Summary

Thunderbolts*brings together Bucky Barnes, Yelena Belova, John Walker, Ghost, the Red Guardian, and Valentina Allegra de Fontaine as the first MCU villain team-up movie. Fans saw Fontaine pop up throughout the MCU films and series to put this team together, but are still in the dark about her true intentions. This team closely resembles Marvel Comics' Dark Avengers, but only time will tell if this is the direction the MCU is taking them.

While the asterisk after the title is still a mystery, exclusive footage was shown during theSDCC 2024Marvel panel at Hall H that has fans reeling. Lewis Pullman and Geraldine Viswanathan have officially joined the cast as Bob and Mel, respectively, but certainly there is more to their roles than that. It is heavily suspected thatPullman will play Sentry, whose real name is Bob, and that Viswanathan will portray Melissa Gold, also known as Songbird. Viewers will find out the truth whenThunderbolts*comes to theaters on June 08, 2025.

A blurred image of the cast from Thunderbolts* (2025) behind an image of the official title card

Kevin Feige Still Hasn’t Explained The Asterisk In The Thunderbolts* Title

In 2024, Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts was retitled as Thunderbolts*, yet Kevin Feige still did not explain the mysterious asterisk at SDCC 2024.

Screen Rantspoke with theThunderbolts*cast and director on the press line following Marvel’s Hall H panel. The cast detailshow this team differs from the Avengers, while director Jake Schreier talks about bringing all these talented people together for one film.

First Thunderbolts* promo image featuring Valentina, Ghost, Red Guardian, Yelena, Bucky, US Agent, and Taskmaster

Wyatt Russell, Sebastian Stan & David Harbour Say Thunderbolts Are “Not The Good Guys”

Screen Rant: I’m very excited about this team-up. How does it compare to the Avengers, and what’s the dynamic difference?

David Harbour: We are not the good guys. We are not capable like Captain America or responsible. We don’t show up on time, things like that. Punctuality is not our strong suit.

Sebastian Stan: Impulsivity is!

Wyatt Russell: And reactivity.

David Harbour: The ability to get things done is; bending the rules is. We’re a completely new species of hero, I would say. We don’t exist yet in the MCU. I think we’re a new evolution of something. I don’t know if it’s good or bad, but it’s unique.

Source:Screen Rant Plus

Julia Louis Dreyfus, Geraldine Viswanathan & Lewis Pullman Call Thunderbolts The Underdogs

Screen Rant: How would you say the Thunderbolts team differs from the Avengers?

Julia Louis-Dreyfus: The Thunderbolts are a gritty group of underdogs. Like, super-duper underdogs. And that’s one difference right there.

Lewis Pullman: That is the real difference there. You think this is the bottom of underdogs, but there’s a whole basement below, and that’s where the Thunderbolts reside.

Jake Schreier & Hannah John-Kamen Tease Ghost’s Role In Thunderbolts*

Screen Rant: When you first played Ghost, did you think you’d be coming back?

Hannah John-Kamen: Do you know what? Actually, when I first played Ghost, I remember the ending we didn’t get for a little bit. So, I didn’t even know what was going to happen with Ghost at the end. But then when we finally shot the end, and the end was the end, I was like, “Okay, so she’s here. She’s not gone anywhere.”

I mean, I’m so lucky. How lucky am I to come back in this movie with my fellow actors, characters who I admire, adore, and am inspired by? And with this incredible director. Yeah, I’m so lucky.

Screen Rant: What’s it like being able to have such an iconic, amazing group of people from different films all put together?

Jake Shreier: I mean, just the cast! Forget the other films [and look at] all of their abilities. To have a cast like that? You never get that. If you get that once in your career, you’d be extraordinarily lucky.

I felt that way every day, and it was just great to watch them be so excited to put a new spin on all of their characters and not just function on autopilot with what they were, but know that [they’re] in a new story and a story that’s supposed to stand on its own. They get to create something new along with that character and add new sides to it.

Every day I would just watch it and be like, “Yeah, that’s magic.” And none of this works without what they do. Of all of the special effects, and we did a lot of practical stuff, the biggest effect is what they can do with their faces and their emotion and what they bring to it.

About Thunderbolts*

Thunderbolts is a superhero movie based on the comic team of the same name. The movie acts as a part of the MCU’s fifth phase of films. The film sees the likes of Bucky Barnes, Yelena Belova, John Walker, the Red Guardian, and more as an unlikely group of heroes and villains brought together to fight for good.