The Thunderbolts trailer is lying to you about who the villain really is

It's time to meet a new brand of Marvel heroes. No, we're not talking about the next generation of the Avengers, nor are we referring to the imminent arrival of the X-Men in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We are, of course, talking about the Thunderbolts.

Marvel's new team of outcasts and misfits will come together on the big screen next year, and it features quite the star-studded cast of actors and characters. Leading the charge is Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova and Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes; two of the most popular and beloved supporting characters in the MCU today. They are joined by returning figures, such as Hannah John-Kamen's Ghost, Olga Kurylenko's Taskmaster, Wyatt Russell's US Agent, and David Harbour's Red Guardian. They will also cross paths with Sentry, played by Lewis Pullman.

After being screened exclusively for the audience at Disney's D23 event in August, the first teaser trailer for Thunderbolts* has been released. It's an action-packed movie by the looks of things, but the trailer also hints at some surprising villains, convincing us that one character has returned to their darker ways when all is not what it seems.

The return of the Winter Soldier?

One thing that becomes increasingly clear right from the off in the Thunderbolts* trailer is that Bucky Barnes is not a part of the original line-up of the team. Oh yes, he appears in the trailer early on, shown in a courtroom when Yelena laments over how empty she - and a number of other MCU characters, it seems - feels, but he doesn't end up in the original scenario in which the team is formed.

He does end up chasing the team in the closing moments of the trailer, but there's something very Terminator-esque about the whole sequence. As John Walker notices that it is indeed Bucky tailing them on a motorcycle, he exclaims "Is that Bucky?". It's a nod to 2014's Captain America: The Winter Soldier in which Captain America/Steve Rogers wonders the same thing after unmasking the Winter Soldier.

This is all very intentional in order to make us think that Bucky Barnes has returned to his old Winter Soldier ways. For decades, he was a brainwashed operative who carried out Hydra's bidding before Steve managed to break the hold they had over him. Even when he subsequently found out that he could still be reprogrammed, Steve took him to Wakanda where Shuri and T'Challa helped him overcome the brainwashing once and for all.

After aiding The Avengers in saving half of the universe in defeating Thanos, Bucky was pardoned by the government and allowed to return to civilization. He even returned to heroics to help Sam Wilson become the next Captain America and stop the Flag-Smashers.

So, no, Bucky Barnes is not the Winter Soldier again, and he has not returned to his villainous ways. The reason that he is in pursuit of the Thunderbolts is likely down to the fact that he's doing what he thinks is right to aid the government again.

But, in the end, he will likely figure out that he's chasing the wrong people.

The real villain is hiding in plain sight

If you've watched the trailer, you will likely notice that Bucky does indeed align himself with the Thunderbolts as the team confronts Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. They put on a united front, which has Valentina calling them "adorable", but they don't look too amused.

Here's the thing, out of context this scene would look pretty standard for a superhero movie. Who's to say that the team didn't just suit up and gather before Valentina for their first mission, hence the remarkable comment? But we already know that this isn't the first time they cross paths, as the trailer very much suggests that the team's first run-in is in the bunker they end up trapped in, while Bucky's first interaction with them comes from trying to destroy their getaway vehicle.

With all of that in mind, it's likely that Bucky is employed to stop the Thunderbolts because a government organization deems them a threat. What he probably doesn't know is that he would be handing them over to the real threat, who plans on executing them.

Who is that real villain? We're going to guess that it's none other than Valentina herself. The character has been something of a wild card, assembling a team of operatives that she can use for her own means, but the trailer implies that they have run out of use to her, and thus are no longer worth keeping around.

As the Thunderbolts are continually compared to DC's Suicide Squad, could Valentina be about to go all Amanda Waller and attempt to terminate her own operatives so that the secrets of what they have done would die with them? It's possible, and that will likely be why the team decides to fight back, relying on the help of Bucky to do so.

Thunderbolts* is released in movie theaters on May 2, 2025.