There’s a new team coming to the MCU, and no, it’s not the Fantastic Four (although, yes, they’re inbound too). But we’re talking about “Thunderbolts,” which had some light shed on it during Marvel’s Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con this year.
The movie reunites “Black Widow” stars Florence Pugh and David Harbor as Yelena Belova and Red Guardian respectively, and teams them up with a whole slew of Marvel returners, including Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Wyatt Russell, Sebastian Stan, Hannah John-Kamen and Olga Kurylenko, plus newcomer Geraldine Viswanathan (filling the role previously held by “The Bear” star Ayo Edebiri, who had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts caused by Hollywood’s double strike).
For those unfamiliar, in the comics, the Thunderbolts team is similar to DC Comics’ Suicide Squad in that it is a team of villains completing dangerous missions for the government.
In the Comic-Con-exclusive footage, which was soundtracked to “Where Is My Mind” by Pixies, we begin at night, in what looks like an isolated house, where Yelena knocking on the door. Turns out, Red Guardian lives there and he scrambles to dress and appear less disheveled than he obvious is as he lets her in. She’s there to recruit him for reasons unknown. Things transition to Yelena entering some kind of open room, one that looks a lot like The Raft from “Captain America: Civil War,” where Yelena is attacked by Ghost (Hannah John-Karmen) and U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell). They’re interrupted by Lewis Pullman — who idenfies himself only as “Bob.”
We then see via stunt-packed montage that someone is trying to kill them all, which appears to be the reason they team up. There’s a fun hallway fight with Pugh kicking several guy’s asses — and then ruthlessly shooting them. We also see glimpses of the rest of the main cast.
“Eventually you start to realize there are bad guys. And worse guys,” Pugh’s Yelena says in voiceover.
Ahead of the footage reveal, Harbour, Pugh, Russell, Stan and Louis-Dreyfus all took the Hall H stage, with Harbour dressed in full Red Guardian costume. In a bit, he pretended to be angry his costars didn’t get his email about dressing up.
The film’s title does technically include an asterisk — it’s called “Thunderbolts*” — but when pressed as to what the asterisk means, Feige replied, “You’ll have to see the movie.”
Harbour and Pugh previously worked together on “Black Widow,” and the “Stranger Things” actor had high praise for reuniting with the “Midsommar” actress. “I had one of the greatest experiences of my life working on this movie with this group of people, they’re all wonderful but I had a favorite,” he said.
Pugh described the film as “so wonderful and bizarre and very brave.”
“Thunderbolts” was originally slated for release this month, but filming was pushed back due to the strikes. Jake Schreier will direct the film.
“Thunderbolts” is scheduled to hit theaters on July 25, 2025.
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