Avengers star Sebastian Stan reveals Steve Rogers was setting Bucky Barnes ‘free’ by passing Captain America shield to a more ‘trustworthy’ colleague in final Endgame moments
Avengers: Endgame star Sebastian Stan has revealed Steve Rogers was setting his right hand man Bucky Barnes ‘free’ by not gifting him the title of Captain America in the final moments of the film.
The I, Tonya actor, 36, said the superhero’s other close ally, Sam Wilson, was a more ‘trustworthy’ choice to take up the ‘responsibility’ of the coveted position.
Speaking at MCM London on Saturday, he revealed: ‘I think it makes a lot of sense. I really loved the enthusiasm in terms of Bucky getting the shield but it just doesn’t make sense for him.
Opening up: Avengers: Endgame star Sebastian Stan has revealed Steve Rogers was setting his right hand man Bucky Barnes ‘free’ by not gifting him the title of Captain America in the final moments of the film
‘I mean, in a way for me Steve not giving him the shield is a way of setting him free. And setting himself free.’
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At the end of Avengers: Endgame, Captain America goes back in time to put all six Infinity Stones back in their places just seconds after they were taken by the Avengers to stop the titan Thanos.
But instead of coming back to the present day, Steve goes back in time again to live a life, it is implied, with Peggy Carter - who was his love interest throughout Captain America: The First Avenger.
Popular: Stan plays Bucky, AKA the Winter Soldier, in the epic Marvel adventure
At the very end of the three-hour epic, a very old version of Steve (Chris Evans) reappears on a bench near the place he had disappeared from seconds earlier as a young man.
Here, he decides to pass on his shield, and it seems the moniker of Captain America, to his friend Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) instead of Bucky (Stan) as many fans expected.
Sebastian added: ‘Both [Steve and Bucky] have been forever in a way tied to this duty you know since the 40s and in a way they both sort of are free, to some extent, now.
Candid: The I, Tonya actor, 36, said the superhero’s other close ally, Sam Wilson, was a more ‘trustworthy’ choice to take up the ‘responsibility’ of the coveted position
‘And Sam is a much more trustworthy character. I don’t know how much we’ve seen of Bucky’s evolution mentally so far to really trust him with that sort of responsibility so, you know, I think for me it made a lot of sense.’
The Political Animals star went on to explain that the story was likely to be different to that of the comic books, as another version of Bucky had been motivated to take up the shield by Steve’s death.
He said: ‘It’s different because in the comic books, Steve Rogers dies. And that is actually something that really motivates the Bucky Barnes character to make sure to carry that on.
Poignant: At the very end of the three-hour epic, a very old version of Steve (Chris Evans) passes on his shield after reappearing on a bench near the place he had disappeared from seconds earlier as a young man
‘That’s the way he would have felt most close [to Steve] was to have done that, but we’re in a different world.’
In the interview, Sebastian also confirmed ‘a conversation’ had occurred between the two brothers in arms prior to Captain America’s unexpected return to the past - hence their heartfelt goodbye in the film.
He said: ‘When I found out that we were doing that scene, which was probably about 40 minutes before it was filmed, I said “Look, don’t you think if this is really happening wouldn’t there be something more to be said?”
‘But then you know the producers were like “You guys have had that conversation, you’ve had that moment, you know what is going to happen and what Steve is doing”.
‘In the last interaction there is a lot of subtext which is like “Alright, here we are, you know, I’ll see you when I see you”.’
