Sebastian Stan hits out at Marvel critics: ‘It’s become convenient to pick on the MCU’

Actor plays Bucky Barnes in the superhero franchise

Sebastian Stan has hit out at criticisms of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), claiming that it is “convenient” for people to “pick on” the popular franchise.

In recent years, the record-breaking film and TV franchise has faced mounting criticism from fans, critics and even actors and directors within the US film industry.

Stan, 42, has played Bucky Barnes (aka The Winter Solider) in several films and TV shows across the MCU, beginning with Captain America: The First Avenger. He is next set to reprise the role in the forthcoming ensemble film Thunderbolts*.

Speaking to Variety, Stan said: It’s become really convenient to pick on [Marvel films]. 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 continued: “Sometimes I get protective of it because the intention is really f***ing good. It’s just fucking hard to make a good movie over and over again.”

Thunderbolts* will also star Florence Pugh, Hannah John-Kamen, Lewis Pullman, Olga Kurylenko, David Harbour, and Wyatt Russell.

Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes in ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ (Disney)

The MCU’s latest cinematic release was the R-rated sequel Deadpool & Wolverine, which saw Ryan Reynolds star opposite Hugh Jackman.

In a two-star review of the film for The Independent, critic Clarisse Loughrey wrote: “Deadpool & Wolverine is as much fun as you can conceivably have at a corporate merger meeting. It’s tedious, yet, occasionally, Ryan Reynolds’s fourth wall-allergic ‘Merc with a Mouth’ will pass a note around the table with a penis drawn on it, and everyone can have a quiet, little chuckle to themselves.

“Here, Deadpool is Deadpool no more, with Wade Wilson having hung up the red mask and turned the innuendo down to a low simmer following several abortive attempts to join a legitimate superhero organisation[...] Long story short, Wade’s entire world will be deleted from existence unless he, for plot reasons, can track down a viable Wolverine from somewhere else in the multiverse. Emma Corrin eventually turns up as Professor X’s evil twin and has the most fun they can with limited material.”

Stan can next be seen in the biodrama The Apprentice, in which he portrays a young version of Donald Trump.