Bucky Barnes has survived falling from a train, decades of HYDRA brainwashing, being snapped out of existence and more superhero brawls than I can reasonably count. Yet as we get closer to Avengers: Doomsday's release on the 2026 movie calendar release, longtime Marvel fans are growing increasingly more concerned, looking at the Winter Soldier like someone in an action movie who just announced he’s two days from retirement. Which can only mean an almost certain untimely demise. Well, True Believers, Sebastian Stan is well aware of your concerns, and he has a pretty great take.With the upcoming Marvel movie bringing Bucky back alongside a ridiculously crowded collection of Avengers, the MCU’s Fantastic Four members and returning Fox-era X-Men, theories suggesting the longtime MCU hero could finally meet his end have been circulating for months. During a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, which was shared on Instagram, the Thunderbolts* star shared his take: It’s always wonderful to see passion, you know, to whatever movie it is. I guess we’ll have to see, you know? It’s funny, isn’t it? We have to kind of learn to deal with uncertainty more than to not. It’s fun to speculate but you want to be surprised, no?Sir, I appreciate the very thoughtful answer. But it is also precisely the sort of answer you’d expect from an actor who’s spent more than a decade in the Marvel moviemaking machine. He knows where his bread is buttered, and he ain’t about to cross Mr. Kevin Feige (the head of Marvel Studios).Stan has played Bucky since 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger, meaning Doomsday arrives more than 15 years after he first stood beside Steve Rogers. In that time, Bucky went from Steve’s best friend to one of Marvel’s most effective assassins, then spent years trying to claw his way back toward something resembling a normal life.His most recent appearance in Thunderbolts* finally gave him another team, this time as its leader. Killing him immediately after all that would be so mean. Which, unfortunately, is not to say that sort of action would be beneath Marvel. Au contraire, mon frère. If you’ve watched all the Marvel movies and shows, then you already know the comic book movie juggernaut has a long history of landing a well-placed emotional punch to fans’ bread boxes. So, I don't rule out any possibility. (Image credit: Disney)Though there is no clear-cut reason for so many fan speculation about Bucky's death, in particular, the theories have stuck around. Part of that may be because Stan is confirmed for Avengers: Doomsday, but he hasn't been part of the currently announced Avengers: Secret Wars lineup. His move into, for him, a new superhero movie franchise with The Batman: Part II also caused fans to wonder whether his Marvel days might be winding down, even though there is no real reason he couldn’t work in both universes. His Batman role remains unconfirmed.More on Sebastian Stan(Image credit: Marvel)Were You Surprised By Marvel's Robert Downey Jr. Doom Reveal? So Was Sebastian StanThen there is the movie itself. Marvel describes Doomsday as bringing heroes from three universes into a collision with an existential threat, with Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom sitting at the center of the chaos. This is the first Avengers movie since Endgame, and I have a hard time believing the Russos will send every beloved legacy character home without making us mourn somebody. We are just getting RDJ back as the new baddy, and Evan’s Cap returning after his happy ending; it would be insane for them to kill either of them off. But, you know who would hurt? Bucky would hurt.Still, I’m not ready to start engraving the tombstone. Stan recently revealed that he even pitched Kevin Feige a smaller, Sicario-style Winter Soldier movie centered on Bucky becoming obsessed with someone connected to his brainwashed past. That hardly sounds like an actor desperate to toss the metal arm into storage forever. Then again, Marvel actors politely smiling through questions they absolutely cannot answer is practically an MCU tradition. So I’ll take Stan’s advice and live with the uncertainty. Even if I don’t appreciate the way he said it, Mr. Barnes' fictional life hangs in the balance.Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters on Dec. 18 and, in the meantime, fans can catch up on Bucky Barnes' journey by streaming MCU movies and shows with a Disney+ subscription.