Marvel star Sebastian Stan says Bucky Barnes is in "a really fun place" in Thunderbolts: "This is the right place to be"

Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier
(Image credit: Marvel)

Sebastian Stan is returning to the MCU as Bucky Barnes once again in Thunderbolts*, which sees a new team-up of some of Marvel's biggest misfits. 

The first look at the Marvel Phase 5 movie was shown at San Diego Comic-Con, where Stan told crowds that he feels like Bucky has "nine lives". Elaborating on his comment to GamesRadar+ after Marvel's Hall H panel, the actor shares how amazing it's been to be part of the MCU for 13 years. 

"It was in a good way," he explains of his "nine lives" comment. "I never expected to be back, certainly with this group, but it's turned out to be an amazing journey for my character. We got him into a really fun place now and I think this is the right place to be. If you see the movie, we're all a very odd bunch and he fits right in."

The first trailer for Thunderbolts* was shown behind closed doors during the panel, and it featured Yelena (Florence Pugh) visiting Red Guardian's (David Harbour) apartment. The pair then encounter the rest of the team, including Bucky, John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) as the group of anti-heroes find out that they have all been assigned to a dangerous mission.

GamesRadar+ also spoke to Harbour and Russell, who tell us they hope their characters will have the same longevity in the MCU as Stan.

"Do we hope we'll have longevity in the franchise? I could use the work," Harbour laughs. "I could use it," adds Russell. "I'm not going to turn down anybody. I hope so unless it turns out to be a real drag and then you can hook me out."

Catch up on our SDCC 2024 Comic-Con live coverage, as well as all you need to know about the upcoming Marvel movies and shows on the way. 

Fay Watson
Deputy Entertainment Editor

I’m the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering TV and film for the Total Film and SFX sections online. I previously worked as a Senior Showbiz Reporter and SEO TV reporter at Express Online for three years. I've also written for The Resident magazines and Amateur Photographer, before specializing in entertainment.

Read more
Thunderbolts
Sebastian Stan teases Marvel's Thunderbolts as he compares it to an iconic '80s teen movie
Captain America: Brave New World
That Captain America: Brave New World cameo changed several times, but it was always going to be that character
Thunderbolts
Thunderbolts release date, cast, trailer, plot, and more about the Marvel movie
Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Anthony Mackie crashes Marvel co-star Sebastian Stan's Golden Globe post-win interview to share the love: "Captain America and The Winter Soldier, we’re coming back!"
Thunderbolts
New Thunderbolts trailer sees the MCU's most beloved antiheroes step in for the Avengers and save the world
Wyatt Russell in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Thunderbolts actor prefers his MCU costume this time around for one very specific reason: "They made my helmet not look like the end of a penis"
Latest in Marvel Movies
Fantastic Four: 1234 #2 cover excerpt
Sue Storm and Namor are officially both in Avengers: Doomsday, and fans are wondering if Reed Richards has something to worry about
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers with the rest of the gang during the superhero movie, The Avengers.
The OG Fox X-Men are back, with Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, and more joining the cast of Avengers: Doomsday alongside a whole new Avengers team to take on Robert Downey Jr's Doctor Doom
Robert Downey Jr. sitting in a chair at the end of a long line of chairs
Everything announced during Marvel's Avengers: Doomsday cast reveal live stream
The Fantastic Four: First Steps cast assemble
Fantastic Four star says the Marvel movie "will go down in history" for rejuvenating the MCU, "in the same way the Guardians of the Galaxy and Black Panther hit"
Wanda in Doctor Strange
Scarlet Witch star Elizabeth Olsen is one of the first Marvel actors to say she's not in the next pair of Avengers movies
Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania
Paul Rudd is still thinking about that one Thanos and Ant-Man fan theory: "I often wonder, though, could he really have stopped Thanos in that way?"
Latest in News
Pillars of Eternity
10 years later, in a post-Baldur's Gate 3 and Avowed world, Obsidian is giving its own throwback CRPG Pillars of Eternity a turn-based combat mode
Destiny 2 Lightfall
When Destiny 2 "weekly active users dropped lower and faster than we'd seen since 2018," Bungie assembled an A-Team to put out some fires: "We needed to do something"
Velma, Daphne, Fred, Shaggy, and Scooby-Doo looking at a giant key which is also a clue
Netflix is rebooting Scooby-Doo as a live-action series from the producer of Supergirl and The Flash centered around a "supernatural murder" at a summer camp
Astro Bot
Astro Bot went through 23 pitch iterations before its director promised PlayStation "happy gameplay" and "overflowing charm," though it did once end with robot decapitation that made "some people really upset"
Tomb Raider
5 years after Avengers, 2 years after its last layoffs, and who knows how long before Perfect Dark and Tomb Raider return, Crystal Dynamics announces another round of layoffs
AI Limit
"AI is not as effective as it might appear": Dev of AI-focused Soulslike RPG says they didn't use any AI-generated content and it can't match "genuine creativity"