Thunderbolts is coming to theaters soon – and this is what we know so far.
When it comes to superhero teams in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there are several that I always think of off the top of my head. Obviously, we have the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, or even the Fantastic Four – the latter of which is set to get a new film adaptation in 2025.
But now, Marvel is spicing things up a bit and introducing the first ever antihero team into the MCU with its upcoming Marvel movies, and those are the Thunderbolts. The new movie, which is a part of an upcoming Marvel phase, is set to feature interesting characters that we are going to see team up. But when is this film going to come out? And who is going to star? Here is what you should know about Thunderbolts.
What Is The Thunderbolts Release Date?
As of February 2024, Thunderbolts has a release date of July 25, 2025.
Originally, Thunderbolts was set to come out in 2024 as part of Phase 5 of the MCU, but Disney (who owns Marvel) announced in June 2023 that several of their titles have been pushed back, including Thunderbolts. Then, it was set to release in December 2023, but was again pushed back because of the Writer’s Strike in 2023.
It’s a shame it won’t be on any 2024 movie release schedule, but at least we have 2025 to look forward to.
The Movie Will Star Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, And More
If you were wondering exactly who is going to star in Thunderbolts, look no further than right here. Announced at the 2022 D23 Expo, Kevin Feige brought the main cast to the stage to share exactly who is going to be a part of the lineup of antiheroes for Thunderbolts.
Florence Pugh Yelena Belova
Florence Pugh originally played Yelena in Black Widow, but also had a recurring guest role in Hawkeye.
Sebastian Stan as the Winter Soldier
Sebastian Stan last played the Winter Soldier – a.k.a. Bucky Barnes – in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier in 2021.
David Harbour as the Red Guardian
David Harbour played the Red Guardian in Black Widow alongside Florence Pugh.
Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster
Olga Kurylenko also appeared for the first time in Black Widow, alongside Pugh and Harbour, as the main villain, Taskmaster.
Wyatt Russell as US Agent
Wyatt Russell made waves as US Agent in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier cast, as it was debut in the role.
Hanna John Kamen as Ghost
Ghost first appeared in Ant-Man and the Wasp, and this will be her first time coming back to the MCU since her 2014 appearance.
Also included in the line-up is the wonderful Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, who we saw in both The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Black Widow.
Talk about a stacked cast. Feige spoke about the bunch at the D23 reveal in 2022, via Entertainment Weekly, saying that all of the characters have their own issues and it’s going to be a wild ride to watch this film with all of these anti-heroes coming together:
It tells you a lot about the team when beloved Winter Soldier is the most stable among them.
There have been some other announcements in regards to casting. Confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter, it was announced that Harrison Ford has signed on for both Captain America 4 and Thunderbolts to play General Ross, as the actor from before, William Hurt, sadly passed away. Also confirmed to appear is Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
Steven Yeun And Ayo Edibiri Are No Longer Connected To Thunderbolts
Actor Steven Yeun, mainly known for his role in The Walking Dead cast, his starring role in Beef, as well as films like Minari and Nope, signed on for the movie, but in January 2024, Deadline reported that the actor had dropped out of the film due to production times being pushed back due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. .
Another star that was initially confirmed for Thunderbolts was Ayo Edebiri, known for her role in The Bear, but Deadline reported in late January 2024 that the actress dropped out of the movie simply for scheduling reasons.
However, it does seem that the roles have been filled. Edebiri’s role has been replaced by Gerladine Viswanthan, known for her role in Miracle Workers. Deadline also reported in January 2024 that Lewis Pullman is in early talks to replace Yeun’s role. So hopefully, we won’t have any more casting shakeups.
Plot Details Are Scarce, But Will Revolve Around ‘Villains’ Getting Sent Out On Missions By The Government
Thunderbolts is still more than a year away, meaning that plot details for the film are quite scarce, as is tradition with many Marvel films. However, according to Deadline, it’s been confirmed that the general story of Thunderbolts is about the antihero team being given assignments by the government, and it’s their job to fulfill them.
Is it vague as heck? Yeah, but what can you really expect from the studio that somehow tried to keep the reveal that all three versions of Spider-Man would reunite in the fan-favorite, Spider-Man: No Way Home? They really try to keep their plots on the down-low.
Wyatt Russell (US Agent) has talked about the upcoming movie, though, and in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in November 2023, he said that the film is different and not as “straightforward” as other Marvel movies:
The story that I think they’ve come up with is really interesting — I know parts of the story and how the story works, I can’t talk about it. But it’s not a straightforward Marvel movie as you’ve seen in the past. I think that it’s gonna be a lot of fun but I think it will be something that hopefully Marvel fans will look at and go, ‘Oh OK, this is a little different, let’s go hard at it.’ And as far as how we are approaching it, it’s time to go to work a little bit, it’s time to make a good Marvel movie, so let’s do that and work hard at it and don’t take things for granted.
This just makes me want 2025 even more.
The Movie Will Be Directed By Jake Schreier
Another piece of info that was announced at the D23 Expo in 2022 was that Jake Schreier is the director of Thunderbolts.
While Schreier has never worked on any Marvel projects before, he’s done plenty of work in the industry, and has directed films such as Paper Towns and Robot & Frank, with plenty of work in television, too – such as Beef, the critically acclaimed television show on Netflix, and other shows as well like Minx, The Premise, Kidding and more.
The Script Was Re-Written By Lee Sung Jin
The script for Thunderbolts was re-written by Lee Sung Jin, according to Variety from an interview they did with him in March 2023. Originally, Eric Pearson, who wrote Black Widow, was the only one connected to the screenplay, but it was confirmed in March 2023 that Jin had joined on to rewrite the script.
Lee Sung Jin also worked on Beef in 2023, which won several Primetime Emmy awards, so I have full faith that this movie is going to be great. David Harbour even talked about the script in August 2023 on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, and said that it was “really great,” and that a highlight was his relationship with Yelena, which is “satisfying in a real emotional way.”
Filming Will Begin In Early 2024
It feels like we’ve been waiting years to hear some sort of news about filming for Thunderbolts, but Variety confirmed in an interview with Sebastian Stan in January 2024 that filming would begin “basically in a month or so.”
Stan was asked about going back to filming and playing Bucky Barnes once more, and that he was “excited” to get started:
I’m excited. I’m going to go back basically in a month or so. I’ve missed it. It’s a great cast…the batting average is so high that it’s difficult to always land everything right away. It’s always been a great experience. With this one in particular, I think there’s a lot of good things.
Originally, according to Deadline, filming for Thunderbolts was expected to begin once the WGA Writers Strike came to an end.
The strike ended in September 2023, followed by the SAG-AFTRA strike finishing up in November 2023, so now, we just need to wait for updates on filming when it officially begins.
Thunderbolts may be a while away, but at the very least, we’ll have time to theorize and see what happens now, as other Marvel movies and shows come out beforehand. I’m eager to hear more about this team as time goes on.
