Sebastian Stan defends Marvel films, teases Thunderbolts* movie

Sebastian Stan won’t stand for any Marvel hate.

The actor, who made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut as Bucky Barnes in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger, teased his next movie in the long-running film series and shut down those who want to “pick on” the franchise in a new interview with Variety, published Thursday.

“It’s become really convenient to pick on [Marvel films],” he told the outlet. “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,” he continued. “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.”

Stan said he gets “protective” of the franchise “because the intention is really f****** good.”

He added, “It’s just f****** hard to make a good movie over and over again.”

Stan will star in Thunderbolts* next summer, in which he leads a ragtag group of heroes — many of them reformed villains — including Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell and Hannah John-Kamen. 

Julia Louis-Dreyfus also reprises in the film.

Stan says the movie is “kind of like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” describing both of them as being about “a guy coming into this group that was chaotic and degenerate, and somehow finding a way to unite them.”

With Stan playing Barnes aka The Winter Soldier across numerous movies and even a TV series, the actor is “constantly … challenging” himself.

As proof, he’s in two of the year’s buzziest films heading into awards season: A Different Man, out Sept. 20, and The Apprentice, out Oct. 11.

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