5 Years Before He Was Bucky in the MCU, Sebastian Stan Was the Best Part of This Supernatural Teen Trainwreck You Secretly Love

Sebastian Stan on the red carpet for Thunderbolts*

Credit: Dave Starbuck/Future Image/Cover Images

Published Jul 27, 2025

Gaby is a Movie Features Writer at Collider. She graduated from Fordham University with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Visual Arts. Born and bred in New Jersey, she had the luxury of Manhattan being only 20 minutes away. Gaby became hooked on movies and TV from a young age, ever since her older brother introduced her toPower Rangers and Jackie Chan.

If she's not watchingTop Gun: Maverick for the fifth time that week or reruns ofKing of Queens, she's likely training in Muay Thai or going to one of her favorite cafes with her mom.

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Sebastian Stan has become one of Hollywood’s A-list actors, gaining popularity since his major franchise role as Bucky Barnes in theMCU. He quickly became a Marvel staple, depicting the comic book character who ventures from a Hydra secret assassin to a rough-around-the-edges hero. There’s no denying thatBucky Barnes is one of Stan’s most recognized roles on the big screen, but almost two decades before helping lead the New Avengers inThunderbolts*, he starred as a cold and calculating villain in the 2006 movie,The Covenant.The Covenant is one of Stan’s earliest film projects as well as first first lead role. The filmenthralled a particular fan group as a twisted dark supernatural fantasy that ticks off all the boxes during the era ofTwilight. The movie was by no means a success, having been criticized for its cringeworthy script, focus on handsome male characters, and a fairly straightforward plot around a fight between good and evil. Beyond its clichés fitting of its time,Stan stood out among the mess as a worthwhile villain.

‘The Covenant’ Is a Guilty Pleasure for 2000s Supernatural Fans

WhileThe Covenantwas released two years before the global fame ofTwilight, it didn’t gain notoriety among fans until theRobert PattinsonandKristen Stewart-led franchise. It’s largely due toTwilight having kicked off an untapped market among young teens who wanted to escape into the mystical world of vampires, werewolves, magic, and forbidden love stories.The Covenant was soon tied into the genre alongside movies likeUnderworld,Beautiful Creatures,Fallen, andThe Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.For a generation of fans who shopped at Hot Topic andobsessively collected book series turned movies,The Covenantbecame something of a rite of passage.

The Covenantcenters around a group of private high school students, known among others as the “Sons of Ipswitch” for being direct descendants of the original town settlers. What everyone doesn’t know is that they are a real coven of witches with powers passed down to male descendants. Caleb Danvers (Steven Strait) is the oldest and the leader, who will soon “ascend” on his 18th birthday and be given his full powers. While fighting the addictive quality of his supernatural abilities, he and his coven realize there’s a new evil in town that threatens them.

Like a few other movies of the time,The Covenant was in no way a smashing success among critics or meant to be franchise-worthy.Rotten Tomatoes gave it a very generous 4% rating, with critics deriding it asa showcase for shirtless, handsome teens, filled with laughable dialogue and teen soap opera tropes. But the kicker is thatThe Covenant is exactly what teen audiences wanted during the 2000s —moody, magical escapism wrapped in a guilty pleasure.It's for audiences craving fantasy tied to teen identity, a moody wish-fulfillment package wrapped in a leather jacket, ripe for daydreaming during second-period math.

The movie was devoted to its moody Abercrombie aesthetic, with teen heartthrob leads likeTaylor Kitsch,Chase Crawford,Kyle Schmid, and Steven Strait all appearing shirtless at one point in the film. It takes place in a town stuck in autumn with a hard rock soundtrack, characters wrapped in personal turmoil while uncovering dark hidden truths, and magical powers. Yes, it also has choppy editing, poorly explained characters, and fight scenes with obvious wiring — but that's part of its charm.

Sebastian Stan Tapped Into His Villain Potential in ‘The Covenant’

Amidst the supernatural clichés ofThe Covenant,Stan came in full force as the movie’s charming yet calculating villain, Chase Collins. Amid a fever dream movie where fans have heart eyes for Caleb and the rest of the coven, Chase appears as the unassuming new student in search of a new group of friends. Looking back at the movie, he’s exactly the type of villain fans would now be able to spot from a mile away. After all, the main characters suddenly begin experiencing an intense level of magic none of them is responsible for, and the death of a student coincides with Chase’s arrival.

Sebastian Stan Is Great in 'The Apprentice' and 'A Different Man,' But Bucky Barnes Is Still One of His Best Roles

The Oscar-nominated actor has been evolving with the MCU for over a decade.

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By Jacob Slankard

Jan 31, 2025

Despite the obviousness,Stan delivered his character perfectly packaged with a campy and compelling edge. Chase could have easily been a one-dimensional, flat, and cliché bad guy, but Stan gave him a layer of subtle menace and charm that made him more compelling than the script probably deserved. He embodied the character’s double persona between his fabricated lies to get close to Caleb and the coven as the sweet new guy, and being incredibly calculating and amoral. Behind Stan’s swoon-worthy smile inThe Covenant, there’s a dark, smug confidence behind his character that sells it without overdoing it.It’s attractive and intimidating, but exactly what fans wanted in swooning over the villain when they really shouldn’t.The movie isn’t known for its stellar writing, with various aspects of the storyline poorly explained and executed. But Stan gave his character a level of realism with a slight campiness that makes him more reminiscent of a Bond villain. It’s the kind of performance that makes you think, “Wait… is this actually kinda good?” before a CGI explosion reminds you, no, no it’s not. Buthe is.

‘The Covenant’ Is a Fun, Cheesy Relic of the Twilight Era of Movies

Despite its low ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, cringeworthy dialogue, and poorly executed fight scenes,The Covenant is an enjoyable dose of nostalgia. It’s far from a cinematic masterpiece, but it delivers exactlywhat fans of the 2000s supernatural teen dramas wanted: moody aesthetic, magical powers, angsty friendships, and attractive actors brooding in dimly lit hallways. While leaning into the clichés, Stan's performance gives a jolt of energy with chilling charisma and controlled menace. It’s an early example of his acting prowess before taking on even more villainous roles likea cannibal killer inFresh or his Oscar-nominated turn asDonald Trump.The Covenant isn’t good because it's well-made. It’s good because it knows exactly what it's doing during the era it was released: pure escapism into the supernatural world of amoody small town where everyone is uncovering dark secrets and wielding magical powers, all while being pristinely attractive and ripped.