The Marvel Cinematic Universe is always expanding, thanks to new projects arriving in theaters and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. Despite this pace of releases, Marvel is also known for its tight security, especially when it comes to crossover events like the Avengers movies. Case in point: actors are not even given full scripts for those projects. It’s pretty mind-blowing to think about, and Bucky actor Sebastian Stan got real about how difficult that can make the job.
Fans who spent years watching the Marvel movies in order have heard stories about the great lengths the studio goes to in order guard spoilers. This is especially important for Avengers films, and during a video for GQ, Stan spoke about the experience of playing his signature character in this top-secret setting. In his words:
It’s really difficult not having completed scripts. And I would say, if it was not a character that I had played for all these years, then maybe it would be daunting to even attempt it because the script is everything. That’s where it starts.
Honestly, this makes a great deal of sense. Most actors require access to a movie’s full script in order to properly track their characters’ story, and how it fits into the movie’s overall message. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen for the Avengers movies. While Stan is part of the Avengers: Doomsday cast list, he might have just gotten the pages where Bucky appears.
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Luckily for Sebastian Stan, he’s been playing his Marvel role since Captain America: The First Avenger shot back in 2010. As such, he’s able to slip back into character for upcoming Marvel movies even if he doesn’t have the context of a full script. The 44 year-old actor spoke about this dynamic by offering:
But I think because all of these characters, right, we all have played them, we have all this knowledge and this history and experience with them, I think there’s a trust now going into it that even though there’s not these finished products that we will have the input. And we will kind of know instinctively where to go, how everyone would react in that situation. So it does become more collaborative as a result when you don’t have the full scripts.
This is an interesting perspective. Not having a script might be challenging, it sounds like it can open up the Avengers sets to more play. Actors are able to rely on their instincts and understand of their characters, rather than being able to rely on what’s on the page.
The stars of these blockbusters sometimes don’t even know their character’s fate in the shared universe. Stan opened up about this dynamic, saying:
But sometimes you go into these movies really not knowing whether or not you’re gonna survive because, again, you don’t know what the full script is. And so you’re always wondering if you’re gonna die by the end of the movie.
That’s one way to keep fans in the dark about each new movie until its release. Because if not even the actors know if their actors know if they survive, how can the information leak?
Indeed, there are a number of beloved characters whose fate is still unclear. Fans have been debating whether or not Wanda is alive since she seemingly died at the end of Doctor Strange 2. One can only imagine how many characters might perish during the next Avengers flick.
All will be revealed when Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters on December 18th as part of the 2026 movie release list. Fingers crossed that Sebastian Stan’s Bucky survives the fight again Doctor Doom.