The Thunderbolts are coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). A Thunderbolts film was confirmed back in June of this year, with Jake Schreier set to direct. Meanwhile, at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, Thunderbolts got an official release date of July 26, 2024. It will actually be closing out the MCU’s Phase 5, with Phase 6 set to then begin in November 2024 with Fantastic Four. So far, no other details have been confirmed in relation to the film’s cast, crew, or plot.
However, fans have already begun to speculate on who could be in this new supervillain/anti-hero team. In fact, fans have speculated that Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is already secretly forming the team in the MCU. This mysterious lady, who was a double agent in the comics known as Madam Hydra, has certainly expressed an interest in individuals who lean more towards anti-heroism, than heroism.
So far, Valentina has approached both John Walker (Wyatt Russell) and Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), indicating she had big future plans for them. Russell has denied Thunderbolts casting rumors and no other actors/actresses have responded yet. As the project draws closer, here’s everything you need to know about Marvel’s Thunderbolts team.
Marvel’s Thunderbolts origins
In the comics, the Thunderbolts are a team of supervillains or anti-heroes that were first created by Baron Zemo. The very first iteration of the Thunderbolts was actually Zemo’s supervillain team, Masters of Evil, disguised as heroes. Zemo had created the Masters of Evil, a team of a dozen supervillains, to take down the Avengers. However, his plans changed when all of Earth’s mightiest heroes were believed killed by Onslaught. As a result, Zemo had the idea to replace the Avengers and Fantastic Four with his own superhero team.
His team wasn’t comprised of heroes, though. Instead, he rebranded the Masters of Evil as the Thunderbolts and had the villains masquerade as heroes. In hopes of gaining access to S.H.I.E.L.D. intel, the villains all assumed new identities. Zemo became Citizen V, Screaming Mimi became Songbird, Goliath became Atlas, and Moonstone became Meteorite. The Thunderbolts then began making grand displays of heroism to receive praise and attention from Earth’s citizens.
However, things started to sour when Zemo became frustrated that some of the team was actually genuinely beginning to show heroic traits. He was further infuriated by not getting the intelligence he wanted. When the Avengers and Fantastic Four ended up returning, Zemo came up with a plan to out his own team’s identity and blackmail them in an attempt to gain their loyalty. His team turned against him and a battle broke out, with the Avengers and Fantastic Four eventually helping the Thunderbolts defeat Zemo. Afterward, the Thunderbolts were to be taken into custody, now that the ruse was over, but mysteriously disappeared instead.
The Thunderbolts live on
The Thunderbolts became fugitives after their identities were blown. However, they sought to redeem themselves and struck it out as independent heroes. They especially sought to take down the new Masters of Evil that had replaced them. Still, they were badly in need of leadership when Hawkeye unexpectedly found them. He agreed to secretly lead them (as part of a deal made with the Commission on Superhuman Activities that could potentially pardon them). Hawkeye had actually lied, though, and hadn’t yet gotten the agreement he needed to lead and pardon the team.
When Hawkeye’s involvement with a team of fugitives was found out, the Avengers decided to give him and his team a chance, especially after they defeated Hydra. Eventually, the Thunderbolts did succeed in being pardoned, but at the cost of Hawkeye being imprisoned for his crimes. The team was then disbanded and absorbed temporarily into the Redeemers. Later, Hawkeye escaped from prison and reformed the team, adding new members Carinal, Gypsy Moth, Man-Killer, and Cyclone. and Zemo took over the Thunderbolts again, before being badly burned and vowing revenge on them.
Thunderbolt iterations through the years
After this period, the Thunderbolts would be reformed many times over, often boasting a new leader and new members (with new intentions). Abner Jenkins (a.k.a. The Beetle), was the next leader to take over the Thunderbolts and welcomed to the team Photon, Speed Demon, Joystick, Blizzard, and the Radioactive Man. However, Zemo never quite left the team alone and would, again, join as their leader. Later, Norman Osborn would take over the team. During this time, prominent members such as Swordsman, Taskmaster, Bullseye, and Venom joined in the fun.
Meanwhile, Luke Cage, The Winter Soldier, and Wilson Fisk would all, at times, debut their own Thunderbolts iteration. Depending on who was the leader, each Thunderbolts team often varied in how good or how evil they were. As of today, the most recent comic book iteration of the Thunderbolts was formed by Luke Cage and has Hawkeye as leader along with members Spectrum, America Chavez, Power Man, and Persuasion.
Thunderbolts in the MCU
Needless to say, the Thunderbolts are a very flexible team that has had many iterations over the years. It is impossible to say which route the MCU will go and which leader they will choose. However, the flexibility means that nearly any MCU character could potentially show up in the film. It also means that they could be a very villainous team, or they could be more like the MCU’s version of the Suicide Squad. For now, it remains to be seen what exactly the MCU will do with the Thunderbolts’ rich and complicated history.
(featured image: Marvel Comics)
