Marvel Sidekick Sebastian Stan Becomes a Leading Man in 'Beat the Reaper'

Sebastian Stan is best known for a supporting role. It's a big and very popular supporting role, but the part of Bucky Barnes, aka Winter Soldier, in multiple installments of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is anything but a headliner. In recent years, his star has risen substantially, though, in part thanks to the increasing significance of the MCU role but also through his additional supporting parts on TV and in movies, including recent Oscar winner I, Tonya. Now it's time for him to shine in a lead position, with Beat the Reaper. 

Leonardo DiCaprio is producing the adaptation, based on a 2009 crime novel by Josh Bazell, and was once considered a possible star for the movie himself. But Stan now has the gig, according to The Tracking Board, for which he'll play a former mafia hitman hiding out under the Federal Witness Protection Program. In his new life, he's a medical resident, but his past comes back to haunt him when a patient turns up at his hospital who recognizes him. The book alternates between the present and flashbacks to his old life, and presumably the movie will too.

Gore Verbinski is directing Beat the Reaper, and after flopping with last year's A Cure for Wellness, could use a hit with this one. He's a talented filmmaker best known for helming most of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and he should bring just the right amount of humor to what's apparently a "darkly funny" read. Blurbs on the book describe the story as House meets The Sopranos.

Stan is a great actor deserving of such a showcase of his talents, and he also has the appeal warranting a leading man role. There's still uncertainty whether he could go from sidekick to solo hero as a new incarnation of Captain America in the MCU, but a lot of his and Marvel's fans are hopeful. Beat the Reaper -- along with substantial roles in upcoming releases The Last Full Measure, Destroyer and We Have Always Lived in the Castle -- could be what the doctor ordered as far as showing the rest of the world that he's ready to headline a superhero movie. 

Speaking of which, Stan will next be seen as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier (similarly now a good guy with a dark past) in next month's epic MCU crossover Avengers: Infinity War, opening April 27.