Thunderbolts* is a movie that is many years in the making, while, at the same time, it seemingly comes out of nowhere. Sebastian Stan’s Bucky (who began his Marvel journey 14 years ago) and Florence Pugh’s Yelena, are front and center in this superhero movie, but this promotion was not necessarily a path that many fans expected the MCU to take. Given the final product, audiences everywhere should be cheering that Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios decided to assemble this unlikely group of questionable heroes.
This is Stan’s ninth film as Bucky and he also previously starred in his titular Disney Plus show The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. That is where he more openly made amends for his past, and his newfound heroics started to be more in the public spotlight.
His most recent attendance, before Thunderbolts*, was visiting his one-time partner Sam in Captain America: Brave New World. During their discussion, we learned of his political intentions. He is a congressman at the start of Thunderbolts*, representing Brooklyn. Of course, both Bucky and Steve Rogers are from Brooklyn and the borough has been mentioned several times in earlier content.
Florence Pugh has not been around as long as Stan, but she is quickly becoming one of the most valuable Avenger players. She did fascinating work in Black Widow and stole several scenes in the Hawkeye Disney+ series. The Black Widow post-credits spot established her relationship with Valentina.
That film also presents Natasha and Yelena’s induction into the Red Room as they were removed from their undercover family. Several Thunderbolts* flashbacks illustrate the horrors that Yelena went through as a child assassin-in-training. Throughout Thunderbolts*, she mournfully alludes to Natasha’s death, which occurred during Avengers: Endgame in continuity, even though Black Widow was released a few years later.
In Black Widow, Yelena reunites with her father, Russian super soldier Red Guardian. Together with Natasha, they take down the Red Room before going their separate ways. David Harbour reprises his role in Thunderbolts* to help his daughter in her current predicament. Out of all the teammates, he is most overtly expressive in his desire to be a part of a collection of heroes.
When Yelena and her father work together to save lives in Manhattan, there are obvious similarities to the Avengers teaming up during the Chitauri invasion. A great nod in Thunderbolts* is when Red Guardian gives Yelena a big toss just like Steve Rogers did for Natasha in The Avengers.
Olga Kurylenko’s Taskmaster also had a significant role in Black Widow. Natasha gives her the mind-control antidote during that film’s climax. Even with Taskmaster free to chart her own path, she still ends up in the world of shady clandestine operations, between the conclusion of that story at the start of Thunderbolts*.
The same goes for Hannah John-Kamen’s Ghost, who has only appeared in Ant-Man and the Wasp, before Thunderbolts*. It seems that sometime after rectifying her villainy in that narrative, she also finds employment with Valentina.
Unlike the others, Wyatt Russell had not previously acted in an MCU movie, but his John Walker was a big part of the Falcon and the Winter Soldier limited series. He competed with Sam Wilson for the Captain America shield and was ultimately molded into U.S. Agent by Valentina.
The Thunderbolts* script gives Walker a turn to utter a famous Captain America phrase. First spoken by Steve Rogers in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and then by Sam Wilson in Avengers: Endgame, Walker calls out “on your left” when slamming his shield into the sonic device as an incineration clock ticks down.
The one “superhero” who makes his debut in the film is Sentry – Bob volunteered for a highly experimental procedure that granted him the power of 1,000 suns. The character does not directly link to preceding MCU content, however, there is an inherent juxtaposition between Sentry’s superhero origin and others that gained their abilities through scientific serums.
Val’s assistant, Mel (could she be Songbird from the Thunderbolts comics?), points out the differences between someone as unstable as Bob receiving a super serum versus someone as qualified as Steve Rogers. This echoes the sentiment described by Erskine in Captain America: The First Avenger. Valentina disregards reason for the chance to control her own personal “god”.
Thunderbolts* marks Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ fourth excursion into this Marvel Universe. Valentina was more of a mysterious puppet master in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Black Widow. It wasn’t until she showed up in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever that her position as the CIA director was disclosed.
Beyond her personal time spent in the franchise, Valentina happens to reference other MCU moments. In Thunderbolts*, she takes over Avengers Tower and renames it the Watchtower. The giant “A” from the Avengers sign now sits in the lobby during an event where Valentina showcases artifacts from the Battle of New York, circa the original Avengers feature.
She pours a drink behind Iron Man’s former bar, while noting all the monumental battles that have taken place there. This mirrors Tony Stark making a drink while speaking with Loki in the first Avengers. In both cases, their casual conversation is used to stall their adversaries since a suit-less Tony is defenseless against the God of Mischief, just like Valentina herself cannot stand against the Thunderbolts without her Golden Guardian.
Valentina’s attempt at becoming an unimpeachable decision-maker for the country comes on the heels of the president turning into a big red monster. She refers to this event, from Brave New World, as a justification for some of her political moves. Valentina also claims that the Avengers are not available to save the day the way they used to. The obvious contradiction to her manipulative assertion is that Captain America was able to stop Red Hulk.
At the end of Thunderbolts*, Valentina saves face and avoids prison by publicly announcing this team that helped many innocent people as the New Avengers. This clearly diverges from President Ross’s plans for Sam Wilson to lead an alternate Avengers unit.
And this very dichotomy is discussed in the post-credits’ stinger, with Bucky revealing that a meeting with Captain America about the topic did not go well. So, it seems that we may have separate Avenger collaborations, along with the Fantastic Four, operating in Avengers: Doomsday.