Preview:
- The first teaser for ‘Thunderbolts*’ is online.
- Sebastian Stan and Florence Pugh are leading the cast.
- The Marvel team-up movie will be in theaters on May 2nd next year.
After a quiet (yet hugely successful) 2024 with just ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ heading into theaters, 2025 promises to be a three-Marvel release year on the big screen, with ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ leading the charge in February and the much-anticipated ‘Fantastic Four: First Steps’ in July.
Squeezed in between is something that promises a little of both; the geo-politics of Cap and the team bonding of the Four. Yet ‘Thunderbolts*’ (we’re still waiting to learn what the apostrophe in the title means) is shaping up to be very different, gathering as it does a squad of characters who are either viewed as antagonists (or were at one point or another) and at the very least aren’t totally in the hero mold of some who have come before.
And from the looks of the first full teaser, which forefronts the likes of Florence Pugh and Sebastian Stan, it also will be a funny, raucous ride.
Related Article: Lewis Pullman Reportedly in Talks to Play ‘Thunderbolts’ Sentry
Just who are the Thunderbolts?
(L to R) Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour), and Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) in Marvel Studios' 'Thunderbolts*'. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2024 Marvel.
It isn’t an exact match, but the simple way of explaining the Thunderbolts is that they’re Marvel’s version of 'The Suicide Squad': a group of villains –– or at least anti-heroes –– brought together by third-party schemers in a possibly ill-advised attempt to turn them into a force for good.
In Marvel’s case, they were originally assembled by Baron Zemo and the Masters Of Evil and have sometimes been linked to Hulk regular General Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross (hence the name). They made their debut in the pages of ‘The Incredible Hulk’ in 1996, introduced by writer and artist team Peter David and Mike Deodato. They continued to their own series the same year, created by Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley, and have been brought back with a bunch of alternative line-ups in comics ever since.
Who is in the Thunderbolts movie so far?
(L to R) Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), and John Walker (Wyatt Russell) in Marvel Studios' 'Thunderbolts*'. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2024 Marvel.
We know (most of) the characters who will be showing up, since they were announced way back in 2022 at Disney’s D23 event: Bucky Barnes (formerly The Winter Soldier), played by Stan, is a key figure alongside Pugh’s Yelena Belova, Olga Kurylenko’s Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster and David Harbour’s Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, those three having been introduced in ‘Black Widow’.
Then there’s John Walker, AKA US Agent, played by Wyatt Russell and first seen in ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ and Hannah John-Kamen’s Ava Starr, the phasing character known as Ghost, who debuted in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’.
Lewis Pullman has the role of “Bob” –– no, not a weird crossover with his ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ character –– but instead short for Robert Reynolds, the troubled Marvel hero also known as “Sentry,” though it remains to be seen how his introduction and powers will be handled in the MCU.
Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) in Marvel Studios' 'Thunderbolts*'. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2024 Marvel.
As for those overseeing the team, we have Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, AKA Val, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who was also introduced in the ‘Falcon’ series and has since cropped up in the likes of ‘Black Widow’ and ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.’
And ‘Blockers’ Geraldine Viswanathan, is aboard in an unknown role, taking over the part from ‘The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri, who had to depart due to scheduling issues.
Who is making ‘Thunderbolts*’?
Jake Schreier is directing the film based on a script by Eric Pearson and Lee Sung Jin.
When will ‘Thunderbolts*’ be in theaters?
‘Thunderbolts*’ is currently scheduled for release on May 2nd, 2025.
Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) in Marvel Studios' 'Thunderbolts*'. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2024 Marvel.
(L to R) Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) and Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour) in Marvel Studios' 'Thunderbolts*'. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2024 Marvel.
Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) in Marvel Studios' 'Thunderbolts*'. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2024 Marvel.
(L to R) John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and (Lewis Pullman) in Marvel Studios' 'Thunderbolts*'. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2024 Marvel.
(L to R) John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) in Marvel Studios' 'Thunderbolts*'. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2024 Marvel.
Other Movies and TV Shows Featuring ‘Thunderbolts*’ Characters:
- 'The Incredible Hulk' (2008)
- 'Captain America: The First Avenger' (2011)
- 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' (2014)
- 'Captain America: Civil War' (2016)
- 'Ant-Man and the Wasp' (2018)
- 'Avengers: Infinity War' (2018)
- 'Avengers: Endgame' (2019)
- 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' (2021)
- 'Black Widow' (2021)
- 'Hawkeye' (2021)
- 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' (2022)
- 'Captain America: Brave New World' (2025)
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