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*Warning — potential ‘Thunderbolts*’ spoilers to follow*
Sebastian Stan was initially skeptical about one particular joke about his Marvel superhero that’s included in the new Thunderbolts* movie.
The moment, which left fans in hysterics after it was featured in the film’s first trailer released last year, sees Stan’s Bucky Barnes in his kitchen enjoying a chili dog. As he’s eating the snack, he spills some of the sauce on his clean white shirt as well as his prosthetic Vibranium arm. Frustrated by the mess, Bucky cleans it up by throwing the arm, which he was gifted in the fictional world of Wakanda, into the dishwasher.
While the scene quickly became a fan favorite, with many labeling it “hilarious,” Stan revealed in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly that he initially suggested to director Jake Schreier that it be cut.
“I immediately said to Jake, ‘I don’t understand why this is funny. You do not need this. This is silly,’” the Oscar-nominated actor said. “But Jake was like, ‘But maybe you could be eating something and then it can just go everywhere.’ And I go, ‘Really? That’s what’s going to [happen]?’”
He has since had a change of heart about the detail, saying: “I get it now. I mean, it is funny, I have to admit.”
Stan, 42, makes his return as the Winter Soldier, alongside Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, in Thunderbolts*, which follows their characters as they join other unconventional antiheroes on a dangerous mission.
The film, out in theaters now, has been touted by critics as being “Marvel’s best movie in years.”
“Thunderbolts* does feel different to what’s come before, not because of those indie credentials, but because it’s the first of its kind to seem genuinely self-aware,” The Independent’s Clarrisse Loughrey wrote in her four-star review, labeling it as “the ultimate Marvel film for now.”
At the end of the movie, CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) announced the group’s rebrand as The New Avengers. A graphic on screen after the film’s post-credits scene then informs theatergoers that “The New Avengers will return.”
Promotional posters for Thunderbolts* have now begun to appear with the movie’s new title: The New Avengers. Marvel has also released an official video showing the cast unveiling the new title, in addition to footage of Stan taping up posters with the New Avengers title in Los Angeles.
This development ultimately reveals the meaning of the asterisk featured at the end of the original title, which was part of a carefully orchestrated publicity stunt. Yet, while many fans have expressed excitement at the title change, as it clearly sets the stage for the next phase of the MCU, others have complained that the stunt has spoiled the film.
English (US) ·