The Marvel Thunderbolts is a team of powerful characters who have appeared in all sorts of rumors and reports surrounding Black Widow and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. But we never got a proper introduction to the Thunderbolts initiative. However, the two projects do have one common character, since they both involved recruiting personnel.
Whatever the case, and before we drop any MCU Phase 4 spoilers, we have a new story that claims Marvel’s Thunderbolts has a director: Jake Schreier.
Marvel’s Thunderbolts movie
According to Deadline, Schreier will direct while Eric Pearson pens the script for the “top-secret Thunderbolts movie.”
Insiders revealed that Schreier’s presentation for Thunderbolts “blew away execs” and landed him the job. Marvel’s search for a Thunderbolts director largely flew under the radar, as the world is more interested in Marvel’s other search.
The studio is still looking for a director for Fantastic Four, one of the most highly anticipated MCU reboots following Disney’s Fox acquisition.
The report further notes that the Thunderbolts movie will start filming next summer. But the plot is unclear, and we have no idea who will star in Marvel’s new crossover team. Marvel has reportedly been in touch with certain individuals who are already part of the MCU, so they keep their schedules open for next summer.
Unlike the Avengers, the Thunderbolts are villains in the MCU. The government will recruit them for various missions. If this sounds familiar, that’s because we saw something similar in the DCEU. Warner had to make two Suicide Squad films to get one of them right.
Who are the Thunderbolts?
The Thunderbolts will be the equivalent of the Suicide Squad. But, hopefully, Marvel won’t need two movies to get fans on board.
General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (William Hurt) should have been the man who leads the Thunderbolts, but Hurt passed away recently. It’s unclear whether Marvel will recast the role for the Thunderbolts movie. Deadline says a deal with any actor is yet to close.
But we’ve already seen someone enlisting villainous talent for some sort of a team. That’s Contessa Val (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), who appeared in both Black Widow and Falcon.
She recruited Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) in Black Widow, sending her to kill Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner). We know Pugh agreed, but she did not eliminate her target in Hawkeye.
Val also enlisted US Agent (Wyatt Russell) after he was disgraced. Of course, we haven’t yet seen him after The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
Marvel’s Thunderbolts team might include various other characters from the MCU. Baron Zemo (Daniel Bruhl), Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and The Abomination (Tim Roth) make sense as potential Thunderbolts.
Then there’s Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan). He might be an Avenger following the events of Infinity War, Endgame, and especially Falcon. But he could be a member of the Thunderbolts team as well.
All of this is speculation, however. There may be plenty of former and future MCU antiheroes ready to join the Thunderbolts. The only thing that seems clear at this time for Marvel’s Thunderbolts is the name of the director.
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