The MCU has quite a few anti-heroes to offer now, but what is missing is a group of anti-heroes who only unleash their true power when coming together to stand up to true evil. Much like DC's Suicide Squad - but that's exactly what Marvel is now planning to show in cinemas in 2025: We're talking about the "Thunderbolts". This group is made up of several characters, all of whom we have already seen in one Marvel production or another. Their joint film will conclude Phase 5 of the MCU - which means it's likely not that insignificant for the franchise. At this year's San Diego ComicCon, we got some new updates on the movie. So, to keep you up to date, we have put together all the latest information about the cast, production and plot in this article!

Cast

The cast around the Thunderbolts is mostly familiar and includes some well-known names. But new actors are also joining the MCU with this movie.

The Thunderbolts

First, let's take a closer look at the aforementioned Thunderbolts: The group is led by Allegra de Fontaine, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. We are already acquainted with her from "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier". In the 2020 series, there were already early references to the Thunderbolts, as de Fontaine tried to recruit people with special abilities.

In the final episode, she also recruits the second member of the group, John Walker, played by Wyatt Russell, later also known as the US agent. The character has had a rather tragic part so far: Walker was originally supposed to take over the legacy of Steve Rogers. Unfortunately, his ego usually gets in his own way, so Sam Wilson aka Falcon ended up taking over the role of Captain America. Nevertheless, Walker has similar powers to Rogers, although not yet as fully developed.

He is not the only character associated with the former Captain America who will play a role in the Thunderbolts: Cap's best friend Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier, is also involved. He will once again be played by Sebastian Stan. How Walker and Bucky will work together is yet to be seen. After all, the two fought each other in "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier". Moreover, Bucky is known to be more of a loner than a team player. He is a gifted duelist, especially thanks to his mechanical arm, which has already posed a threat to Captain America!

A Black Widow will also join the group, namely Natasha's sister Yelena Belova. We last saw Yelena in "Hawkeye", where she wanted to take revenge on Clint Barton as she blames him for Natasha's death. Her powers are comparable to those of her sister. Yelena is once again played by British actress Florence Pugh.

Her foster father Alexei Shostakov aka Red Guardian is part of the team as well - so we can also look forward to a fair amount of humor. The Red Guardian is primarily known for his strength, which, like Bucky, he also received from the HYDRA Super Soldier program - whether he will fit better into his suit again since the film "Black Widow" remains to be seen, though. The Red Guardian will yet again be played by "Stranger Things" star David Harbour.

Alongside Yelena and the Red Guardian, another character from "Black Widow" has made it to the Thunderbolts. While she was still an antagonist in the 2021 movie, she is now one of their allies: We're talking about Taskmaster. Her real name is Antonia Dreykov. She is the daughter of the Russian general who controls the Red Room, also known as the Black Widow program. He has brainwashed his own daughter and modified her so that her only task is to eliminate enemies. An implanted microchip helps her to do so. It allows her to mimic all of her opponents' movements, turning her into a super soldier. Taskmaster is again played by Ukrainian model and action film star Olga Kurylenko.

The last member to be added is Ghost, who we already know from "Ant-Man and the Wasp". Ghost, whose real name is Ava Starr, got her superpower in an accident: when an experiment on the Quantum Realm failed, her parents died before her eyes. Ava survived, though, and was dematerialized. From now on, she can move through objects at will and become invisible. She is once again played by Hannah John-Kamen.

As far as General Ross is concerned, the role has been recast, since the previous actor William Hurt sadly passed away in 2022. As in "Captain America: Brave New World", his role will be played by none other than Harrison Ford. Whether he will also be playing his other role, the Red Hulk, remains to be seen!

This is the Thunderbolts' Opponent

Meanwhile, it is already known who the Thunderbolts will be facing. The antagonist will be Robert Reynolds, better known as Sentry. Reynolds is considered one of the strongest superheroes in the comics. He also gets the Super Soldier Serum, albeit a revised and much stronger one than Captain America. As a result, he has a multitude of incredible powers, is incredibly strong, can change his appearance, but also has psychic powers and can even rise from the dead! This means he can easily take on fighters such as the Hulk, Thor or Carnage.

However, he does have a very unstable psyche, which is why he usually tends to avoid trouble or not fight at full strength, as he can then no longer control his powers. He's actually one of the good guys, but has a second personality called "The Void". With two personalities inhabiting his mind, Reynolds is naturally an incredibly conflicted man with a serious drinking and drugs problem. Not only does this make Reynolds a villain, but also a potential superhero.

Originally, "The Walking Dead" star Steven Yeun was supposed to play the role. He was officially cast in 2023, but had to leave the project after the delays caused by the actors' and writers' strike in the US, as he had already agreed to other roles. However, he does hope to get a role in the MCU at some point, as he is an avid Marvel fan.

So Lewis Pullman, Bill Pullman's son, was later cast in the role. Pullman was last seen in the series "Lessons in Chemistry" and in "Top Gun: Maverick". Robert Reynolds' father will also be involved. However, we don't know what the relationship with his son is like yet. He will also be played by a former "Walking Dead" actor, namely Joshua Mikel. However, it would of course also be interesting to replace him with Pullman's father.

Further Roles

Another role was to be played by Ayo Edebiri. The American actress most recently had a speaking part in "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse". She also plays a leading role in the series "The Bear", with its third season having just started on Disney+. However, like Yeun, she had to give up the role due to the strikes and the resulting filming delays.

In her place, Geraldine Viswanathan, who last appeared in "Drive-Away Dolls", has been cast. She is to play the role of the mysterious Mel. We don't know who she is exactly yet. There is already much discussion on the web as to whether Mel is Melissa Gold. Melissa Gold aka Songbird was created by Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchio and was one of the founding members of the original Thunderbolts. After a long career of crime and villainy, she now uses her supersonic powers to her advantage and is known for her striking white and black suit and hair with long pink strands. Her origin is linked to both Roxxon and the Power Broker, two beings that fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe know very well. At one point, she was even the romantic interest of Baron Zemo. Whether it really turns out that way remains to be seen. But she would definitely be another interesting character.

Plot

Unfortunately, nothing is currently known about the plot. In the trailer shown at Comic Con in early August, we could see Yelena searching for the Red Guardian to convince him to join her. The entire team is still wandering around aimlessly at the beginning of the trailer and probably also at the beginning of the movie. In the trailer, the new Black Widow clashes with the U.S. Agent, for example, but the group does join forces later on. When they are sent on a mission together, they quickly realize that it is a suicide mission.

More details were sadly not shown in the trailer. It remains unclear when exactly we will see Robert Reynolds aka Sentry for the first time. We will surely find out more about the plot as soon as we can see the full trailer properly. As always, we'll be the first to let you know when that is.

Production

"Thunderbolts" is directed by Jake Schreier, who first attracted attention with the critically acclaimed film "Robot & Frank" in 2012. Three years later, he enjoyed great success with the book adaptation "Paper Towns". The screenplay for "Thunderbolts" is written by two authors: Eric Pearson, who previously worked on the MCU productions "Thor: Ragnarok" and "Black Widow", and Lee Sung Jin, who was most recently behind the Netflix series "Beef". Sung Jin expressed his enthusiasm for the new collaboration with Jake Schreier, who also directed "Beef". So we can look forward to a well-coordinated team.

At this year's San Diego Comic-Con, it was revealed that the title "Thunderbolts" will include an asterisk. However, Marvel boss Kevin Feige held back on details, telling fans that they would understand the reason once the movie hits theaters. He did make one thing clear, though: the "Thunderbolts" are not named after Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, as some fans had speculated. A common theory on the forums is that the "Thunderbolts" team could change their name at the end of the movie, possibly in reference to the notorious "Dark Avengers" storyline from the comics.

Filming has now been concluded and the movie is in post-production. This was supposed to have been finished at an earlier date, but was also slowed down by the actors' strike. Originally scheduled for release in July 2024, the new release date for "Thunderbolts" is now May 2, 2025.