Sebastian Stan became a household name after making his MCU debut as James Buchanan Barnes in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger. One can even say that the superhero franchise gave his career a super boost, with fans clamoring to see more of the brooding Winter Soldier. So it’s not surprising that the actor has come to defense of the superhero movies following harsh words from some Hollywood directors.
Speaking to GQ UK, Stan was candid when sharing his thoughts about the constant criticism Marvel movies have received following Avengers: Endgame in 2019. “I’ve never been part of a company that puts so much heart and thought into anything,” the actor explained. “I think if Marvel was gone, it’d be such a big hole to try and fill up. Don’t just go out there and s**t on something without offering something better.”
Stan is coming off a successful performance as a young Donald Trump in the biographical drama The Apprentice. The movie, from director Ali Abassi, chronicles the career of the former president in 1970s and 1980s New York City. Starring alongside Stan, is Jeremy Strong as his lawyer Roy Cohn, Martin Donovan as Trump’s father, Fred, and Maria Bakalova as Ivana, Trump’s first wife. The film received a limited release in the United States on Oct. 11 due to the subject matter.
Stan isn’t the only Marvel alum to be bothered by the genre bashing. Chris Hemsworth, who’s played Thor in a dozen MCU movies since 2011, expressed his disappointment in the trend. “It bothers me, especially from [my] heroes. It was an eye-roll for me, people bashing the superhero space,” he told The Times. “Those guys had films that didn’t work, too — we all have. When they talked about what was wrong with superheroes, I thought, cool, tell that to the billions who watch them. Were they all wrong?”
Criticism of Marvel movies came to the fore when legendary filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, and Quentin Tarantino took several shots at the genre. Between the trio, insults included likening each film to a theme park ride, saying that the characters became more famous than the actors portraying them, and coining the phrase “superhero fatigue,” which essentially means “enough already.”
While Hemsworth’s tenure with the MCU has seemingly ended, Stan is set to reprise his role as Bucky Barnes in Thunderbolts*. The film, which is set for release on May 2, 2025, is directed by Jake Schreier from a script by Eric Pearson, Lee Sung Jin, and Joanna Calo. Along with Stan, the movie features Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, Chris Bauer, Wendell Edward Pierce, Hannah John-Kamen, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
Stan also hopes to cross paths with Robert Downey Jr.’s Victor Von Doom in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday, which hits theaters around the world on May 1, 2026. “I hope I’m in a scene with him,” the actor said when asked if he would like to share the screen with the MCU’s former Iron Man. Is there any other guy that could pull that off? I don’t know, probably not. After Tropic Thunder, is there anything that guy can’t do?”