Marvel Studios has been going though some stuff, and long story short, they have been regrouping in an effort to regain that MCU mojo without depending on the power of Deadpool. Part of that effort will unfold on Disney+ with Daredevil: Born Again, featuring The Punisher, and at the movies with Captain America: Brave New World. Those projects will reintroduce Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal), and Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) to audiences after some time away, and Marvel is also hoping to recapture the ensemble magic that arguably concluded with 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.
That effort will take place in Thunderbolts*, which looks like it could harness the MCU’s best reluctant buddy comedy vibe since both Deadpool & Wolverine and Captain America: Civil War‘s backseat scene. Let’s comb through the clues on what to expect from the meeting of former supervillains.
Cast
Leading the cast (and hailing from an assortment of other Marvel movies/TV shows) are Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova/the new Black Widow, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, Wyatt Russell as John Walker/U.S. Agent, Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr/Ghost, Olga Kurylenko as Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster, and Julia Louis Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (you can “call her ‘Val'”).
New to this live-action game: Lewis Pullman as Robert “Bob” Reynolds/The Sentry.
Plot
An initially threadbare description promised only that “Marvel Studios and a crew of indie veterans who sold out present ‘Thunderbolts*,’ an irreverent team-up featuring depressed assassin Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) alongside the MCU’s least anticipated band of misfits.” On its face, this sounds like the MCU’s version of The Suicide Squad with Valentina in the Amanda Waller-type role, but surely, Marvel Studios wouldn’t pull a DCEU rehash in their comeback phase (the jury remains out until the movie is also out).
An ultra-long trailer (really a 3+ minute D23 Brazil special video) answered plenty of questions, including why the asterisk appears in the film’s title. “We are the THUNDERBOLTS*!” was the cry from Red Guardian, and naturally, neither Bucky nor Yelena nor anybody else in the group was jazzed, so, their real group name is still up for debate. The trailer also (vitally) revealed that Bucky keeps his famous arm clean by running it through dishwasher, and he raced through the desert to both help the ex-villain group escape from their pursuers, but he also sent their vehicle sailing, too.
Since Sebastian Stan has been doing plenty of Globes-related interviews lately (after winning for A Different Man), he has naturally been fielding Thunderbolts* questions. While he is largely sworn to MCU secrecy, Stan did reveal to Deadline that this movie is “it’s own thing” (but “like The Breakfast Club“) and that this film will have very little CGI, especially in the stunt realm:
“I don’t feel you can compare it to any previous Marvel movie, and that’s because of the group of characters in this film and these actors. I couldn’t have had a better time than I did with David Harbour, Florence Pugh, Wyatt Russell, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. I mean, every single one of these people are funny, they’re generous, and so I think a lot of that chemistry did make it into the movie… It’s a little bit like The Breakfast Club. It has its own vibe, and it’s funny, and it’s real, and we did actual real stunts, like when you’re watching a truck blow up, it’s a truck blown up. It’s not CGI.”
The humor does shine through in the trailer, in which Yelena gives John Walker hell for being Captain America “for like two seconds.” Then there’s “Bob,” which is short for Robert Reynolds/The Sentry, a role first occupied by Steven Yeun but picked up by Lewis Pullman. This dangerous dude can wield nearly unlimited power of “a million exploding suns,” and his dark side (the Void) has led Bob down the path of murder, even as the Sentry fights for good. Whether or not Thunderbolts* dives into that character’s Marvel legacy remains a mystery for now because this will already be a jam-packed movie.
Thunderbolts* also unveiled a Sons Of Anarchy-evoking poster:
Release Date
Thunderbolts* will surface in theaters on May 2, 2024.
Trailer
At 3:40, this is more than a mere trailer with sweeping desert vistas and a return to Avengers Tower, courtesy of Valentina’s wallet.
