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The movie that introduced Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes to the MCU won praise for taking its lead from the 1970s political thriller movie genre, but Bucky’s next big on-screen appearance is going further, and looking to one particular 1970s movie classic — and it might not be what you expect.

Talking to Variety, Stan — who’ll next be seen in theaters playing Donald Trump in the controversial biopic The Apprentice — says that, to him, Thunderbolts* “was kind of like ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ — a guy coming into this group that was chaotic and degenerate, and somehow finding a way to unite them.” (Presumably, this makes Stan the Jack Nicholson of the group, which would seem complimentary until you remember what happens to Nicholson’s character by the end of the film. No spoilers.)

Beyond the idea that this is a surprising touchstone for Thunderbolts* (especially given the amount of chatter surrounding the movie that it was, essentially, Marvel’s version of Suicide Squad), Stan’s characterization of the movie would appear to suggest Bucky’s role in the narrative, placing him as something approaching the adult in the room when it comes to bringing the team together and coming to some kind of consensus of their overall mission. What, then, does that mean for Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, or Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, both of whom would appear to play more dominant roles in the trailer?

We’ll find out more about Thunderbolts*, and what it means for Bucky Barnes in the larger scheme of MCU things, when the movie is released May 2, 2025. For now, MCU fans have some classic movie homework to do; One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is currently available to buy or rent digitally on Prime Video, Apple TV, and other streaming services.

Keep up to date on Popverse's Marvel coverage, with these highlights: How Marvel Studios is now working "much more closely" to sell Marvel comics, where Marvel sees its future audience (and it's not at Marvel, yet!), Overgrown children of the atom: Marvel's X-Men can't evolve past their '90s commercial peak, the biggest outstanding questions of the Marvel Studios' movies & TV shows, Marvel's accidental closure on the Kang storyline, and Phil Coulson is the heart of the MCU (and it's time it starts beating again). Now you can even find out how Captain America: Brave New World provides an unexpected punchline to a Marvel Studios joke Kevin Feige made in 2014.