Thunderbolts will hit theaters on July 26th, 2024, just a couple of months after Captain America: New World Order. The two big MCU movies will conclude Marvel’s Phase 5 of adventures, with Thunderbolts set to deliver an anti-Avengers team of heroes. That’s certainly an unusual crossover compared to what we’ve seen so far. And a new series of Thunderbolts spoilers should stir up even more excitement for the movie.
Beware that significant spoilers might follow below, assuming that the rumors are accurate.
Before we look at the new Thunderbolts claims, you should know we’re covering two types of spoilers.
Some come from David Harbour’s press tour for his holiday movie Violent Night. The Stranger Things star plays Red Guardian in the MCU. After Black Widow, we’ll see him next in Thunderbolts. Harbour’s spoilers are teasers, considering he obviously knows what happens in the crossover.
Then we have new MCU rumors about New World Order. If those Captain America 4 details are accurate, they’ll significantly impact the Thunderbolts movie.
Thunderbolts will drop a “bomb” on the MCU
Harbour talked to io9 about his holiday movie, and that’s where he offered teasers about Thunderbolts. The actor said that he did not read the script, but he was told “the arc of the movie and how it functions…and it’s super cool. The idea is really cool.”
The actor knows better than to drop actual Thunderbolts spoilers. But he did talk about the Thunderbolts team of misfits and anti-heroes. He also teased what will happen in the crossover.
Harbour noted that the film will be “funny. It’ll be weird, it’ll be action. And then we’re also going to drop a bomb, which is cool.”
The Thunderbolts are the MCU’s “losers” – will Yelena lead them?
“I’ve loved Wyatt [Russell], and Sebastian [Stan] and Julia [Louis-Dreyfus]’s characters throughout the universe,” Harbour continued in his interview with io9, teasing the new Black Widow’s importance in the story.
“What [director Jake Schreier] wants to do with Florence [Pugh] ‘s character is very interesting, and how I factor into how we develop our relationship is very interesting. And then when you see what Jake and Eric Pearson is trying to fashion, it’s really clever…So you have this movie that’s, you know, kind of ragtag.”
Harbour reiterated some of these claims in an interview with ComicBook. He said the film is unique and repeated the “bomb” teaser/spoiler for the Thunderbolts ending, which also concludes Phase 5.
Speaking of the actual Thunderbolts team, Harbour further analyzed the group of superheroes that will be part of the team.
“We’re… like, losers, which I like,” he said. “We’re like, you know, the losers. And I think it’s fun to watch us just mess everything up. I think that’s the spectrum. I think it’s very funny, but there’s also a lot of pathos in that.”
“There’s a lot of drama in a bunch of people that just keep getting their lives wrong and, because of character flaws, keep messing things up,” Harbour continued. “And nobody gives them the respect that they do to Captain America and Iron Man, very capable people. So there’s a lot to draw on there. There’s a lot of movie there that’ll be fun.”
The most exciting Thunderbolts spoiler
There’s no denying that Harbour’s repeated teasers that Thunderbolts will drop a massive bomb on the universe are exciting. While we have no idea what that “bomb” might be, we have separate rumors about the MCU movie that precedes Thunderbolts. And they might be huge spoilers for the crossover.
Marvel insider Daniel Richtman posted on his Patreon a description of Thunderbolt Ross/Red Hulk for the Captain America 4 movie:
The former Lieutenant General of the United States Army and Secretary of State, now President of the United States. Using radiation siphoned transformed Ross into the Red Hulk.
If this New World Order spoiler is accurate, we might see Harrison Ford become the Red Hulk in Captain America 4. That means the Thunderbolts could work with Red Hulk, which would be amazing. It’s all the more amazing that Thunderbolt Ross will be the president of the US during the events.
There is one big twist, assuming the spoiler is real. We have no idea how these two movies fall on the MCU timeline. We’d assume that Captain America 4 and Thunderbolts happen chronologically. Or simultaneously. And that they follow the events in Wakanda Forever. But that’s just speculation.
On the same note, another Marvel insider reinforces these MCU and Thunderbolts spoilers — that Ford will be in the movie.
Grace Randolph said on YouTube that Marvel’s deal with Ford spans through Avengers: Secret Wars. As a reminder, Avengers 6 comes out in May 2026.
Moreover, according to Randolph, Marvel wants to use Thunderbolt Ross/Red Hulk as much as possible. If that’s accurate, then we’ll probably see him in Thunderbolts.
Finally, we’ll note that President Ross would certainly be in a position where he’d form a Thunderbolts team of misfits, with ruthless Val (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) doing all the recruiting.
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