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Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, and More Will Return in Marvel’s “Thunderbolts”
Getty/ The Walt Disney Company / Image Group LA
At the D23 Expo on Sept. 10, Marvel Studious President Kevin Feige announced that Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will kick off in February 2023 with the release of “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.” The film will be followed by movies like “The Marvels” and “Captain America 4,” as well as series like “Echo” and “Ironheart.” Finally, after a year and a half of new projects, Phase Five will conclude in July 2024 with the highly anticipated “Thunderbolts” film, which will feature so many Marvel characters you already know and love that are antiheroes. That’s right. The Thunderbolts are very different than the Avengers, and you can think of them as being similar to DC’s Suicide Squad.
So, who’s part of the epic Thunderbolts lineup, and what will bring them together? We’re here to answer all your questions.
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What Is Marvel's "Thunderbolts" About?
Details about the “Thunderbolts” film are still being kept under wraps. It was previously reported that the movie would center around “a group of villains who are sent on missions commissioned by the government.” However, since the lineup was announced at D23 Expo, we now know the Thunderbolts are made up of a mix of villains and antiheroes.
Getty/ The Walt Disney Company / Image Group LA
Marvel's "Thunderbolts" Cast
The “Thunderbolts” cast alone is reason enough to want to watch the film. The team consists of Yelena Belova (“Don’t Worry Darling“‘s Florence Pugh), who, like her sister Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, was trained to be an assassin and spy. Also returning is Yelena’s adoptive father, Alexei Shostakov/the Red Guardian (“Stranger Things“‘s David Harbour), who is a Russian super soldier, and “Black Widow” villain Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster (“Quantum of Solace”‘s Olga Kurylenko), who was trained to be an assassin by her father, General Dreykov.
The “Thunderbolts” lineup also includes Bucky Barnes/the Winter Soldier (“Avengers: Endgame“‘s Sebastian Stan), who fought alongside Captain America in World War II before he was brainwashed into becoming an assassin. Since breaking free from his brainwashing, Bucky has been trying to make up for his crimes, as seen in “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.” The series introduced new characters like Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine (“Seinfeld”‘s Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and US Army veteran John Walker/US Agent (“Overlord”‘s Wyatt Russell), both of whom will return in “Thunderbolts.”
Rounding out the team is Ava Starr/Ghost (“Game of Thrones“‘s Hannah John-Kamen), a villain seen in “Ant-Man and the Wasp” who has the power to phase through objects.
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How Is Marvel's "Thunderbolts" Team Different Than the Comics?
The Thunderbolts team that will be featured in the movie is slightly different than the one in the comics. First of all, Baron Zemo (Daniel Brühl), a villain who appears in “Captain America: Civil War” and “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” is the leader of the Thunderbolts in the comics. He recruits six criminals called the Masters of Evil to build his team, but they later turn on him. Brühl has yet to be announced as part of the “Thunderbolts” cast, so it’s unclear whether the movie version of the team will have him as a leader. Since there are still two years left until the film premieres, it’s possible Brühl’s casting will be announced closer to its release date.
In the comics, the Thunderbolts lineup also constantly changes. For example, iterations of the team have included Hawkeye, Black Widow, Ant-Man, Rhino, Venom, Deadpool, and more.
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Marvel's "Thunderbolts" Release Date
Considering Phase Five of the MCU hasn’t even begun yet, it’ll be a while until we finally get to watch “Thunderbolts.”
The film is set to release on July 26, 2024. This puts it in between two other major movies: “Captain America: New World Order,” which will premiere on May 3, 2024, and “Fantastic Four,” which will premiere on Nov. 8, 2024.