Sebastian Stan Explains the Status of Bucky Barnes' Job as Congressman After Events of THUNDERBOLTS*

Thunderbolts* has been released, and the fate of our anti-heroes has been moved in a new direction from when we found them in the film. While most of the characters made it through the ordeal, they are all in very new situations after just a couple of days that changed everything. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, just know that spoilers lie ahead.

In Captain America: Brave New World, we got to see Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) in his new role as a US congressman, and that’s where he picked up in Thunderbolts* as well. But when he found out that the troublemakers he picked up were actually targets of Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), he teams up with them, and ends up helping them save Bob, and become part of the face of the New Avengers.

When asked by EW if this means the end of Bucky’s political career, Stan said:

"Yeah, it's almost like crossing it out, right? He's still been trying to find his way of how he can contribute in a way that he hasn't before. Ultimately, he realizes, 'No, I am who I am, and I do things how I do them, and I should just do that.'"

Stan laughs before adding, "But there's a lot of strange congressmen these days anyway, so..." As he trails off, his costar Wyatt Russell (US Agent John Walker) points out that Bucky wouldn't have to give up his congressional seat "technically, theoretically," to act as the Winter Soldier.

"The only issue I had was, 'Well, why is he growing out his hair if he's going to be a congressman?!'" Stan adds. "But I still wanted to grow it out, so I was like, 'I don't care.'"

Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier agrees with Stan's answer about Bucky's political future being dead on arrival. "I think that's pretty well done," the filmmaker tells EW. "I think he's found a new place that makes much more sense for him."

When Stan learned that Bucky was running for Congress in his brief Captain America: Brave New World appearance, he remembers feeling "curiosity and apprehension" about that shocking new direction for his character.

"But I think it is funny," he adds. "I think it was an interesting turn that I didn't see [coming], and I think probably a lot of people wouldn't have seen."

Getting back on Bucky's motorcycle in one of Thunderbolts* best action scenes felt more natural, especially since it mirrored his MCU debut in Captain America: The Winter Soldier 11 years ago. "It was interesting because, after the TV show Falcon and the Winter Soldier, I think we got him further along in a good head space where I feel he is now just finally realizing how to incorporate some of those Winter Soldier characteristics and get a handle on them," Stan says. "And so it was fun bringing back some of those moments with the new Bucky that we've established and to find the humor and the cool, dangerous factor as well. That was nice."

The director confirms that the motorcycle sequence was an intentional callback to Bucky's original entrance.

"Having Sebastian actually out there on that bike and doing this stuff and no green screen to it, just felt really special," Schreier says. "Bucky is just such a legend within the world, and then obviously within the world of people who care about these movies. The trick is for someone who's on their ninth film, how do you do something new, because he has been through those therapy sessions in Falcon and Winter Soldier. He is not in the same place that the rest of them are in."

Schreier loved showing Bucky struggle with his new, "frustrating" political career, because it clearly wasn't an "honest" path for him, only for him to reappear "in a more healed version" of who he'd been before as the Winter Soldier. "Back on that motorcycle doing Bucky things," he adds, "but with a new group of people that, even if it's the least expected thing, might be the best fit for him because what he's gone through, they're going through now, and he has something to offer them in that regard."

You could tell that Bucky was just trying to find a place for himself where he could be of service and do something meaningful when the Avengers were in limbo. Him rejoining the team makes much more sense, and I look forward to seeing him back in action.

Thunderbolts* is now playing in theaters.