Falcon and Winter Soldier’s Sebastian Stan Says There’s a Longer and Funnier Version of Bucky’s Therapy

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier cut a lengthier and "more comedic" version of Bucky Barnes in therapy, reveals star Sebastian Stan. Set six months after Avengers: Endgame, the series premiere of the Marvel Studios original series, "New World Order," puts the metal-armed Avenger in therapy as a condition of his pardon from the U.S. government. Haunted by his past as the HYDRA-brainwashed assassin called the Winter Soldier, Bucky keeps a list of amends in the notebook given to him by Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and must adhere to Dr. Christina Raynor's (Amy Aquino) three rules: don't do anything illegal, nobody gets hurt, and identify himself as "James Bucky Barnes," the ex-Winter Soldier.

"That scene was written, actually, I think, much longer. I mean, it was like a five-page scene," Stan said of the claustrophobic therapy session during a virtual panel with the SAG-AFTRA Foundation. "We were always looking for the temperature of it in terms of, how sarcastic is he? There were takes that we did that were very funny, there's a version of that scene that was actually more comedic. But what I loved ultimately is that they decided to go with something that was more grounded and realistic, and it was nice to have a scene like that to start off with because at least it sets up for us the journey of where he has to go."

After Blipping back to life alongside Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), Bucky has a "lack of identity" at the close of Endgame. In Falcon and Winter Soldier, "He has the capability to sort of reinvent himself and re-educate himself, and really, his arc in the show, from my perspective, was always sort of a re-education and a recalibrating of, 'Who am I, what do I stand for, what can I contribute, how can I contribute?'"

"In a way, he represents the PTSD of war and a soldier who enlisted a long time ago and then has kind of never really had his own choices to make," Stan added. "Now he finally does and what he decides to do is what I think is most impactful. But to have a five-page scene like that, you definitely don't get that in a two-and-a-half-hour movie."

All episodes of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier are now streaming on Disney+.

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