Wyatt Russell Reveals Thunderbolts Is Breaking The Marvel Mold
Wyatt Russell recently sat down with his father, Kurt Russell, to talk about several of the younger actors’ upcoming projects, including Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts. According to The Hollywood Reporter the Russells met at 92NY to discuss their new Apple TV+ series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters when Wyatt was asked about Thunderbolts. Despite having not started filming yet, Russell is confident that the project will be a worthy one.
Wyatt Russell Is Confident Thunderbolts Will Turn Things Around For Marvel
I have confidence it’s gonna be good,” Wyatt said when asked about the upcoming MCU film by moderator Josh Horowitz. This is in spite of the movie’s start date being delayed, in Russell’s words, “about 14 times,” and the fact that the actor has yet to read a finished version of the Thunderbolts script.“I know everybody is sort of on this Marvel train right now of things not going so well,” the actor continued, addressing the public’s current lack of enthusiasm for MCU projects. Wyatt countered by bringing up the amazing Thunderbolts cast that includes Florence Pugh as the new Black Widow Yelena Belova, as well as David Harbour as the Red Guardian, and Sebastian Stan’s Winter Soldier, AKA Bucky Barnes. While a star-studded cast alone isn’t enough to ensure a Marvel movie will be a hit, it certainly doesn’t hurt.
Not A Straightforward Marvel Movie
Wyatt went on to talk up Thunderbolts director Jake Schreier specifically. “I know Jake so well, and I know how smart Jake is and how much he cares about making something interesting and different and utilizing everyone’s talents to the best of their ability.” Russell gushed about his director friend. Wyatt added that he knows part of the movie’s story and that while he can’t discuss it, fans should rest assured that Thunderbolts won’t be “a straightforward Marvel movie.”The 37-year-old actor told the moderator and his father that the movie would still be “fun” but that he hopes Marvel fans will watch Thunderbolts and say, “Oh, OK, this is a little different, let’s go hard at it.” Russell also stated that now that the strikes were over, it was time to “go to work a little bit” and that he was going to work hard to make “a good Marvel movie” and not “take things for granted.”
Who Are The Thunderbolts?
The Thunderbolts concept was already something different when Marvel first introduced the team in 1997’s The Incredible Hulk #449. The original idea behind the Thunderbolts was a team of semi-reformed supervillains posing as a superhero team. Originally led by Baron Zemo disguised as fake superhero Citizen V, the Thunderbolts consisted of B and C-tier villains like Goliath and the Beetle with new “Superhero” names and identities.
How The MCU Version Differs
Eventually, the comic version of the Thunderbolts would try to become actual heroes with varying results. Meanwhile, the MCU version seems to be a mixture of “villains” like Wyatt Russell’s USAgent, Ghost from Antman and the Wasp, and Black Widow‘s Taskmaster and “kinda” heroes/black Ops agents like Black Widow and the Winter Soldier.
Harrison Ford as General Thaddeus Ross
Thunderbolts will also act as Harrison Ford’s introduction to the MCU as General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross taking over from the late William Hurt. It’s rumored that Ross, who becomes the Red Hulk in the comics—a Red version of the Incredible Hulk that burns hotter the angrier he gets—will also make the transformation in the MCU. Whether or not that will be in Thunderbolts or something else, remains to be seen, but the idea of Harrison Ford going all “Hulk smash!” is enough to get some fans interested in the movie for that alone.
Thunderbolts is currently scheduled for a July 25, 2025 release but as with all Marvel projects lately, expect that date to change.
