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Avengers: Doomsday Star Sebastian Stan Knows ‘Absolutely Nothing’ About What Happens in the Movie
Sebastian Stan, who plays the Winter Soldier, has said he knows "absolutely nothing" about the plot of the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday, revealing he never received a full script for the film. This reflects Marvel's long-standing practice of restricting access to complete scripts on major ensemble blockbusters, a policy the Russo brothers, who are directing the film, have used on previous Avengers instalments to prevent plot details leaking to journalists.
Speaking in a French-language interview with Le Journal du Dimanche, Stan explained that scenes were shot without a complete script, in a "continuously evolving" way, and that he has followed this rule for fifteen years. Marvel has taken similar approaches before: reportedly only Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans received a full script for Avengers: Infinity War, while Downey Jr. was said to be the only cast member who saw the complete script for Endgame. Stan called the arrangement part of the "beauty" of the job, as it lets him experience the finished film as a spectator, and noted that pre-sale tickets for Doomsday are reportedly already outpacing those for Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
In short
- Sebastian Stan says he never read a full Doomsday script
- Marvel has long restricted full scripts on Avengers films
- Doomsday pre-sales reportedly outpacing Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Marvel's practice serves legitimate protective purposes: it prevents plot leaks that could diminish the audience's carefully curated experience of surprise and discovery, directly supporting the film's commercial and artistic success. The approach also grants directors creative flexibility during production to adjust narratives based on real-time developments on set, potentially improving the final product. For actors like Stan, the policy offers an unexpected professional benefit—the chance to experience their own work as genuine spectators rather than with predetermined knowledge, which many find artistically refreshing and valuable after years in the industry.
The case against
Restricting scripts fundamentally limits actors' ability to deliver their most nuanced performances, as understanding a character's complete emotional and narrative arc is essential to authentic creative work. The selective distribution creates an inequitable two-tier system where some actors receive full scripts whilst others receive nothing, implying institutional distrust of professional actors' discretion and integrity. Additionally, modern digital security technologies—encryption, watermarking, secure platforms—make complete secrecy unnecessary; actors deserve full knowledge of and agency over the projects consuming months of their professional lives, rather than being deliberately kept uninformed.
Explained simply
The Avengers are a team of superheroes from Marvel films, whose stories often bring together characters introduced in separate films. Avengers: Doomsday is an upcoming instalment directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, who have also directed earlier Avengers films.
Sebastian Stan plays Bucky Barnes, also known as the Winter Soldier, a character who has appeared in several Marvel films. Marvel has sometimes limited which cast members can read a complete script for large ensemble films, while scenes and story details develop during production.
This approach is intended to reduce the chance of plot details becoming public before release. It also means actors may not know how the full story fits together until they see the finished film.
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