How exciting is it to be a full-on Avenger and in the Marvel world?
It’s been a real trippy experience so far... and amazing. When we shot Ant-Man, people would ask me, ‘What does it feel like to be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe?’ I thought it’s amazing, it’s great, it’s really fun, but we were also kind of working in a bubble. When I showed up here for the first time and was doing a scene with Captain America (Chris Evans) and Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and all of them, I turned into a bit of a 10-year-old. It was pretty strange and really cool. For the first time I thought, ‘Man, I really am part of it’, and it’s exciting!
What’s it like knowing you’re going toe-to-toe with all these icons of the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
Sometimes I read something and think, ‘I’m going to be a part of this?!’ That was the feeling I had when I read this script for the first time and the sequence where we’re all fighting each other. Sitting in a theatre and seeing all of this will be such a spectacle.
What do you love about this character?
I like his flaws and that he can crack a joke even in really extreme and serious situations, alleviating some of the tension but still being engaged, tough and strong. He’s operating according to his own moral compass but he’s doing it at his own speed. I think people can relate to him in a way because he was not born with any special powers. He’s not so unlike people who are seeing the movie… minus the fact that he’s an expert with electronics. Other than that and the fact that he can shrink down and talk to ants, he’s just like you and me.
How does Ant-Man end up in the story?
In Ant-Man, the character has a bit of a run-in with Falcon, and so the Avengers are aware of him. Ant-Man unknowingly gets recruited by Falcon into this whole scenario, which is confusing to him. He doesn’t really know exactly what’s happening. Nonetheless it’s like you’re meeting Captain America, so thanks for calling. I guess I’m in his good book.
Were there any folks you were particularly excited about running into on set?
It’s actually cool just to look around and be in the same space with everybody. Like I was at Comic-Con last year. I’d never been to Comic-Con before and I got to walk around Comic-Con with the Avengers and it was a little like hanging out with The Beatles. That was pretty amazing. I’ve never hung out with the Avengers when they’re in their suits, so to just sit around in my Ant-Man suit and look at everybody in their costumes is a mindbender and super fun.
What do you like about your new suit?
The new suit is really streamlined and looks a little more high-tech. I love the original Ant-Man suit because it had a real, vintage look to it. Now it looks like it’s been tricked out and fits in with modern times a bit more. It was exciting seeing it and I had that same feeling this time around as I did when I tried it on the very first time in Ant-Man. The helmet is different too. There are no longer cables that snap into the back of the helmet. Antennas go up from the bottom and shoot up. The regulator is different… there’s no dial on it.
What’s it been like working with the Russo Brothers?
The Russos (Anthony and Joseph) have a real even-keel thing about them, which is crucial and so nice. There are so many moving parts to shooting this movie. There’s a lot of action, there are a lot of characters and there’s a lot going on. It’s enormous. The mood of any set is dictated by the director or directors and this one has been really chill and fun because they make it that way. They also are really enthusiastic about what it is that they’re making and that’s infectious. That’s really fun to be around.
Do they look to you as an authority on this character because you also wrote Ant-Man?
When I showed up on this, it was strange to have Ant-Man dialogue that I wasn’t really involved with from the ground up, but it wasn’t ever a challenge and it never seemed like it was out of character. But there were a few discussions about what Scott Lang (his character) would do or say. It’s finding the right balance of humour and not trying to detract from the action. The Russos really wanted to play around with that a little bit, so there were many takes where we’re saying different things or variations on what was written.
It was fun to play around and it was really cool to do it with other actors too, whether it was Robert Downey Jr or Chris Evans. It was great to be able to do scenes with them and then just start improvising a little bit.
How do you think the audience is going to react seeing all these worlds colliding?
It’s like sensory overload. There’s so much going on and so much action that this thing is insane. You have every scope. It’s crazy and it’s really fun. I was giggling as I was reading the script, going, ‘Oh my god, this will be fun to shoot’.
YOU READ ABOUT IT IN THE COMICS AND THEN SUDDENLY YOU SEE IT IN FRONT OF YOU — SEBASTIAN STAN ON BEING WINTER SOLDIER SURROUNDED BY SUPERHEROES
Talk about the complexity of your role as the Winter Soldier...
I was really excited when I read the script. I didn’t really know where they were going to take it because the playing field was so open. They could’ve done anything with the character. But I was really happy as an actor because I felt like I got a chance to play a lot of different colours. The Winter Soldier is a little bit in the middle in this film… you see flashes of Bucky Barnes. Things are coming back to him and he’s learning about himself. At the same time, he’s no longer that same guy. He’s always going to have that Winter Soldier shadow over him going forward.
Where is his relationship with Captain America?
He learns about his past with Captain America very much like a student learning a subject. He doesn’t necessarily, right off the bat, figure out how he feels about the situation. When they first meet, it’s not necessary that he has a lot of feelings or points of view. That builds for him throughout the movie. It’s much more Jason Bourne-esque in the sense of him learning about himself and his past and realising that Captain America, to some extent, is his only hope, and the only family he’s ever had and the only other guy who, similar to him, is out of time and out of place. He realises he needs him. In the position that he finds himself in, Captain America may be the only friend he’s got.
There’s still Bucky down in there…
The thing that people forget is that both of these guys are dealing with serious, post-traumatic stress issues and guilt issues. Steve (Cap) is haunted by the fact that he never went after Bucky when Bucky fell off the train (in the 2011 film Captain America: The First Avenger). He suffers from survivor’s guilt. Bucky Barnes is on another level because he’s learning about what a killing machine he’s been and how much damage he’s done across the years. It’s actually Bucky’s worst nightmare to have become fully dependent on the army and for somebody else to use him as a weapon. It totally goes against what Bucky Barnes was.
What do you enjoy about working with Chris Evans?
I just love Chris! He’s awesome. He’s an incredibly generous actor and he’s game to try something. He’ll go there with you and want to find a cool moment in the scene. He’s open to ideas. You want to feel that you’re on a team that is working together towards making a cool project. I definitely feel that with Chris — his energy, his optimism, his overall intentions to make something good. It’s good when you can trust your fellow actor.
What was it like working with Robert Downey Jr?
His laugh and his personality are so intoxicating. He has an energy about him that makes you just want to be around the guy and not to mention he’s filled with so many stories. It was always a fun thing for me to talk to him about the ’80s and the ’90s and the movies that he’s done that I grew up with. He’s very witty and very intelligent. He’s just awesome.
Take us through the big fight on the tarmac…
That was definitely really crazy. There was one moment where we had everybody there and it felt like a pinch-yourself moment. We had Paul Rudd (as Ant-Man) there. We had Robert (Downey Jr as Iron Man) there. Jeremy Renner (as Hawkeye) was there. Everyone. For me to feel like I’m included in that group of actors and characters was really fun. You read about it in the comics and then suddenly you see it in front of you. It definitely felt like we were shooting something epic.
Your character seems to have a real sense of being grounded…
Yes, and the credit has to go to the stunt team because Sam Hargrave and James Young are really like total badasses. I’m amazed and fascinated by them. I’ve learned so much about action from them. It’s just the type of rapport and courage that those guys bring and the enthusiasm they bring to the stunts. They’re the ones that ground the whole action for me. Everything is very real, and we’re really lucky to have them.
What has been your favourite moment?
I really liked the flashbacks. I love that we got to see more deeply into what happened to the Winter Soldier and what the world was like for him. I also loved some of the ambiguous scenes where I got to go back and forth between Bucky and the Winter Soldier. That was always fun and kind of tricky. You just get a better sense of how crazy and dangerous the Winter Soldier is in this movie, much more than you did in the last one. That was like a tease.
