Marvel’s Thunderbolts was one of the major blockbuster films affected by the writers' and actors' strikes that ended back on Sept. 27 and Nov. 9, 2023, respectively.
Thunderbolts was initially supposed to begin earlier this year, in June, but of course, that couldn't happen. Well, we have good news about the upcoming movie! Wyatt Russell, who is reprising his role as John Walker a.k.a. US Agent, confirmed that filming is expected to be underway in spring 2024, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
Last year, it was announced that the director of Thunderbolts would be Jake Schreier. Eric Pearson was reported to be penning the film’s script that same month. Lee Sung Jin, the creator of the Netflix series Beef, was then announced in March 2023 to be co-writing the script. Kevin Feige is the producer, David J. Grant is the co-producer, and Brian Chapek and Matthew Jenkins are credited as executive producers.
Joining the cast alongside Russell is Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster, and Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost.
In addition to the principal cast, Steven Yeun is set to make his debut within the MCU as Robert Reynolds a.k.a. The Sentry, Harrison Ford will reprise his role as General Thaddeus Ross, set to appear in Captain America: Brave New World, and Ayo Edebiri has been cast in an undisclosed role.
As usual, Marvel is keeping their cards extremely close to their chest. While plot details for Thunderbolts are kept under wraps, it’s safe to assume the aforesaid group attempts to navigate a world where they are not exactly heroes, but are not villains either. Each character will have their agenda whilst carrying out their assigned objectives.
Now, this is where this writer enters speculative territory: Due to Thunderbolts being part of Phase Six of the MCU following Fantastic Four, and being a direct follow-up to The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Black Widow, and Brave New World, this will pay off certain plot points established during the post-credits scenes of TFATWS and Black Widow which is the arc of Louis-Dreyfus’ de Fontaine.
At some point in the movie, there will be a conflict between two factions of the Thunderbolts. Those sympathetic towards de Fontaine’s operations and those against them, The Sentry — a result of a subprogram (Project Rebirth) designed to recreate the experiment Dr. Banner attempted but to create a Captain Marvel instead of a Hulk — may serve as the secondary antagonist. Whereas, the central antagonist is the enemy from within.
Thunderbolts is set to hit cinemas on July 25, 2025.