In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Sebastian Stan goes by many different names. His friends call him “Bucky Barnes,” his enemies call him “The Winter Soldier,” and Tony Stark calls him “Manchurian Candidate.” And now we can add one more name to that illustrious list, thanks to this enlightening and endearing interview with Chris Evans and Stan. While doing press for Captain America: Civil War in China, Evans learned that Stan is known to Chinese fans as…”Chubby Dumpling,” a delightful nickname we learned of through Jill Pantozzi of The Nerdy Bird. Like most of you out there — myself included — it blows Evans’ mind, and just goes to show why fans love seeing these two together both on-screen and off.
(Please note: there’s a Civil War spoiler at 0:43, and the Chubby Dumpling talk starts around 1:10)
My favorite part is that Stan is already well aware of this delightful om-nom-nomenclature whereas Evans is caught completely off-guard. It may seem like a weird nickname to you given that Stan has pretty well-defined, sharp features — something that doesn’t necessarily evoke images of delicious meat treats. However, for the sake of comparison, let’s take a look at some particularly plump Xiao Long Bao pork dumplings.
Photo via Flickr user avlxyz
Now look back at Sebastian Stan. His face kind of has that heart-like shape…almost like a dumpling flipped upside-down.
Photo via Disney/Marvel
But you might be asking, “where does the chubby part come in?” It’s all in the angles, dear reader, like when you accidentally open your front-facing camera on your phone and you’re horrified by what you behold. Case in point:
Photo via Disney/Marvel
Actually, you know what? We need to see those dumplings again.
Photo via K-UNIT/Wikimedia Commons
Man alive, it’s getting harder and harder to tell which one is which. In fact, this is all I can see now:
What do you think, Bucky?
Our thoughts exactly. By imperial decree, James Buchanan Barnes shall henceforth be known as Chubby Dumpling forevermore.
What do you think of this nickname? What other ridiculous nicknames do you have for the MCU cast? Let us know in the comments below.
Dan Casey is the senior editor of Nerdist and the author of books about Star Wars and the Avengers. Follow him on Twitter (@Osteoferocious).
