Sebastian Stan Would Want To Play Hawkeye In The MCU If He Wasn’t Bucky

Falcon & Winter Soldier star Sebastian Stan said that if he was not playing Bucky Barnes in the MCU, he would want to play the Avenger Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner). Since his first MCU appearance in Captain America: The First Avenger in 2011, Bucky has been a fan favorite, in large part because of Stan’s strong performance in the role. However, if given the chance to explore different iconic MCU roles, Stan has made his choice on who.

It is hard to think about Stan playing anyone other than Bucky after his decade-long performance in the role, especially given the complicated journey the character has been on. After enlisting in the U.S. Army with Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) in World War II, he falls victim to HYDRA experimentation and remains to be their puppet until the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which canonically takes place over half a century later. After a long redemption arc, Barnes struggles with amending his past as the Winter Soldier, a journey that Stan has played out brilliantly.

Related: Bucky’s Phase 4 Outfit Subtly Hints HYDRA’s Winter Soldier Is Cured

Stan and with his co-star Anthony Mackie, who plays Sam Wilson and the Falcon on Falcon & Winter Soldier, recently sat down with UNILAD for a game of ”How well do Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan really know each other?”. The question for Mackie was who Stan would play in the MCU if he were not playing Bucky, and when Mackie was officially stumped, Stan answered in his typical laid-back fashion:

“I said Hawkeye, or whatever, you know—Hawkeye.”

Despite their drastically different stories, Hawkeye and Bucky share a similar experience with grief and trauma, a common theme in the new MCU Phase 4 projects. Following the events of Thanos’ snap in Avengers: Infinity War, Clint mourned the loss of his family on a violent rampage fighting crime under the name Ronin. Despite these actions’ questionable ethics, it is clear that Barton was seeking amends, similar to how Bucky wants to make amends for his destructive past as a HYDRA operative in Falcon & Winter Soldier. 

At this point in their characters’ respective journeys with the MCU, there is no one else who is better equipped to play the roles of Bucky and Hawkeye than Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Renner. However, the thought of the two role-swapping does not seem as far-fetched when you consider the similarities between both the actors and characters. Even better, between Falcon & Winter Soldier and the upcoming Hawkeye series, the future of the MCU could make it so the paths of these two characters cross once more.

Next: Why Hawkeye Is Deaf In His MCU Show

Source: UNILAD

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