The Falcon and the Winter Soldier star Sebastian Stan learned he would be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the Winter Soldier after the sequel was announced.
When he was first cast as Bucky Barnes in 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger, Stan didn't know the role would expand beyond that one movie. In an interview with BBC Radio 1, Stan said that he only realized he would be playing the Winter Soldier when the title for Captain America: The Winter Soldier was first announced at Comic-Con in 2013.
"I think the way I learned about it was, I had a friend who texted me from Comic-Con saying, 'Dude, they just [announced] the sequel and your name is in the title,'" Stan said. "And I was like, "Oh. That's good, that means I'm in the movie, right?'"
Stan went on to play Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier in several MCU movies after Captain America: The Winter Soldier, including Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, also appearing in the post-credits scenes of Ant-Man and Black Panther.
Currently, Stan plays a recovering Bucky Barnes in Marvel's newest Disney+ series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The series follows the events of Endgame after the original Cap, Steve Rogers, retired from Avenging and passed both the shield and his legacy on to Sam Wilson/Falcon, portrayed by Anthony Mackie. Stan has previously stated that filming the Marvel Studios/Disney+ series was very similar to his time shooting the 2014 Captain America sequel.
"In a lot of ways, it felt like a movie," Stan said. "What I loved about it was that, tonally, it was very much in the same world that Captain America: The Winter Soldier was, which was one of my favorite experiences that I've ever had, period. So, in a sense, it was grounded and very much in the world as we know it."
Directed by Kari Skogland, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier stars Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Emily VanCamp, Wyatt Russell, Noah Mills, Carl Lumbly and Daniel Brühl. New episodes debut on Fridays on Disney+.
Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, Captain America: The Winter Soldier stars Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily VanCamp, Hayley Atwell and Robert Redford. The movie is streaming now on Disney+.
Source: BBC Radio 1