Thunderbolts* Star Sebastian Stan On People Criticizing Marvel Movies

Posted in: Marvel Studios, Movies | Tagged: sebastian stan, thunderbolts

Thunderbolts* star Sebastian Stan has a very well-rounded view of all of the criticism Marvel Studios has gotten in the last couple of years.

Article Summary

Thunderbolts* star Sebastian Stan addresses criticism of Marvel Studios’ impact on the film industry.
Stan defends Marvel movies, highlighting their role in supporting smaller, riskier film projects.
He acknowledges everyone has opinions but believes Marvel contributes significantly to Hollywood’s ecosystem.
Stan argues that big blockbusters sustain the industry, enabling creativity in smaller movie projects.

Ever since it became apparent that Marvel was becoming a cultural thing, people started pushing back against the films and the entire concept. It’s unsurprising because it happens every time something takes over the lexicon like this. However, the conversation around Marvel always seemed particularly contentious because people would wrap it in the language or morality, saying that the comic book movies were the death of art as we know it and supporting them was to support the death of art. It was a mess, and it only got worse when several films and television shows underperformed in 2023. Several actors who have stared in Marvel films have been asked about the criticisms of Marvel films, but Sebastian Stan, who is set to star in Thunderbolts* next year for Marvel, might have given the most well-rounded answer to Variety.

“It’s become really convenient to pick on [Marvel films],” Stan says. “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. 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.” He adds, “Sometimes I get protective of it because the intention is really fucking good. It’s just fucking hard to make a good movie over and over again.”

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JULY 27: Sebastian Stan attends the Marvel Studios Panel in Hall H at SDCC in San Diego, California on July 27, 2024. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)

Stan is not wrong about this at all, and it’s also not an uncommon way actors and studios will go about business. They will rely on big blockbusters to keep the lights on while using the funds to greenlight smaller projects that take risks and push the boundaries of what film can accomplish. Searchlight has been putting out some of its films since the Disney acquisition because studios like Marvel are doing so well. Actors will take big blockbusters to pay the bills and explore smaller projects that might not pay or do well the rest of the year. It’s about balance, and it’s not all or nothing. No matter what some people might want to think, big blockbusters are part of the ecosystem of movies and have been since they came into being. That isn’t changing anytime soon, and raging against that particular machine will make you bitter about the industry. Then you won’t be able to enjoy the next weird thing that comes around and shows us what film, as a medium, is capable of.

Thunderbolts:* Summary, Cast List, Release Date

In June of 2022, we learned that a Thunderbolts* project was in the works, and the news was confirmed at the conventions later in the year. At the D23 Expo, we learned the lineup for the movie would include Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell), Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Red Guardian (David Harbour), and Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko). The cast also reportedly includes Harrison Ford as Thaddeus’ Thunderbolt’ Boss and Geraldine Viswanathan. Jake Schreier is directing the movie from a script by Eric Pearson. Thunderbolts* was initially set to start production this year but had to stop due to the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes because studios like Disney refuse to give writers and actors livable wages. Due to the production halt, Thunderbolts* also had its release date delayed from July 26, 2024, to December 20, 2024, to July 25, 2025, and finally to May 5, 2025.