For many Marvel fans, Sebastian Stan will forever be known as the Winter Soldier, Captain America's best friend, and/or Bucky Barnes. The tale of Sebastian Stan and Bucky Barnes is one of the greatest success stories in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Considering he evolved from a supporting character in Captain America: The First Avenger to being one key player on the Marvel roster, Stan has every reason to appreciate the world-building of the MCU. For that reason, it makes sense that he is a big fan of what Marvel President Kevin Feige does for the brand.
Stan has been a member of the MCU family as long as anyone who is outside of the Iron Man or Thor franchises. He has seen firsthand how Kevin Feige and his team have molded this intricate web of stories and heroes over the past 14 years. It is known that these legacy actors who helped build this franchise have nothing but praise for the guy in the rotating baseball hat.
Fans are able to take multiple steps back, watch these movies over and over, and realize the importance of the planning, patience, and execution needed to have the success the MCU has had. For someone in the system who works on these films, to recognize the behind-the-scenes effort is another sign that the people making these movies really do love these stories.
Sebastian Stan's Kevin Feige Fandom
In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Sebastian Stan spoke about how much credit Kevin Feige deserves for putting together the big picture of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
"I just think Kevin Feige doesn’t get as much credit as he deserves for being the genius mastermind for putting this entire thing together. And every single movie to me feels intricately kind of tied to something else and to another storyline and it just, there’s a lot to those movies I think that sometimes they don’t get the credit that they deserve."
Stan gave this response while walking through his career with Vanity Fair. His filmography has centered around his role in the Captain America franchise as Bucky Barnes, a character that began as a supporting piece and grew into a titular hero over the span of a decade.
Marvel Studios: Full of True Believers
It is no secret that many of the showrunners and executive producers at Marvel Studios are enormous fans of the fantastic themselves. That type of admiration and pride behind what they do shines through the product put on the big and little screen, and it has been shining through at a consistent clip since 2008.
But Kevin Feige's commitment to this universe of characters, heroes, and villains alike predates the MCU by nearly ten years. People forget that Kevin Feige cut his teeth in the superhero movie business as a producer for the 2000 X-Men film. He would go on to grow his role to executive producer over the next eight years, working on almost every Marvel movie from Spider-Man all the way to Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
Working closely with the father of the Marvel Universe, Stan Lee, Feige parlayed his experiences and understanding of the "world outside your window" to create Iron Man, and the rest, much like Bucky Barnes, is history.
14 years, 27 movies, five streaming series, and over a dozen more on the way, Feige doesn't seem to be missing a step. As for Bucky Barnes himself, Sebastian Stan has appeared in nine Marvel Studios projects over the past 11 years. Few people would know more about all of the things that Kevin Feige does to weave this revolutionary tapestry of comic book content. To see him give praise to the man behind the metaphorical curtain is something that can cheer up any Marvel fan.
People will forever remember names like Downey, Jackman, Johansson, and Boseman for opening up the Marvel Universe to so many fans across the world. But when asked who those acclaimed actors credit for the success of this franchise, Feige is surely at the top of everyone's list.
