We’ve gotten some major Captain America news in the past 24 hours. While we may have already learned last week that actor Chris Evans had landed the prestigious title role in The First Avenger: Captain America , it was still sort of classified merely as a “strong rumor.” That status has now been upgraded to iron-clad fact, as Marvel has issued a press release today, which finally confirms his casting. However, that’s not even the big news. Marvel is also confirming the truth of a rumor reported late yesterday by Deadline , that Gossip Girl and Hot Tub Time Machine star, Sebastian Stan has been cast to play Cap’s legendary young sidekick, Bucky . Just a few days ago, the mere existence of Bucky in the film was still something that was up in the air. Now, we not only know he’s in it, but who will play him. Introduced in the 1941 debut issue, Cap’s young sidekick Bucky Barnes was always seen as a sort of “poor man’s Robin.” And much like Jason Todd, the second version of Robin, Bucky’s death was one of those moments in comics legendary for not only its harshness, but for Marvel’s faithfulness to the idea of keeping him dead. As the old saying went, O.B.S.D. (Only Bucky Stays Dead.) However, that venerable saying was squashed when he was revived in the comics as Winter Soldier in 2005. He would even eventually replace Steve Rogers as Captain America when he was famously killed at the climax of Civil War . How will the character of Bucky be handled in the upcoming Avengers prequel? The casting of Sebastian Stan for this character is rather interesting, and may lift the veil a bit, regarding the film’s character dynamics. Stan, at 26, is only about a year-and-a-half younger than Cap’s Chris Evans. If I were to speculate, based on what we now know, it seems that the two will likely begin the film as best-friends, when the opportunity to enter the Super Soldier program goes to Steve and possibly divides their friendship briefly. After Cap becomes infused with his new powers and abilities, he’ll probably enjoys his initial victories, but soon realizes that he still needs his old buddy at his side. So, it looks like we will see more of a situation of the two of them being friends and equals, rather than Bucky being Cap’s 15 year-old “young ward” type who was recruited to help rally youth to enlist in the military and fight the Nazis. In fact, just looking at Stan, it almost seems surprising that he wasn’t up for the role of Cap himself, based on the guys who were once in consideration . (One of which included Stan’s Gossip Girl co-star, Chace Crawford.) What do you think about the choice of Sebastian Stan as Bucky? Does it work? Should they have gone younger/older? Source: Marvel Captain America – Bucky – Captain America in other media – SebastianStan – Bucky Barnes
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Captain America: Chris Evans Confirmed & Bucky Has Been Cast