With Sebastian Stan gearing up to shoot The Batman Part II with Matt Reeves this summer, Marvel fans are understandably eager to know what the future holds in store for Bucky Barnes in the MCU.
At the end of Thunderbolts*, the former Winter Soldier joined the New Avengers and was shown helping lead the team in a post-credits scene shot on the set of Avengers: Doomsday. Will that movie be the end of the line for Stan as he looks to make the leap to the DC Universe as Harvey Dent/Two-Face?
Appearing at the Cannes Film Festival, the actor addressed his MCU future when he said, "It's sort of like having a sibling you've never known you had, who you've spent 15 years with. There's been a comfort there returning every few years, which hopefully I'll keep doing."
It sounds like Stan has every intention of continuing to play Bucky beyond Avengers: Doomsday, and there will surely be a place for the character in the post-Avengers: Secret Wars MCU. What that will look like depends on several factors.
Chief among them will be who Captain America is after that movie. In the comics, Bucky wielded the shield for a time, something Marvel Studios glossed over when they went straight from Steve Rogers to John Walker and Sam Wilson.
Captain America: Brave New World was a box office flop, meaning we don't know what's next for the franchise. Disney could choose to shelve it, or may look to reboot it with a returning Chris Evans, for example.
Talking at the San Diego Comic-Con in 2019, Stan shared his belief that it "makes no sense" for Bucky to become the MCU's Captain America. "Why would you give it to the guy that’s been trying to have a whole new history outside of the thing he’s been trapped by?" he asked.
"I remember I found out [about Falcon getting the shield] the day we were shooting. I was like 'Oh wow, this is the deal,'" the actor continued. "But like it makes sense. [Sam Wilson] has been [Captain America’s] right-hand man for a long time at this point."
In Avengers: Doomsday, beloved heroes from three distinct universes will be set on a deadly collision course and face an existential threat unlike anything they’ve ever encountered.
Avengers: Doomsday stars Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Mackie, Winston Duke, Tom Hiddleston, Sebastian Stan, Letitia Wright, Paul Rudd, and Robert Downey Jr. Wyatt Russell, Simu Liu, Tenoch Huerta Mejia, Mabel Cadena, Florence Pugh, Danny Ramirez, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, Lewis Pullman, India Rose Hemsworth, and Wesley Holloway all make their Avengers franchise debuts.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps leads Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn join them, as do X-Men franchise stars Kelsey Grammer, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn, James Marsden, with Deadpool & Wolverine star Channing Tatum.
Avengers: Doomsday is set to be released on December 18.