of Marvel’s biggest project to date were informed that about half of their characters wouldn’t live to see the end of the movie.
It was previously reported that the cast were only told of the film’s genocidal climax on the morning that shooting commenced on the sequence, and unfortunately for actor Sebastian Stan, Bucky Barnes was among the victims. The moment that Stan learned of the Winter Soldier’s imminent demise came up in a recent discussion with Earth’s Mightiest, prompting the actor to recall the nervousness he felt from having to act out his own death scene while he was still in the midst of digesting the news.
“Wait, I — I disappear? Okay, alright. Sure. No, we’re rolling, okay? I’ll just — will you tell me after. I’ll ask you later”
Stan’s stuttering re-enactment of his initial response seems in line with the story he told at Wizard World Philadelphia earlier this year, when the performer claimed that he first heard of his character’s fate from his stuntman James Young.
“And I was like, ‘maybe this is it.’ And I remember Anthony [Russo] was talking to everybody, and I was like, ‘Anthony, do- OK, I’ll wait. Uh, do- am I- uh, is this it?’
“And he was like ‘No, well, you know, maybe. But not really. Well, I don’t know.’ So, that’s the way that day went.”
No doubt Stan wasn’t alone in his anxiety that day, as several of his peers were put in the same position of having to quickly process the knowledge that their own characters would be disappearing. With this news delayed until the last minute, a lot of the actors were required to think on their feet, including Tom Holland, who delivered one of the more emotional moments of the movie with a little guidance from Robert Downey Jr.
Nonetheless, Bucky still had the distinction of being the first in Avengers: Infinity War to turn to dust, and to make matters worse, directors Anthony and Joe Russo made sure that his old friend Steve Rogers was there to pay witness. It’s a pretty bleak note to go out on, though don’t be surprised if the Winter Soldier finds a way of returning to the fray when Avengers 4 hits theaters on May 3rd, 2019.
