Sebastian Stan Says Bashing Marvel Movies Is ‘Really Convenient,’ but ‘I Get Protective’ Because Their ‘Intention Is Really F—ing Good’

Sebastian Stan is tired of people dismissing Marvel movies.

The actor is having the run of his career this fall, with two new films exploring different sides of his talent. “The Apprentice” (in which he plays a young and ambitious real-estate developer named Donald Trump) and “A Different Man” (in which he plays a New Yorker who suffers from the tumor disorder neurofibromatosis) arrive ahead of next year’s “Thunderbolts,” the Marvel tentpole in which Stan will reprise his role as Bucky Barnes.

In an interview for this week’s Variety cover story, Stan remarks that while some movie fans have been critical of the quality of recent entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and of the franchise’s seismic effect on movie culture, he sees them as crucial to the entertainment industry as a whole.

“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.”

“I’m someone who has witnessed [Marvel Studios president] Kevin Feige as the most selfless man on this planet,” Stan goes on, “who, despite the enormous success he’s had, has never changed or wavered. They legitimately spend so much time thinking, how could we surprise people and give people something different? His big motto is ‘The best idea wins.’ It just comes from a good place — and that’s the only reason why sometimes I get protective of it. Because the intention is really good.”

Ahead of the May 2025 release of “Thunderbolts,” Stan is excited, comparing the film’s idea to that of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”: “a guy coming into this group that was chaotic and degenerate, and somehow finding a way to unite them,” he says. To Marvel’s critics, Stan says: “Keep an open heart. Don’t judge so quickly.”