Marvel's newest team, the Thunderbolts, got its first look at San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday via a silent casting call during Marvel's panel, which nonetheless revealed some clues.
The entire cast joined Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige on the Hall H stage, including David Harbour, who dressed as the Red Guardian, and exclaimed, “Oh my God, you guys aren't in costume? You guys! You guys! I sent this email! We all said we were going to dress up because this is Comic-Con!” before going to change.
While information about the film has been kept to a minimum, some highlights include:
*Feggi stated that the name is not related to Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross.
*Julia Louis-Dreyfus said of her character: “Valentina is looking for power and control, and I would say that in general she wants to be the best in the Marvel Universe.”
*Wyatt Russell joked about his controversial character John Walker, “Everyone's going to love me! It's really fun to be with a bunch of actors that you have a good time with.”
After connecting with the cast, a preview clip was shown that showed some of the big stunts promised during the panel, including a fight scene between Russell Walker and Pugh's Yelena and action shots of the rest of the cast.
Thunderbolts is scheduled to be released on May 5, 2025, as the final film in Phase 5.
“Thunderbolts” is based on the comic book series of the same name by Kurt Busiek. It follows a team of mostly reformed supervillains who carry out covert operations on behalf of the United States government. The group is very similar to the DC Universe’s “Suicide Squad,” a group of villains who work for a shady organization to get prison sentences commuted or face gruesome deaths. However, Marvel’s version is PG-13 (unlike James Gunn’s hard R-rated 2021 film “Suicide Squad”) and is led by Sebastian Stan’s Winter Soldier, a reformed villain turned fan-favorite hero.
In addition to Stan, the “Thunderbolts” cast includes “Black Widow” cast members Florence Pugh, Harbour and Olga Kurylenko — who play Yelena Belova, Alexei Shostakov/Red Ranger and Taskmaster. They are joined by Hannah John-Kamen (Ghost from “Ant-Man and the Wasp”), Russell (John Walker from “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”) and Louis-Dreyfus, as mastermind Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. “Top Gun: Maverick” star Lewis Pullman plays the powerful superhero Sentry. Geraldine Viswanathan and Harrison Ford, as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross from “Captain America: Brave New World,” round out the cast.
Jake Schreier (“Paper Towns,” “Robot and Frank”) is directing the film from a screenplay by “Beef” writer Lee Sung-jin and Joanna Calo.
Watch the trailer here.
