Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars will be massive crossover movies once we approach the end of the Multiverse Saga. But before that, we’ll see the first Thunderbolts movie, another fascinating MCU crossover. Rather than seeing more beloved superheroes, we’ll get a team of misfits, antiheroes, and/or villains who will have to work together for the greater good. And if the Thunderbolts plot leak below is accurate, we might know what one of those conflicts will be.
Mind you, some big spoilers might follow below, assuming the plot leak is accurate.
Who is on the Thunderbolts team?
After years of rumors about the Thunderbolts movie, Marvel finally announced the film. It happened at the D23 Expo, where Marvel revealed some of the team members, as seen in the image above.
From left to right, we have:
- Val (Julia Louis-Dreyfus)
- Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen)
- Red Guardian (David Harbour)
- Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh)
- Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan)
- US Agent (Wyatt Russell)
- Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko)
Of those, only Bucky is an Avenger, so we have no idea how he ends up on this team. Val is probably pulling the strings. We don’t need a Thunderbolts plot leak to tell us that. But, unsurprisingly, the leak does indicate that Val is calling the shots.
Then there’s also Harrison Ford to account for. Thunderbolt Ross himself will undoubtedly appear in a movie where a team gets his name.
Moreover, we’ll point out that the Thunderbolts roster above isn’t complete. Like DCEU’s Suicide Squad, we might have additional members on the team, including characters who are not supposed to survive.
The Thunderbolts plot leak
With that in mind, we’ll proceed to the plot leak with the usual warnings. There’s no guarantee the details are accurate, as the Thunderbolts plot leak originates from 4chan, via Reddit. But, like other MCU leaks, we won’t dismiss it. After all, we’ve seen dozens of Marvel leaks that originate on 4chan turn out to be true.
Weirdly enough, the leak doesn’t mention Thunderbolt Ross. But it does say that Zemo (Daniel Brühl) is an advisor to Val rather than a team member. Like Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) was to Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). Moreover, Melina (Rachel Weisz) will supposedly be the team’s operations chief.
Val is the director of the Department of Damage Control (DODC). This would make perfect sense considering what we have seen so far in the MCU.
Speaking of operations, Scarlett Johansson is an executive producer of the movie. That’s what the Thunderbolts plot leak says. But there’s no mention of a cameo from Nat. After all the drama between Disney and Johansson, this would certainly be a surprise.
The leak also might reveal another unannounced Thunderbolts member. Songbird is said to be on the team, but Marvel has not yet cast the Melissa Gold role. Ella Purnell is supposedly the frontrunner.
Moreover, the film is said to feature a scene where we’ll see a few Thunderbolts candidates rejected by the team. The list includes Kamram (Rish Shah), Titania (Jameela Jamil), and Moon Knight (Oscar Isaac).
A Civil War fight between misfits?
This is where things get interesting. We have no idea why Val (and Ross?) will form the Thunderbolts in a world where the Avengers are so popular. But the plot leak claims there will be a significant conflict within the team.
Yelena will go after Val for lying to her about Nat’s death. Alexei, Bucky, and Taskmaster will take her side against Val. But Ghost, US Agent, and Songbird will side with the Contessa. She gave them purpose, apparently.
The fight between the two factions won’t be as big as Civil War, but it’ll feature “interesting fights.” The plot leak mentions Alexei vs. US Agent as one of the big battles.
As a result of Yelena’s treason, Val supposedly murders Melina. In turn, Yelena will take out Val and disband the team. Removing Val from the picture so early seems unusual for the MCU. But, again, Red Hulk is coming to the MCU soon, with Harrison Ford playing Thunderbolt Ross. Maybe he’ll take up the reins again once Val is out of the picture.
The plot leak also indicates that there’s a scene in the film where US Agent, Ghost, and Songbird will receive a message from a mysterious Citizen V.
Finally, the Thunderbolts leak claims the movie will tease World War Hulk similarly to She-Hulk and Captain America 4. We have yet to see the latter, as New World Order premieres on May 3rd, 2024. That’s just a few months ahead of Thunderbolts, which comes out on July 26th, 2024. We have plenty of time to wait before we see if this plot leak is accurate.
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