Anthony Mackie might have stepped on some toes in a recent interview where he threw some shade at his forever bro Sebastian Stan. The Captain America: Brave New World actor named Stan as his least talented scene partner, and we aren’t having it. But anyone familiar with Hollywood’s favorite bromance won’t help but laugh, especially when you hear Mackie’s reasons.  4e5o2p

Anthony Mackie takes a shot at Sebastian Stan 60c3g

Just like Sam and Bucky in the MCU, Mackie and Stan love to tease each other, so when Mackie was asked a particular question during the Brave New World press tour, his answer didn’t surprise anyone. 

Mackie and his Brave New World co-star, Danny Ramirez, stopped by the set of First We Feat, for an episode of Hot Ones Versus. The pair had to ask each other questions, and if the other couldn’t answer, they had to eat a spicy wing. Mackie already had Ramirez on the ropes, after fearlessly answering any questions lobbed at him, no matter who he offended, but fans really thought Ramirez had him on this one. The question read, “Rank these Captain America scene partners from most to least talented: Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan, Danny Ramirez.” 

Unfortunately for Ramirez, Mackie was willing to welcome the smoke, and emphatically answered. “Chris Evans, Danny Ramirez, **** Sebastian Stan,” he said. Knowing how much the two love to tease each other, it wasn’t a surprise that Mackie would put Stan at the bottom of that list, just for laughs. He also went on to list his hilarious reasons for putting Stan at the bottom. “He got a Golden Globe, an Oscar nomination… he got a new girlfriend– he’s got everything.”

Keeping the bromance alive 37d5q

If you’re not familiar with Mackie and Stan’s bromance, or “Stacky,” as their fans have dubbed them, his ranking of Stan at the bottom might seem mean. But, it is just a rollover of their decade-plus-long bromance, from when they first shared the screen in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. While their characters had some funny on-screen moments during the movie, it was the actor’s chemistry during the press tour and on red carpets that solidified the pairing. 

They have countless inside jokes, memes, and running gags, such as Mackie’s love for Stans’s couch, Stan teasing Mackie over not being able to use social media, and Mackie fawning over Stan’s “steel blue eyes” that “let you know where home is.” 

Despite constantly poking fun at each other, their friendship is undeniably full of love and . Both actors have appeared on each other’s projects’ red carpets and shown nothing but pride for the other over their achievements. Mackie isn’t even as bitter at Stan’s Oscar nom, as he suggested in the Hot Ones Versus. After all, during another interview with On Demand Entertainment, he proudly raved about how he had a huge party planned to celebrate the nomination, regardless of whether Stan won or not. 

This is a bromance that we’ll never tire of, and we’ll be eagerly waiting for the next time Mackie crashes one of Stan’s red carpet interviews. 

Warning: Major spoilers for Captain America: Brave New World to follow.

As the trailers have proven, Captain America: Brave New World spends a lot of time looking backward, bringing together characters, themes, and dangling plot-threads from such disparate MCU properties as The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, The Incredible Hulk, and Eternals. Even so, it has a duty to propel the Multiverse Saga forward at the same time. So, how does it do on that front?

Well, not great, honestly. As perhaps we could’ve predicted, its (lone) post-credits scene paves the way for Avengers: Doomsday — or at least it vaguely gestures somewhere in the right direction. Where Brave New World is perhaps more successful is in setting the stage for the very next Marvel Studios movie, Thunderbolts*, something that’s achieved through the welcome cameo of an old fan-favorite.

Captain America: Brave New World‘s big Thunderbolts* cameo, unpacked 2r4v21

Brave New World isn’t Deadpool & Wolverine, so it’s really not all that interested in cameos. The one that it holds back all the way until its final scene has even been spoiled by the director ahead of time — Liv Tyler’s return as Betty Ross, for the first time since 2008.

The film’s only other cameo is the one that will excite fans more, however, even though it comes earlier in the runtime. At the end of the movie’s second act, Sam Wilson is at his lowest point after the Leader has engineered open hostilities between the U.S. and Japan over the reserve of adamantium discovered in Celestial Island (the calcified god poking out of the ocean from Eternals — come on, keep up!). Although Cap managed to save the day and make peace, it came at a steep personal cost as his sidekick, Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez), is left gravely injured.

While Sam is watching over his beaten-up buddy at the hospital, he’s ed by another old friend — none other than Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan). Sam confesses to the former Winter Soldier that he regrets not taking the super-soldier serum — offered to him in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier — as the global threat he’s facing feels beyond his means to thwart. Bucky reassures him that Steve Rogers gave him the shield for a reason and that he is more than enough as he is. “Steve gave the people something to believe in,” he says. “You give them something to aspire to.”

Brightening up, Sam teasingly asks if Bucky’s “speech writers” helped him come up with that. Bucky then its that he’s got a “campaign” to get back to before leaving. Ruth Bat-Seraph (Shira Haas) then enters and notes that there goes “future Congressman James Buchanan Barnes.” Umm, excuse me?

Yes, fans had already worked this out from a close analysis of the trailers (you can see him wearing a congressional lapel pin in certain clips), but it seems Bucky will become a member of Congress in Thunderbolts*. What we’re now left to ponder, then, is how on Earth a former Russian-controlled assassin with more red in his ledger than Black Widow — who murdered countless notable U.S. citizens while under mind control — is now an elected official. Bucky has rarely expressed an interest in talking to people before, let alone getting into politics.

As for how this sows the seeds for Thunderbolts*, Contessa Val (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) likely needs his in the House to form her Thunderbolts team, which is how he ends up involved with the anti-hero group. No doubt Bucky’s arc in the film will see him re-embrace his nature as a man of action after uncomfortably transforming himself into a man of the people. We’ll find out what’s next for Congressman Barnes once Thunderbolts* thunders into theaters come May 2.

The nominees for the 97th Academy Awards were revealed last week, and among the Best Actor crop was one Sebastian Stan, who made the cut for his groundbreaking portrayal of Donald Trump in Ali Abbasi’s The Apprentice, a biopic centered on Trump’s relationship with his mentor, Roy Cohn.

The nomination — alongside that of Jeremy Strong, who played Cohn in the film — is a big deal, not only because of how Stan’s presence in the category elevates the prestige of the Best Actor award, but because of the example that The Apprentice sets for the types of stories we could be telling. Funnily enough, the same could be said about another one of Stan’s films this past year, and it’s since established itself as a Max darling.

Per FlixPatrol, A Different Man is sitting pretty on the United States’ Max film charts in second place at the time of writing. Separating it from the top spot is the Tom Holland-led Uncharted film adaptation, while the equally-limp Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets chomps at its heels from third place.

Written and directed by Aaron Schimberg, A Different Man stars Sebastian Stan as Edward Lemuel, an actor who has neurofibromatosis (NF), which causes sizeable tumors to grow on his face. Believing it will fix his social anxiety, Edward volunteers for an experimental treatment to make his face “normal,” the success of which leads him to fake his own death and begin a new life with a new identity. His insecurities only exacerbate, however, when the charismatic Oswald (Adam Pearson) — another actor with NF — bursts onto the scene and begins winning hearts left and right.

Stan won the Golden Globe for Best Performance by a Male Actor – Musical or Comedy for his portrayal of Edward in A Different Man, and it’s not terribly difficult to see why. The antisocial sheen with which he carries Edward creates an engrossing friction with the world around him — one that, by all appearances, isn’t entirely innocent in Edward’s plight. And yet, we don’t fully empathize with Edward’s struggle, especially when Oswald comes along as living proof of the law of attraction.

Still, there are angles missing to A Different Man that weakens its otherwise mighty themes of the power we have in creating our personal realities, and the politics of erasure and representation. We never get to see how Oswald deals with bullies or antagonization or rejection, and it’s naive to think that Edward’s current personality wasn’t affected by his formative years as a person living with NF, even if the deciding factor of one’s outlook on life is exactly that — one’s outlook on life. The character Ingrid, Edward’s crush who seems progressive one minute and joyously ignorant the next, only complicates this matter even more.

Still, you’re not going to find a film quite as cerebrally unique as A Different Man, and Stan’s compellingly agonizing turn as the self-destructive Edward is among its finest assets. Together with The Apprentice, 2024 marked a slam-dunk of a year for not only the Marvel star, but also the landscape of crucially uncomfortable storytelling that he appears committed to.

We finally know the nominees for the 97th Academy Awards, and it’s already clear that this won’t be a neat and tidy ceremony. Emilia Pérez has emerged as the designated villain of this awards season, while frontrunner The Brutalist has come under speculation on of certain AI revelations.

Also in the mix are a pair of nominations for The Apprentice, Ali Abbasi’s Donald Trump biopic that struggled to gain traction in the market for obvious reasons. Nevertheless, Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong (who portrayed Trump and his early mentor Roy Cohn, respectively), both got teed up for Oscars glory yesterday, and Stan has since praised the Academy for shining a light on a film that, frankly, needs more light shone on it.

The actor, alongside co-star Strong, was one of many who expressed their deepest gratitude for the Academy’s recognition, as per a roundup by Entertainment Weekly. Such recognition was no small fight, either, as the film’s supremely hot-button subject matter meant that willing marketers were in short supply.

Now, a film that empathizes with Donald Trump might sound like the world’s largest alarm bell at the moment. As Strong put it in his own nomination reaction, “Roy Cohn’s long, dark shadow was hanging over the Capitol Rotunda on Monday and his legacy of aggression, misinformation and untruth is now a Kingdom Come.” But make no mistake; it’s precisely because of the human elements that the danger of Trump is so effectively dissected in this film.

Regardless of how difficult this may be to hear, Trump is a human being, and because of that, we cannot truly distance ourselves from him no matter how much we want to. But, just as importantly, The Apprentice also makes a point to remind us that the emotional space occupied by Trump is a deeply, grotesquely unnatural one. This is a human being who was made to believe that he, essentially, was not. A human being who loved his brother but believed he wasn’t allowed to.

By absolutely no means does this excuse any of his behaviors or evils past and present, but The Apprentice isn’t interested in doing that anyway. It is at once a thesis on what the world can become, what sort of world we miss out on, and what sort of world we can tragically perpetuate when we remove our humanity from the equation of life. We don’t cry for Trump, nor do we cry for Cohn; we cry for the genuine human emotion that these two locked away, first in themselves and then in the lives they sought to influence/control. And now one of them is President of the United States.

And that’s why Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong are two of the Academy’s bravest recognitions. In what’s become an endless sea of wholly justified but sardonic Trump takedowns, The Apprentice dared to indict him from a much more intimate angle that nobody — be it Trump himself or his staunchest critics — is comfortable observing. That alone speaks volumes on how crucial that angle is, and Stan and Strong’s presence in the Best Actor and Best ing Actor categories are robust endorsements of the art of sincerity; an art we can’t afford to forget.

Sebastian Stan took home the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for his work on A Different Man. The movie tells the story of Edward, an aspiring actor suffering from a disfiguring facial condition called neurofibromatosis. He eventually undergoes surgery to change his appearance. When the procedure causes Edward to lose out on the role in an off-Broadway play based on his life, he becomes obsessed with the person who landed the part.

Although the film is billed as a black comedy, Stan made sure to draw attention to the stigma that often surrounds disabilities. “Our ignorance and discomfort around disability and disfigurement has to end now,” the actor said during his acceptance speech. “We have to normalize it and continue to expose ourselves to it – and our children. Encourage acceptance. One way we can do that is by continuing to champion stories that are inclusive.”

“This was not an easy movie to make,” Stan continued while giving a shout-out to his Donald Trump biopic, The Apprentice. “These are tough subject matters, but these films are real, and they’re necessary, and we can’t be afraid and look away. The actor went on to thank the film’s director, Aaron Schimberg, and his co-star, Adam Pearson, who suffers from neurofibromatosis in real life. He also shared his appreciation for the management team and agent.

Stan calling for inclusivity when it comes to disabilities is completely in line with his personality. The actor is well-known for being an all-around good guy who cares about those in need. Long before his fame skyrocketed, Stan used to spend time on social media (mostly Instagram) interacting with fans, offering advice, and giving pep talks to those who needed it. Sadly, the actor has since paused his online activity and only surfaces to promote his work.

Stan dedicated his first-ever Golden Globe win to his mom, Georgeta Orlovschi, who relocated to New York in the early ’90s. “This is for my mom, who left Romania in search of a better life [and] gave me everything,” he said. The actor also paid tribute to his stepdad, saying, “For my stepfather Tony, who took on a single mom and a grown-up kid. Thank you for being a real man.” And, in a rare instance of publicly acknowledging a romantic partner, Stan expressed his love for his girlfriend, Annabelle Wallis.

According to the Daily Mail UK, Wallis, who was super ive of Stan during the ceremony, looked stunning in a shimmering pink dress. However, the person who was most proud of the Golden Globe winner was his MCU co-star Anthony Mackie. The Captain America: Brave New World actor was visibly thrilled whenever he spotted Stan. During the post-awards show interviews, Mackie hinted at a Sam Wilson/Bucky Barnes reunion, saying, “Captain America and the Winter Soldier, we’re coming back.”

Stan will next be seen in the Marvel Studios film, Thunderbolts*. The movie, which also stars Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, Chris Bauer, Wendell Edward Pierce, Hannah John-Kamen, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, is directed by Jake Schreier from a script by Eric Pearson, Lee Sung Jin, and Joanna Calo. Per the official synopsis, “the story follows a group of antiheroes that go on missions for the government.”

There’s a lot to love about the entertainment awards season: the upsets, the conversations about the films being recognized, and the general air of excitement that’s probably not dissimilar to a sporting event, except it’s for theater kids and cinephiles (endearingly and pejoratively) instead of dads.

Among the most meaningful part of these ceremonies are the acceptance speeches, and the 82nd Golden Globes had a treasure trove of anecdotal gratitude on its hands. From Adrien Brody’s heartfelt reflection on his family, to the championing of artists from Brady Corbet and Richard Gadd, all the way to Kieran Culkin’s unhinged nonchalance, there was plenty to love here. But if there was a Golden Globe for the best acceptance speech, Demi Moore and Sebastian Stan would likely be holding it together.

Respectively winning for Best Performance in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for The Substance and A Different Man, Moore and Stan delivered their speeches one after another, both of them imbuing into their speeches personal subject matter and socially prevalent sentiments, while also calling back to their respective films in the process.

Moore starred in The Substance as Elisabeth Sparkle, a former Hollywood star who falls into despair when her aging body costs her the adoration she once enjoyed in the industry. She happens upon a black market drug called “The Substance” that allows her to inhabit a younger version of herself, but the severe consequences end up catching her off guard.

At 62 years old, Moore’s own career is a rather pertinent lens to view The Substance through, as the actress — once the world’s highest-paid back in 1995 — struggled to maintain relevance into the 2000s, pointing out in her speech that someone once told her she was a “popcorn actress”; one who would never be recognized for any artistic strength among her peers, and perhaps thrived exclusively on her beauty.

With her performance in The Substance, though, Moore quite loudly asserted that she’s so much more than what the Hollywood suits believed her to be, and this Golden Globe win — together with a speech in which she boldly reclaimed her artistry (and, by extension, the dignity of women working in a rather undignified machine) — cements that even further.

Stan then had the unenviable task of following Moore’s speech, a task even Kerry Washington, who was presenting his award alongside Andrew Garfield, mentioned before segueing from Moore’s speech to the next category. But the A Different Man star proved to be more than up to the task with a hearty helping of humanism in his back pocket.

In his film, Stan stars as an actor with neurofibromatosis, which causes a physical deformity on his face that makes him socially ostracized. He undergoes a procedure to remove the deformity, assuming a new identity in the process and living a content life, but he soon catches wind of Oswald (Adam Pearson), an actor with the same condition as him who is all but beloved by the world around him, causing a maelstrom of inner conflict within Stan’s character.

During his speech, Stan vigorously championed the act of telling inclusive stories that normalize disability in the face of willful ignorance and rejection faced by the community. He went a step further by advocating for stories that are difficult to tell, naming A Different Man and The Apprentice — the Donald Trump biopic that Stan also starred in — as two such films that deconstructed a wall of uncomfortable subject matter so as to get to the necessary humanity at the core of them.

All too often do we cross our fingers for certain nominees to win their respective category, solely because we know their acceptance speech will be straight fire. This inspiring one-two punch from Moore and Stan, though, likely caught many by surprise in all the best ways, and one can only hope their words will ring truer with every ing tomorrow.

One of the big winners at the 2025 Golden Globes was Sebastian Stan. The actor took home the Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy award for his role in A Different Man, but it’s his bromance with Anthony Mackie that stole the show.

Mackie, the leading man of the Captain America: Brave New World, was all smiles every time Stan was in view, or even mentioned. Their reunion immediately reignited hopes of a return to the screen, and Mackie’s comments after the ceremony didn’t help matters. Are we delusional to be excited about a possible reunion of Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes in the MCU?

 A promise of things to come? 1u5p6r

In a very wholesome moment at last night’s ceremony, Anthony Mackie gleefully and wholeheartedly became Stan’s biggest fanboy. While in an interview speaking about his win, Stan was approached by a very happy Mackie. The new Captain America repeatedly chanted “we won” as he crashed Stan’s interview. 

As they both celebrated, Sebastian Stan said some words that made Marvel fans perk up in excitement. “Captain America and the Winter Soldier, we’re coming back,” the actor yelled. Now, was he jesting, or did he actually mean what he said? Nobody knows for sure, but fans are elated nonetheless.

With Captain America: Brave New World being released on Valentine’s Day, Mackie’s return to the big screen is closer than ever. Stan himself is set to lead the pack in Thunderbolts, closing out Phase Five of the MCU in May. Evidently, we don’t have the answers to any of these questions right now, but Marvel, we urge you to give us fans what we want!

True to this, not new to this 5b176a

While the MCU has suffered a noticeable decline in quality over the last few years, they have released some phenomenal stuff since their inception. From The Winter Soldier to Infinity War, it’s fair to say Marvel aficionados have eaten good. And, it has not escaped fans’ attention that both Stan and Mackie have appeared in some of the best Marvel releases over the years.

Back when Mackie’s character was still known as Falcon, he starred in Captain America: The Winter Soldier alongside Stan. Since then, they have built their bromance brick by brick, sharing the screen in Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame.

The stuff of dreams 4370

Shortly after WandaVision ended in March 2021, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier started airing on Disney Plus. It showed a new dynamic of the relationship shared by the partners-in-crime, with much of the love the fans have come to expect between the two superheroes first founded in this show.

However, six episodes just don’t cut it, and fans have been clamoring for more for four years, now. Unfortunately, their prayers remain unanswered. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is still the last time both Stan and Mackie starred in a Marvel release together. The end of the limited series saw Mackie’s character go from being The Falcon to becoming Captain America, and with Sam settling into the new mantle in his outing, getting to see Bucky’s reaction and endorsement is not just a want, but a deep need.  

Move over Ben Affleck and Matt Damon… Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan are the Hollywood besties we simply can’t get enough of.

As if having the troublesome pair as co-stars hasn’t been enough, these Captain Americas continue to show off their friendship every chance they get. In fact, they’ve got some fans believing they’re secretly in love with one another, and when they’re all smiles every time they’re next to one another, what’s not to love?

The first family America needs 24p21

At the Golden Globes, Mackie and Stan shared multiple bromance moments for the world to gush about. As Stan took home the Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy award for A Different Man, Mackie cheered him on. But it’s their absolutely adorable photo outside the ceremony that’s got the internet talking!

Mackie’s signature smirk is on full display as he embraces his bestie in a photo that’s seriously giving off “just wedded” vibes! The comments, all in on the joke, couldn’t help but chip in. “They look like they belong on a Christmas card,” wrote a cheeky fan. Another wrote, “This is giving vows were exchanged behind the scenes,” and “Anthony grinning like he just got the first slice of wedding cake.” ing the ranks is “This looks like the start of a Netflix series called Husbands in Harmony.”

From first date to happily ever after pic.twitter.com/Dtf8qmMswv

— PJ the Trekkie (@PEBPhotography) January 6, 2025

But by far the best comment of the night goes to PJ the Trekkie, who sheepishly wrote, “From first date to happily ever after” while adding a photo of the pair from their Winter Soldier days. And honestly, we’d give anything to see these two bros back on our screen. 

Reunited, and it feels so good! 6d2v1j

Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes have been a mainstay in the Captain America film series, but the duo finally had enough time to shine in their very own series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Over six episodes, Mackie and Stan proved their chemistry was off their charts, and have since become the poster for Marvel’s many bromances. Heck, even Tom Holland wanted into the fold, but couldn’t match up against the famous pair. Years ago, Mackie revealed his nickname for Stan was “sexy seabass,” while Stan calls him “choclatino.” Now that’s love!

Both actors may no longer share screen time, but in the MCU’s new phase of new faces, box office flops, and uncertainty, it’s a wonderful treat that both Stan and Mackie are still involved. While it sucks that Bucky won’t appear in Brave New World, we’re going to see an even grittier side of the soldier in Thunderbolts. Both films will be released in 2025, with Brave New World set for a Valentine’s Day release, and Thunderbolts making its way on May 2.

As both films will the lineup for the final films of the MCU’s Phase Five, there’s a lot riding on this! Thankfully, both Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes have a decent enough fanbase to drive up viewership and box office numbers. And if we’re lucky enough, there could be more of the duo in the future, and this time, back together again!

When Iranian-Danish director Ali Abbasi began working on the Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice, everyone knew there was bound to be pushback. The President-elect’s legal team tried to get the movie blocked, and those from the non-MAGA crowd had no interest in a story that even remotely portrayed him as a sympathetic character. So when the film was released, it failed to make a significant impact at the box office despite holding a certified fresh Rotten Tomatoes score.

Abbasi shared his thoughts about the film’s performance in an interview with The Playlist. “I’m disappointed and shocked about the reception in the U.S. of The Apprentice,” he said. “What I’m really shocked about is that the movie is being considered controversial. I’ve said this many times, I still don’t understand. I mean, you’re dealing with someone who is like, it’s like he’s the encyclopedia entry of World Controversial, Donald Trump. I don’t know what’s controversial about the movie.”

Perhaps Abbasi should have steered away from telling a Trump story so close to the 2024 U.S. election. But that is not how the filmmaker operates. Instead, he is drawn to subject matter that has the potential to make audiences uncomfortable. “I don’t like to be a polite filmmaker,” he said, referring to his project choices. I don’t think being polite is a virtue for a filmmaker. Being polite is already being censored. Self-censored.”

Over the years, Abbasi has become accustomed to having his creative choices questioned. “Every movie I’ve done has started by someone wanting to censor something about it,” he added. When it comes to The Apprentice, the director is not shy when sharing his feelings about Trump and those who him. “Even if 99.9 percent of the American populace would vote for Mr. Trump, he’s still a fascist, and he will remain a fascist,” the filmmaker stated.

Per the official synopsis, “The Apprentice examines Donald Trump’s career as a real estate businessman in New York City in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as his relationship with attorney Roy Cohn.” The movie stars Sebastian Stan as Trump, Jeremy Strong as Cohn, Martin Donovan as Trump’s father, Fred, and Maria Bakalova as Trump’s then-wife, Ivana. While the film earned glowing reviews from critics, Trump described it as a “defamatory, politically disgusting hatchet job.”

Although Stan received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama, he could not find anyone with whom to discuss the film during Variety’s Actors on Actors segment. “I couldn’t find another actor to do it with me because they were too afraid to go and talk about this movie,” the Marvel alum previously explained. According to the actor, the request didn’t even make it past the publicity teams of his counterparts.

It’s not entirely surprising that The Apprentice became polarizing. Trump ers would have echoed their leader’s sentiment and avoided the film at all costs. And unlike Abbasi, who has no qualms about calling the soon-to-be president a fascist, actors on par with Stan would have been afraid to voice their thoughts about the movie because of the ripple effect any negative comments would have on their careers. Everyone else just didn’t care since they will be living in a Trump movie very soon.

Sebastian Stan says everyone refused to be paired with him for Variety‘s annual Actors on Actors interview segment out of fear of talking about his latest film, The Apprentice. Stan plays a young Donald Trump next to Succession‘s Jeremy Strong as lawyer and mentor Roy Cohn in a film that was heavily criticized by the president-elect at the time of its release, a month before the 2024 elections.

“I had an offer to do Variety‘s Actors on Actors this Friday,” Stan explained at a Tuesday screening of The Apprentice with director Ali Abassi (Border, Holy Spider). “And I couldn’t find another actor to do it with me, because they were too afraid to go and talk about this movie,” he continued. The 42-year-old then explained that the requests didn’t even make it past the other participants’ publicity teams. This year’s Actors on Actors line-up has not yet been revealed.

Trump called the film a “piece of garbage” even though it’s been both praised and criticized for humanizing the politician 336d68

In October, Trump attacked The Apprentice on his social network, Truth Social, calling the people involved in the film “HUMAN SCUM” trying to sabotage his campaign. “It’s a cheap, defamatory, and politically disgusting hatchet job, put out right before the 2024 Presidential Election, to try and hurt the Greatest Political Movement in the History of our Country,” he continued, also accusing it of being “fake,” “classless,” and a “piece of garbage.”

The film’s narrative begins in the 1970s, where Cohn, seeing Trump’s potential, uses his influence to help his protégé get ahead in his public life, often via blackmail and other illegal methods. This effectively sets Trump on the path to become the New York mogul that would eventually run for president, but also illustrates how his surroundings impacted him negatively. According to Abbasi, even after premiering at Cannes to a standing ovation, finding a distributor for The Apprentice was “extremely difficult,” most likely given its content and Trump’s threats to sue.

Both the director and his leading man claim the film actually strives to humanize Trump, putting his ascension into context in order to help audiences better understand such a consequential public figure. “I think [Trump] should be grateful, to be honest. We have pretty much handed him, I think, a very complex, three-dimensional take on his life, and I can’t recall anybody else doing that,” Stan told BBC News.

At the same screening where he discussed Actors on Actors, the actor argued that “All [the film] is saying is ‘You cannot keep casting this person aside, especially after they get the popular vote.'” He continued by suggesting, “Should we not give this a closer look and try to understand what it is about this person that’s even driving that">here.

Fans have had to test their patience with the arrival of Marvel’s Thunderbolts*, but it may have been well worth the wait. The new ensemble film has pulled fan-favorite characters from the MCU.

In addition to the addition of the long-suffering Bucky Barnes, (Sebastian Stan), Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) returns to the Marvel stage after her last appearance in Hawkeye. As in the comic, the Thunderbolts is a team-up among the world’s mightiest anti-heroes. While these characters may chafe upon first meeting, Pugh reported having a different experience. While on the podcast, She MD, the Dune: Part Two actor reflected on filming the comic book film.

Comic book movies may have plateaued in interest in the past few years, but the same cannot be said for the ion of its actors. Along with the Winter Soldier and a Black Widow in the mix, Thunderbolts* will also feature David Harbour reprising his role as The Red Guardian, Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Wyatt Russell returning as Agent Walker, and the introduction of Lewis Pullman as the mysterious Bob. While an entirely different group dynamic than the famous ensemble before them, the Thunderbolts could mean a new phase in the MCU.

Are the Thunderbolts the new Avengers? 2w5049

In retrospect, The Avengers had a relatively short shelf-life. After coming together in 2012’s The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron shows the cracks beginning to show in the partnership. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) self-destructs and the team separates, segueing into Civil War. Nick Fury’s (Samuel L. Jackson) Avengers were more often not a team than they were one, with Tony’s (Robert Downey Jr.) death making this a permanent state. What truly made the Avengers a team was the chemistry between the characters. This is the most meaningful in Endgame when the stakes are at their peak.

The Thunderbolts may do more than measure up to their predecessors. Bucky and Yelena are already proxies for Captain America and the Black Widow. Even better than that, they have more in common. Bucky and Yelena were both brainwashed by a Russian program that led them down their dark paths. They have also lost the people most important to them around the same time. While Natasha (Scarlett Johansson) and Bruce’s dynamic was the most forced relationship of the series, Yelena and Bucky should have a far more natural connection.

Unlike the Avengers, the Thunderbolts’ friction also makes a lot more sense. The original ensemble team always appeared to have cause to fight, even though they were on the same side. The Thunderbolts, on the other hand, first come together under duress. Each one of them is a lone wolf, and being part of a team isn’t in their repertoire. The joy of seeing them come together is putting these characters out of their element in this group setting. All of these factors could mean that Thunderbolts makes more sense as a team than the Avengers in the MCU, and could even bring love back to the franchise. One thing is for certain. The Thunderbolts residing at Avengers Tower sure make them poised to take over in that regard. The only question now is if Young Avengers is ever going to take form. Viewers can catch the new team-up when Thunderbolts* premieres in theaters on May 2, 2025.

The MCU returns to the big screen in less than three months when Captain America: Brave New World hits cinemas on Valentine’s Day, and while there’s much about the action-packed fourquel that promises to warm the heart — Harrison Ford as Red Hulk? ‘Nuff said — there is something about Sam Wilson’s first solo cinematic outing that’s disappointing fans: the lack of Sebastian Stan.

The best part of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was, just as the title suggests, the bond between Anthony Mackie’s Sam and Stan’s Bucky Barnes, with folks eager to see more of the dynamic duo in future projects. Tragically, Marvel has decided to split them up. Stan will be appearing in next spring’s Thunderbolts* instead, while Sam has found himself a new best pal to save the world with in Brave New World. And our first look at this familiar character in their very own superhero togs has now been revealed.

“One of the key emotional centers of the film”: Say bye bye Bucky, because Sam’s got a new sidekick in Captain America 4 5ca49

As per Empire, a new still from Brave New World has been unveiled which offers our first glimpse at the MCU’s Falcon 2.0. Top Gun: Maverick star Danny Ramirez debuted as Joaquin Torres in Falcon and the Winter Soldier and, just like in the comics, he will take on Sam’s old mantle in Brave New World to operate as the new Cap’s partner in crime-fighting.

Director Julius Onah was on hand to promise that the friendship that forms between Sam and Torres is one of the movie’s biggest emotional threads. “There’s this incredible big brother/little brother dynamic between them,” Onah said when describing the partnership between the two heroes. “It’s going to be one of the key emotional centers of the film.”

According to Onah, Sam will bring a lot of experience to the table, but at the same time his greener sidekick will teach him a thing or two as they come up against some serious new challenges. Those challenges may just take the shape of a red-hued Han Solo Hulk and Tim Blake Nelson’s the Leader, returning for the first time since The Incredible Hulk.

“These guys are incredible fighters,” Onah continued. “And Sam has been there and back. He’s got some tricks up his sleeve, and over the course of the film there are things he comes to learn that become other tools in his arsenal, when he’s facing even the most impossible of threats.”

As much as Stan’s absence smarts, it sounds like we could be about to witness the birth of another iconic Marvel bromance in Sam and Torres. Sam taking on a sidekick is also a moving marker for how much he’s evolved in this franchise since his own debut in 2014’s The Winter Soldier, when he himself played second fiddle to Steve Rogers’ Sentinel of Liberty. That said, if Bucky doesn’t turn up for at least a cameo, we’ll be more red-faced with anger than Ford’s President Ross.

Captain America: Brave New World is coming on Feb. 14, 2025, while Stan’s own Thunderbolts* will follow on May 2.