Sebastian Stan Calls THE BATMAN: PART II Role “Very Different” and Says He’s Ready for Captain America

Sebastian Stan is getting ready to bounce between two massive superhero worlds, and he’s doing a pretty good job of keeping one of those jobs completely under wraps.

The Avengers: Doomsday star is set to join Matt Reeves’ The Batman: Part II in a mystery role that has DC fans throwing around plenty of theories. Two-Face, Victor Zsasz, and Hush have all been suggested, but Stan isn’t giving anyone the satisfaction of confirming what he’s actually doing in Gotham.

During a recent interview with Josh Horowitz, Stan did offer some interesting details about how he landed the role. After roughly 15 years playing Bucky Barnes in the MCU, the actor had already been talking with James Gunn about possibly finding a place for him in the DC Universe. Reeves ultimately got there first.

"Matt had seen The Apprentice and really liked the film and my work in that," Stan explained. "And then that inspired a conversation, and subsequently around the same time I was kind of poking the bear a bit over there with James Gunn, going, 'I think we should figure something out.'"

Stan joked that he’s secretly playing Batman, but when it came to Reeves’ script, he sounded genuinely excited about what’s coming.

"I think it's a very ambitious thing and I hope it lands right. I have a lot of faith in it because I do feel like Matt is truly a genius of our time and one of the very few people that I think is so unique and so specific and has been at this for three years. I mean, it's not an accident."

He added: "Like, he really honed it—you know, he knows what he's doing—and so I'm just happy to be part of that vision because I do feel like it's ambitious, but I just think it's going to be great. This is definitely for me feeling like something very different than I've gotten to do."

Stan has played heroes, villains, assassins, politicians, and plenty of morally complicated characters, so Reeves could take him in a lot of directions.

Whatever he’s doing in The Batman: Part II, Stan will first return to much more familiar territory as Bucky Barnes in Avengers: Doomsday this December. He’s been playing the former Winter Soldier since Captain America: The First Avenger, but there’s still one piece of Bucky’s comic book history he’d love to tackle: becoming Captain America.

Stan is still campaigning for the shield. "I always bring it up. Even the Captain America thing, I bring it up. I'm like, whenever—sorry, Anthony—I'm like, whenever, let's go. I'm just saying, I'm ready, man. I'm at that sweet spot where I can still do some of it. It's really more in terms of just the action bits that you want to do."

Bucky taking up the Captain America mantle would obviously be a major change for the MCU, particularly after Marvel Studios chose to have Sam Wilson inherit the shield. Still, Stan believes Bucky’s story has a little more road left.

"I love the films that I was in: The Winter Soldier, Civil War, Infinity War, and Endgame. I'm so protective of it in a way, and I do feel like the evolution of the character was right.

"I don't think it should have gone differently. I never have any idea about what it is that they want to do, but I still feel that there's something about this character that hasn't totally yet been completed, and I think they know it."

Marvel skipped over Bucky’s stint as Captain America from the comics and went directly to Sam Wilson. Rumors have suggested BuckyCap could potentially surface in Avengers: Secret Wars, though there’s still no confirmation that Stan will finally get his chance to carry the shield.

That possibility gets even more interesting with Anthony Mackie returning as Sam Wilson in Secret Wars and Chris Evans coming back as Steve Rogers. Mackie recently made it clear that Evans’ return doesn’t change Sam’s status as Captain America.

"He’s just coming back and reprising his role, but I’m still Captain America. Like, if you look at the comic books, there are comic books where Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson are together fighting as Captain America," Mackie explained.

"They’re both still Captain America. It’s just Steve Rogers comes back because they have a big opponent to battle in Doomsday."

So, technically, what’s one more Captain America between friends? Whether Marvel ever gives Bucky the shield remains an open question, but Stan clearly hasn’t given up on the idea.

In the meantime, he’s got plenty happening, with Bucky heading into another massive Avengers battle while his mysterious Gotham character offers him something he says feels unlike anything he’s done before.

Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters December 18, while The Batman: Part II is currently scheduled for February 18, 2028.