Thunderbolts Leader Isn’t Who You Think It Is
Bucky Barnes will be the leader of the Thunderbolts team.
Bucky Barnes will be the de facto leader of the Thunderbolts. The revelation was made by Marvel Studios President, Kevin Feige who talked about the 2024 movie in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “They are barely heroes. None of them would consider themselves heroes,” he said about the team of reformed villains.
“When your de facto leader is Bucky Barnes, that’s sort of all you need to know,” Feige added. The Thunderbolts cast was revealed during Marvel’s D23 Expo in 2022. Along with Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, it also includes Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent, Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster, David Harbour’s Red Guardian, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine.
Hannah John-Kamen was also supposed to reprise her role as Ghost from Ant-Man & the Wasp. However, Giant Freakin Robot exclusively learned that she has been removed from the Thunderbolts cast. Harrison Ford will also appear in the movie, reprising his role as Thaddeus/Thunderbolt Ross from Captain America: New World Order.
Kevin Feige credited the star-studded Thunderbolts line-up to the casting director, Sarah Finn. She has done an incredible job of finding actors to personify everyone’s favorite heroes and villains across the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. From established Marvel stars like Florence Pugh and Sebastian Stan, to relative newcomers like Wyatt Russell, it will be interesting to see how the story builds around them.
Sebastian Stan made his MCU debut as Steve Rogers’ childhood friend, Bucky Barnes in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger. After suffering a nearly fatal fall, he was brainwashed and turned into a super soldier by Hydra. After regaining his memories in Captain America: Civil War, the character went through a redemption story arc and was last seen in The Falcon and the Winter Solider.
Thunderbolts will mark the actor’s tenth time playing Bucky Barnes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The actor recently talked about the upcoming movie and shared his excitement about working with Harrison Ford. Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, the 40-year-old said the inclusion of the legendary star is probably the movie itself.
Although he hasn’t seen the Thunderbolts script yet, Stan said production is due to begin this summer. Explaining that things are still building up, the Fresh star says it will be a lot of fun. “I’m really excited about it. There’s a lot of great people that I haven’t worked with before, and some returning as well,” he told the publication.
As part of Marvel’s fifth phase, Thunderbolts is set to premiere on July 26, 2024. According to CBR, Jake Schreier (Paper Towns fame) will direct from a screenplay by Eric Pearson. The movie is based on the titular Marvel team of antiheroes created by Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley in 1997.
Thunderbolts will serve as the unofficial sequel to Black Widow, which was also written by Eric Pearson. The news was confirmed by Marvel Studios executive Andy Park in an Instagram post. “It’s like all these movies are connected or something!” he wrote alongside a wraparound cover Black Widow illustration.
