Thunderbolts* will reportedly feature the appearance of an unexpected villain

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has earned a bit of fame for creating memorable superheroes with profound arcs while leaving the villains on the sidelines.

Sure, Thanos, Loki, The Vulture, and The Kingpin are a few exceptions (though audiences witnessed the origin of the latter in a Netflix series instead of a Disney project). However, more often than not, the antagonists act as a one-and-done with no major arc or character development in sight.

It's very uncommon to see the same villain across multiple projects, but there have been a handful of exceptions to that rule across the years. Now, it seems like we'll see one of those lucky few even sooner than originally expected.

Baron Zemo will reportedly appear in Thunderbolts*

According to insider HolyField News, Zemo will make a surprise appearance in Thunderbolts*. While the supervillain isn't officially confirmed to be a part of the movie, fans worldwide have theorized for a long time that he could make a cameo. After all, he was the one to create the antihero group in comic book pages and acted as its original leader. Sure, creative liberties are always taken when adapting any story on the big screen, but paying a little homage to the man who started it all — even if he isn't a main character — wouldn't hurt either.

It's worth remembering that Baron Zemo is still alive and well in the MCU. After the events of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Bucky turned the supervillain over to the Dora Milaje, who would later see that he'd be put behind bars at The Raft. The maximum security prison was recently seen on Captain America: Brave New World where it gathered a new inmate in the form of Red Hulk himself — who's also rumored to appear in an upcoming MCU project. With that in mind, the two supervillains are just one breakout away from being set on the loose and wreaking havoc once again.

In pursuit of finding out the truth behind these rumors, Yahoo! News asked actor Daniel Brühl whether Zemo could make a cameo in Thunderbolts*. But while he didn't confirm that would be the case, he didn't deny it either. Instead, he just swiftly dodged the question:

Granted, this is the MCU we're talking about. Unless you're Tom Holland, nothing can be given away ahead of a project's release. However, there have been multiple instances where actors deny their involvement in an upcoming movie to keep expectations in check. As an example, Chris Evans recently confirmed he wouldn't come back for Avengers: Doomsday even when it was reported otherwise. So we have to ask: What's stopping Daniel from doing the same, if not trying to not give a possible appearance away?

It's very likely that the MCU still has plans in store for Baron Zemo. Otherwise, chances are he would've already joined the list of supervillains who have permanently bitten the dust after one or two appearances. But since he's still alive and wasn't a special guest in Captain America: Brave New World, the next logical place where he could make a comeback would be during Thunderbolts*. So it seems all the pieces are set for Zemo to get his revenge on Bucky Barnes for indirectly putting him behind bars. And who knows? Maybe he'll get to use the Compound X this time around to slow down his aging as it happened on comic book pages.

Only time will tell if Zemo does make an appearance sooner rather than later. However, one thing is for certain: If he does come back, then he has a very tough task in front of him as The Void could be the deadliest MCU villain audiences have seen to date.

Thunderbolts* will be released on May 2, 2025.