Thunderbolts* is Marvel’s next big MCU movie of the year, and now that Captain America: Brave New World is out in theaters, the Thunderbolts* press tour is in full force. I can’t blame Marvel for promoting the film, considering the reception Captain America 4 got, but also the big stakes of this Avengers-like crossover.
I already explained why Thunderbolts* is the most exciting MCU release for me this year. The potential of that asterisk in the title makes me want to watch this crossover so much. Even if the rumors and theories don’t pan out about this team, I’m still excited to see these not-superheroes form a not-Avengers team to fight a big bad guy. Well, Bob (Lewis Pullman) isn’t always bad, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.
Marvel’s newest Thunderbolts* teaser makes me want to watch this film even more. I didn’t think that was possible. That’s because the one-minute clip provides what could be a giant plot spoiler, one I didn’t necessarily see coming.
Before I can talk about Bob again, I’ll have to tell you that massive Thunderbolts* spoilers might follow below. Do not proceed if you want to be surprised.
The one-minute teaser that Marvel subtitles as Absolute Cinema is meant to give us an idea of the amount of talent working on Thunderbolts*. Marvel lists them in the clip and in the YouTube description as follows:
From the stars of MIDSOMMAR, A DIFFERENT MAN, & YOU HURT MY FEELINGS
The writers & director of BEEF
The cinematographer of THE GREEN KNIGHT
The production designer of HEREDITARY
The editor of MINARI
The composers of EEAAO
comes Marvel Studios’ THUNDERBOLTS*
in cinemas May 2nd
It’s great to see all these accomplished professionals come to work on a superhero movie. The implication here is that Marvel has really done it. The studio knows fans have been criticizing the MCU since Endgame, and Marvel is fixing the MCU quality by hiring top talent across the board.
It’s not just the actors you should be excited about but also the people behind the camera that make the movie possible.
All of that is exciting, yes, but it’s not what caught my attention. The one-minute clip mostly reshuffles scenes we saw before in previous Thunderbolts* clips. But it also features new footage, like Bob showing his powers for the first time. He breaks a glass from across the room, which is kind of scary. That’s what you’d expect from the likes of Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch).
Of course, we know Bob becomes The Sentry and The Void. The two superpowered characters reside in the same body because Bob has mental problems. One is a hero, and the other is a villain. We saw at least one of them in the Thunderbolts* Super Bowl trailer.
But seeing Bob test his powers isn’t the shocker in the trailer, either. It’s something else.
We hear Val (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) say something like, “The Avengers are not coming. Who will keep people safe?” That’s a rhetorical question that Val probably asks during a hearing in the movie, but Marvel answers it in the teaser by displaying the names of Thunderbolts team members.
Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Red Guardian (David Harbour), US Agent (Wyatt Russell), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Bob (emphasis mine), and The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan). They are going to keep people safe.
Yes, there’s no mention of Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), which is in line with Marvel’s most recent trailer. Like others, I believeI’m that Taskmaster might be sacrificed early on, though I hope it’s only a Marvel trick. What’s clearly more important is that Bob is listed as one of the six Thunderbolts.
Could Bob, as The Sentry, become a Thunderbolt? And by that, I mean a New Avengers member? And if so, how will he fight The Void when this personality comes out?
Like I said, I can’t wait to see Thunderbolts*, and it would be incredible to see Bob make the Thunderbolts/New Avengers team. Because, yes, with someone like Bob on the team, you could very well refer to the Thunderbolts as the New Avengers. That’s where I was getting to. Rumors say the asterisk in the film’s title is the trick that will allow Marvel to rename this team to something that has Avengers in it.
