Thunderbolts Will End Phase 5 Of The Marvel Cinematic Universe [Comic-Con]
San Diego Comic-Con is swinging like Spider-Man, and Marvel Studios is on stage, giving us all the goodies on what's coming for the rest of Phase 4 and the upcoming Phase 5! If you can't keep up, it's all good, friends! Our /Film team is in Hall H, listening to the news and taking furious notes. We've got you!
Though we knew a "Thunderbolts" movie was on the way, according to the trades, it was officially confirmed today by Marvel Studios. Jack Schreier ("Robot & Frank") will direct the film with a screenplay by Eric Pearson ("Black Widow"). If you aren't familiar with that particular superhero team up, here's the deal. The Thunderbolts first appeared in 1997's "Incredible Hulk" #449 (created by Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley) and are a shifting group of not-so-heroic super people or (kind of) reformed supervillains who go on extra dangerous missions. If this makes you think of DC's Suicide Squad, it's a similar idea.
It's the end of ... the fifth era
Some of the team members that might be a part of the Thunderbolts include Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell), Baron Zemo (Daniel Bruhl), Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), Abomination (Tim Roth), and maybe even Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), though that one seems a little less likely to me. Val (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) has been directly corresponding with some of these characters here and there (Yelena and U.S. Agent, specifically), so it's possible that she could be heading up the group. She has been described as an evil version of Nick Fury, so don't be surprised if she has a significant role to play in this story. And hey, who knows — maybe we could even get Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) in the mix as well, since he's part of the MCU now.
The big news, beyond a confirmation direct from Marvel, is where "Thunderbolts" fits into the MCU timeline. It was explained that this film will be the one to end Phase 5. The release date for the film is July 26, 2024. That still allows plenty of time over the rest of Phase 4 and all of Phase 5 for this group's team members to reveal themselves.
We'll keep you updated with any new information as it comes in.