According to an exclusive by Deadline, Marvel is currently developing a film based on the Thunderbolts, which, for ease, we’ll refer to as Thunderbolts, with Jake Schreier set to direct. The only plot point that’s currently known is that it involved a team of villains who are sent on missions commissioned by the government. It’s also said that Marvel sees this as their version of the Suicide Squad. But who’s joining the team?
In the comics, the original team is introduced in Incredible Hulk Vol 1 #449. The Thunderbolts are created by Baron Zemo as an incarnation of the supervillain team Masters of Evil in order to portray themselves as heroes in order to gain public approval. There have been several versions of the team over the years, led by characters including Wilson Fisk, The Winter Soldier, Norman Osborn, and Hawkeye, who will be leading the current team when the new comic launches in August.
While nothing else has been confirmed, it is likely that the MCU’s Thunderbolts are currently being put together by Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ character Contessa Valentina Allegra De Fontaine. With that said, here’s who might be part of this new team:
Most Likely
U.S. Agent
If Contessa Valentina is in fact the one putting together the Thunderbolts, then one no-brainer is John Walker a.k.a. U.S. Agent, portrayed by Wyatt Russell. In episode five of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, after losing his role as Captain America and being given an other-than-honorable discharge from the military, Walker is recruited by the Contessa. She tells him that taking the super soldier serum has made him “very valuable” to certain people. In episode six, after giving Walker his new suit, she tells him that “things are about to get weird. So when they do, we’re not going to need a Captain America. We’re going to need a U.S. Agent” thus giving him his new moniker. What she meant by “weird” has yet to be revealed but what we do know is that Walker is definitely working for her.
Yelena Belova
What is most likely another no-brainer is Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova. We first see Valentina and Yelena interact in the post-credit scene in Black Widow while Yelena is visiting Natasha Romanoff’s gravesite. Yelena tells Valentina that she’s not supposed to be bothering her on her holiday time, implying that she’s been working with Valentina for some time. When Yelena mentions wanting a raise, Valentina quips back, “you and me both”, which could possibly mean that Valentina is working on behalf of someone else. Valentina then tells her that she has Yelena’s next target, “the man responsible for your sister’s death”, Clint Barton. When we see Yelena next in episode four of Hawkeye, she’s trying to neutralize him. However, throughout the show, there is no mention of Valentina, but instead it’s revealed that Eleanor Bishop was the one who hired her. Could it be possible that Valentina is contracting members of the team to do others’ dirty work?
Abomination
This is where the theories begin. We first met Emil Blonsky, portrayed by Tim Roth, in The Incredible Hulk and after his arrest at the end of the movie, we don’t hear much about him. That is, until he resurfaced in Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings where he’s seen to be cage fighting with Wong.
Blonsky is now set to return in the upcoming Disney+ series She-Hulk: Attorney At Law. While we haven’t seen any footage of him talking to Valentina, it seems likely that he would be on her radar. If the team she’s putting together is mirroring the original six Avengers, with Walker and Belova taking similar roles to Captain America and Black Widow respectively, it would make sense for her to seek out someone similar to the Hulk. Unlike his comic counterpart, as seen in the She-Hulk trailer, Blonsky can transform between human and Abomination which might make him a valuable asset. Blonsky is also a highly trained soldier who once led a special forces unit in an attempt to capture the Hulk. It would not come as a surprise if she recruited him by the end of the series.
Abomination was also a member of the Thunderbolts during the Devil’s Reign comic book storyline, having been recruited by the team’s leader, Mayor Wilson Fisk. Although this storyline was relatively recent, it could be possible that it would influence giving him a spot on the team in the MCU.
Ghost
Although she doesn’t quite fit into the idea of a team 1:1 of the original Avengers, Ava Starr a.k.a. Ghost does fit the profile of someone Valentina may want on her team. The last time she was seen was in Ant-Man and The Wasp, hiding from the police along with Bill Foster. In the film’s post-credit scene, we see Hank Pym, Janet Van Dyne, and Hope Van Dyne send Scott Lang into the quantum realm in order to collect quantum healing particles. The intention was to use them on Ghost to help stabilize her condition. After Scott is sent into the quantum realm, Hank, Janet, and Hope all become victims of Thanos’ snap, leaving him stuck in the quantum realm. But what happened to Ghost?
Without the particles, it seemed likely that she would die. However, that’s not actually the case. Hannah John-Kamen, the actress behind Ghost told Yahoo UK, “All I can say is that Ghost didn’t die.” Even before Ant-Man and The Wasp‘s premiere, she told ScreenRant, “I actually went when I was in Atlanta, went actually bought the Thunderbolts comic books. Um, I mean with any Marvel character, whatever happens to them, you always go the possibility is endless.” In Dark Avengers (2009) #1, Ghost was recruited by Norman Osborn to the Thunderbolts. In Thunderbolts Vol 1 #128, Ghost joins Luke Cage’s Thunderbolts. In Punisher Vol. 12 #13, Ghost is recruited by Zemo to join a new incarnation of the team. So, is it possible that she knew where her character was heading? Even recently, when asked by The Hollywood Reporter how Ava Starr was doing, she responded with “She’s good. She’s very good. I won’t say anything more about her!” While her next appearance may not necessarily be in Thunderbolts, it seems like it could be heading that direction.
Somewhat Likely
Baron Helmut Zemo
While this might seem like a no-brainer to some considering that in the comics Baron Zemo was the original creator of the Thunderbolts, there are some problems with this theory. The largest being that MCU Zemo, portrayed by Daniel Brühl, does not like superpowered humans and has made it his life’s mission to destroy them – or most of them, anyway. It wouldn’t make much sense for him to now be part of a team full of them, especially not John Walker. Of course, this could all be part of some elaborate plan as when it’s revealed in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier that Zemo, despite being locked up in the Raft, was responsible for the deaths of the Flag Smashers. Valentina also makes a point to say “Our friend Zemo”, which could mean nothing or it could mean something. Who knows, right?
Justin Hammer
The last time we saw Sam Rockwell’s Justin Hammer, he was a prisoner at Seagate Penitentiary in the Marvel one-shot All Hail The King. Before then, we watched him as Tony Stark’s adversary in Iron Man 2 before being arrested at the end of the film. But could Hammer be the Iron Man replacement in Thunderbolts? It’s not as unlikely as you may think. Although there have been no official announcements, rumors have been swirling since the announcement of the upcoming Disney+ series Armor Wars that Justin Hammer would finally make his return to the MCU. If this is the case, it could be possible for him to obtain an armored suit at some point during the series. Although his comic counterpart never suits up, a version of the character becomes Titanium Man in the cartoon series Iron Man: Armored Adventures. In LEGO Marvel’s Avengers: Climate Conundrum, Hammer wears the Detroit Steel armor, so him suiting up isn’t completely unheard of.
Thunderbolts being seen as Marvel’s version of Suicide Squad is also interesting, as Sam Rockwell once mentioned in the podcast This Week In Marvel that he would maybe like to return as Justin Hammer and that he liked the concept of Suicide Squad. If this doesn’t sound like the perfect opportunity for him to return, I don’t know what is.
Taskmaster
In Black Widow, after the death of her father and subsequently gaining her freedom, we see Antonia Dreykov a.k.a Taskmaster leave with the other Widows as well as Yelena, Red Guardian, and Melina Vostokoff but this wasn’t always going to be the case. In a deleted scene from the film, Taskmaster, portrayed by Olga Kurylenko, is actually placed onto a stretcher and taken into General Ross’ custody with Natasha Romanoff telling him to, “Take care of her, she’s been through more than all of us.” While the possibilities are endless for why they chose the scene in the film over this one, if General Ross is (or was, considering the actor William Hurt’s death) involved in the formation of the Thunderbolts, they could have been hinting toward her being part of the team.
However, because we also saw her leave with Yelena, who is definitely part of the team, is there a possibility that she could have introduced Taskmaster to Valentina? With the chip implanted in her neck along with the Taskmaster suit, she is able to perfectly replicate anybody’s skillset just by seeing it. This means that she could become any type of fighter they needed her to be.
Wildcards
Bucky Barnes
Bucky Barnes is a hard man to pin down. In the comics, he did lead his own team of Thunderbolts but with the undeniable chemistry between Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes and Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson, is Marvel brave enough to separate the two? When Captain America 4 was announced, it made the most sense that Sebastian Stan would be starring in the film along with Anthony Mackie but could it be possible for them to want to let the character of Bucky Barnes find his own way? It would also be a good way for the new Captain America to shine without having the same best friend as the original Captain America, Steve Rogers.
The fault I find in this is that all of the other possible characters could use a redemption arc, meanwhile, we already saw Bucky Barnes have his in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. While it certainly would be nice to finally see Bucky Barnes in a new environment and interacting with new characters, I’m not completely convinced that Thunderbolts is going to be that place.
Deadpool
In the comics, Deadpool has been part of several teams over the years, including an incarnation of Thunderbolts. He first appears as part of the team under Red Hulk’s direction in Thunderbolts Vol 2 #1. While Ryan Reynolds hasn’t yet officially joined the MCU as Deadpool, it is coming with Deadpool 3. With a solo movie coming, it does seem unlikely that he’ll also be involved with Thunderbolts but he has been a fan-favorite choice for several years.
The Punisher
With The Defenders Saga move to Disney+ and Matt Murdock’s return in Spider-Man: No Way Home, fans feel like it’s only a matter of time before other characters from these shows make their return as well. While there’s been no news, only rumors about Jon Bernthal’s return as Frank Castle a.k.a The Punisher, Thunderbolts could be the place for him. However, it doesn’t seem like the character would do well on a team ran by the government when he so often uses methods not endorsed by the government, but maybe that’s the point. Maybe the point is that the government is using this team to do missions off-the-record by any means necessary. Like Deadpool, The Punisher also joined the Thunderbolts in Thunderbolts Vol 2 #1, but ultimately ended up fighting the team in Punisher vs. The Thunderbolts.
What may also be a problem with The Punisher’s return is that the character and, more notably, the skull logo, have been widely used by police, members of the military, and their supporters as well as being used by far-right groups. This became such an issue that Marvel changed the iconic logo in 2021 in order to separate itself from the controversy. Marvel hasn’t completely stopped using the character in the comics, which bodes well for a potential live-action return.
Who are your choices for Thunderbolts? Is there someone you think we missed? Let us know!
Thunderbolts is set to film Summer 2023 with a likely 2024 premiere. It will stream soon after on Disney+. Check out this introductory video to the Thunderbolts team in the comics below.
