The Winter Soldier Is Coming

Sebastian Stan, Captain America's best buddy and erstwhile nemesis, will be in Austin for Wizard World this September (Image courtesy of Wizard World)

Good news, everyone! Blaine from Hot Tub Time Machine … nah, we're kidding. Everyone knows Sebastian Stan is most famous as Bucky Barnes, aka the Winter Soldier, the brooding, formerly brainwashed superspy from the Captain America franchise. And he's just been announced as a headline guest at Wizard World Austin 2016.

The local excursion of the travelling pop culture smorgasbord is back for its sixth year, and brings with it the expected mixture of comic artists, voice-over performers (Naruto reunion, anyone?), and genre icons (William Shatner, and not only Bruce Campbell, but the cast of Ash vs Evil Dead).

But with Stan returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe this summer for Captain America: Civil War, his addition to the lineup is big news. Expect a lot more announcements to come in the next few months.

Adding the star of one of this year's tentpole movies is the only way Wizard World Austin is getting bigger. After a few years cutting its run time to two days (due to constantly over-booked Austin Convention Center just not having enough space), it's moved earlier in the year from October to September, and it's back up to its regular three days. Bad news: Stan will only be there Saturday and Sunday, but there will still be plenty to do Friday, and as always the Chronicle will be there through all of it.

Wizard World Austin runs Sept. 23-25 at the Austin Convention Center. Visit www.wizardworld.com for more details.