Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts* has quickly proven to be one of the most surprising movies of 2025. Although expectations for the Marvel Cinematic Universe's unlikely team-up film were high (due to both the caliber of the actors involved and the fan-favorite returnees featured in it), it has received overwhelmingly positive reviews, with some even referring to it as one of the best Marvel movies ever made in the midst of all that acclaim.
The high praise points out its emotional depth, heartfelt performances, and moving storylines, which certainly isn't what most fans were expecting from Marvel's answer to the Suicide Squad. And yet, the Thunderbolts have only gone and surprised us.
But, again, they are Marvel's answer to the Suicide Squad, as somebody shady deemed them expendable enough to take on tall tasks that even the Avengers might struggle with. With that in mind, let's dive into SPOILER territory here and reveal which characters didn't survive their scuffle with The Void.
Taskmaster
If you have been keeping up with all of the Thunderbolts* discussion since the film's first trailer premiered, you probably won't be surprised to learn that Antonia Dreykov, a.k.a. Taskmaster dies pretty early on in the movie. She's a casualty of the team's initial introduction to each other, gunned down by Ghost during the fight so she unfortunately doesn't get the chance to take part in the less-murderous conversation between Valentina's operatives that takes place shortly afterwards.
Fans had predicted Taskmaster's death simply due to the fact that the trailer had very little footage of her to play with, and the one scene that feature her in a different capacity was subsequently replaced with the "real" version (a.k.a. the one without her). They hoped for another outcome but it sadly wasn't to be.
Much like we saw with DC's Suicide Squad (both versions of them), audiences weren't expecting all of the Thunderbolts to make it out of the movie alive, but Antonia's rather abrupt death did seem uncalled for given how important her arc was to Natasha Romanoff's grand finale in Black Widow.
The Void's kills aren't final as the victims return
The Thunderbolts* trailer implied that The Void would do a lot of killing to the good people of New York City, turning them to shadows as he sent them into the dark despair of, well, The Void. However, it turns out that their deaths don't last.
Yelena proved that The Void he placed them in was escapable when she ventured into the shadows herself and confronted her past. It was an emotional moment that also saw her convince Bob - the real Bob - that she was there for him too. It got even more emotional when the other Thunderbolts showed up to rescue both of them. And together, they fought their way out of the darkness and into the light.
With that, all of the victims of The Void in New York City returned from the darkness, having survived after all. The Thunderbolts saved their lives - and their own in the process.
Thunderbolts* is in theaters now.