Thunderbolts*

Thunderbolts* is an upcoming American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics team Thunderbolts. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is intended to be the 36th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film is directed by Jake Schreier from a screenplay by Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo, and stars an ensemble cast featuring Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. In the film, a group of antiheroes are caught in a deadly trap and forced to work together on a dangerous mission.
Marvel Studios began teasing the formation of a Thunderbolts team within the MCU in 2021. The film was revealed to be in development in June 2022, when Schreier and Pearson were attached. The main cast was revealed in September, with additional casting through early 2023. Lee Sung Jin joined to rewrite the script by March 2023, one of several creatives who returned to work with Schreier from the Netflix series Beef (2023–present). Production was delayed due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, causing some cast changes in early 2024. Calo joined by then for further rewrites. Filming took place from February to June 2024 at Trilith Studios and Atlanta Metro Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, and also on location in Utah and Kuala Lumpur.
Thunderbolts* is scheduled to be released in the United States on May 2, 2025, as the final film of Phase Five of the MCU.
A group of antiheroes are caught in a deadly trap by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine and are forced into a dangerous mission that could bring them redemption if they unite as a team.
Additionally, Chris Bauer has been cast in an undisclosed role, while Wendell Edward Pierce portrays a political figure. Laurence Fishburne and Rachel Weisz are expected to reprise their respective MCU roles as Bill Foster and Melina Vostokoff. There are conflicting reports about whether Harrison Ford will reprise his role as Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross from the film Captain America: Brave New World (2025).
During the production of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), director James Gunn expressed interest in making a film based on the Marvel Comics team Thunderbolts, a group of "anti-heroes and super-criminals". Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said this was a possibility based on the success of Guardians of the Galaxy. By May 2021, Gunn was no longer interested in the idea after directing the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film The Suicide Squad (2021), because that team from DC Comics is based on a similar concept to the Thunderbolts. In June 2018, Hannah John-Kamen expressed enthusiasm for reprising her role as Ava Starr / Ghost from the MCU film Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) in a potential Thunderbolts film, considering the comics version of Ghost is a member of the team.
Speculation that a Thunderbolts team would be introduced to the MCU began in mid-2019 following the announcement that Daniel Brühl would appear as Helmut Zemo in the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021), reprising his role from the MCU film Captain America: Civil War (2016). That series introduced Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine and shows her recruiting Wyatt Russell's John Walker / U.S. Agent. De Fontaine is also shown to be working with Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova in the post-credits scene of the MCU film Black Widow (2021). Commentators speculated that she is recruiting a team of villains or antiheroes like the Thunderbolts, and some felt that team could appear in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Executive producer Nate Moore said the Thunderbolts were never considered for the project because they would "cloud the story" and take away from other aspects of the series. Head writer Malcolm Spellman said there was "a lot of chatter" around the team's potential introduction to the MCU and added, "I don't know if fans are crazy or not".
By June 2022, Jake Schreier was attached to direct Thunderbolts, from a screenplay by Eric Pearson, with Feige producing. Schreier was hired after a presentation that "blew away" Marvel Studios executives. At that time, the studio had been in contact with actors to discuss their availability to reprise their roles for the film. Commentators suggested that the team could consist of characters such as Zemo, Belova, U.S. Agent, Ghost, Taskmaster, Abomination, Bucky Barnes, or Clint Barton, with de Fontaine or Zemo leading the team. Deadline Hollywood also suggested that Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross could be recast for the film following original actor William Hurt's death in March 2022, since that character has strong ties to the team in the comics. The film was officially announced in July at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC), with a release date of July 26, 2024. It was set to be the last film in Phase Five of the MCU. Scarlett Johansson, who portrayed Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow in the MCU from 2010 to 2021, is credited as an executive producer.
In early September 2022, Justin Kroll of Deadline Hollywood described the film as a spin-off for Belova because she was expected to lead the antihero team, with Pugh, Russell, and Brühl believed to be reprising their roles. At the D23 Expo the same month, Pugh, Russell, John-Kamen, and Louis-Dreyfus were confirmed to star, alongside Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian, and Olga Kurylenko as Antonia Dreykov / Taskmaster, all reprising their roles from previous MCU projects. Schreier compared the character dynamics to those in the films Reservoir Dogs (1992), Ronin (1998), and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011), which are all about a "mis-matched team forced to work together". He also pointed to a less-likely inspiration in the film Toy Story 3 (2010), saying the Thunderbolts team are all facing obsolescence like the Toy Story characters are in that film. Harbour said the film would be unique in the MCU, describing the main cast as "a bunch of misfits and outcasts and losers and people who don't really live up to the super in superhero". Pugh said the joy of uniting these characters was that they "don't play well together". She was set to be paid eight figures for Thunderbolts and another MCU film.
At the end of September 2022, journalist Jeff Sneider reported that Harrison Ford was Marvel Studios' top choice to replace Hurt as Ross, and Marvel planned to announce his casting at D23 before Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy asked them not to believing it would detract from their promotion of Ford's film Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023). In mid-October, Sneider reported that Ford had been cast as Ross and would first appear in the MCU in the film Captain America: Brave New World (2025). The Hollywood Reporter confirmed Ford's casting in Brave New World and Thunderbolts, but Variety reported that Ford's involvement would be limited to Brave New World. Writers for Entertainment Weekly and Esquire interpreted later comments made by Feige as confirmation that Ford would not be appearing in Thunderbolts.
Ayo Edebiri joined the cast in January 2023, when Louis-Dreyfus said filming would begin that June. In February, Steven Yeun was cast in a significant role with the potential to continue in future MCU films. Yeun worked with Schreier on the Netflix series Beef (2023–present), and the director had the actor in mind when adding the character. The next month, Beef creator Lee Sung Jin revealed that he was rewriting the script at Schreier's request and said there were "a lot of themes and exciting things" that drew him to the project. He was working closely with Schreier on the script and noted that, unlike Beef, Thunderbolts was Schreier's project and had different writing needs than the series given the film's large scope and scale. Sneider reported that Pearson's script focused too much on the characters returning from Black Widow, which he also wrote, and Marvel Studios was looking for the other characters to have a more equitable role so it would feel like an ensemble film. Grace Yun was set as production designer by April after doing so on Beef, and Sanja Milkovic Hays was the costume designer after working on the MCU films Captain Marvel (2019) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). Cinematographer Steve Yedlin was working on the film in Atlanta, Georgia, by the end of May, but eventually left the project and was replaced by Andrew Droz Palermo, who worked on the Marvel Studios series Moon Knight (2022).
At the start of May, filming was delayed due to the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike and was planned to resume after the strike concluded. In June, the release date was pushed back to December 20, 2024, and the Utah Film Commission announced that Thunderbolts would film in Emery County and Grand County, Utah, spending over $4.5 million in the state. Executive producer Brian Chapek said the "grounded, globe-trotting film" would use several practical filming locations and the Utah locations were chosen because they felt "untouched by the larger world". When the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike ended in November, the release date was pushed back again, this time to July 25, 2025. Soon after, comic book writer and Yeun's friend Robert Kirkman said Yeun had been cast as Sentry. Russell expressed confidence that the film would be interesting, fun, and not a "straightforward" Marvel film, and said he would begin filming in March or April 2024. In January, Stan said he would begin filming "in a month or so". Yeun exited then due to a scheduling issue caused by the delayed production, but expressed interest in working on a future MCU film. It was unclear if Marvel would recast or rethink Yeun's role, but at the end of the month Lewis Pullman was revealed to be the studios' top choice to replace Yeun as Sentry, and his casting was soon confirmed. Laurence Fishburne and Rachel Weisz were reported to be reprising their MCU roles as Bill Foster and Melina Vostokoff, and Geraldine Viswanathan was cast in the comedic supporting role of de Fontaine's assistant Mel, replacing Edebiri after she exited due to the delays. In February, the release date was moved forward to May 2, 2025, swapping places with the MCU film The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Joanna Calo was rewriting the script later that month. Previous drafts centered on the titular team going on a mission that could end with their deaths.
Filming was originally scheduled to begin in mid-June 2023 and last for six months. It was initially not expected to be impacted by the writers' strike, with Marvel Studios reportedly planning to shoot what they could during principal photography and make any necessary writing adjustments during already scheduled reshoots. Filming was ultimately delayed by the writers' strike and subsequent SAG-AFTRA strike. The original filming schedule overlapped with Stan's work on the film The Apprentice (2024), for which he gained weight to portray Donald Trump. He had begun the physical transformation needed to portray Barnes when the strikes began and he had to reverse course. Harbour planned to shoot the film concurrently with his scenes as Jim Hopper for the fifth season of Stranger Things (2025), also in Atlanta; that production was also delayed by the strikes.
Principal photography began by February 26, 2024, at Trilith Studios and Atlanta Metro Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, under the working title Oops All Berries, which is a reference to a variation of the cereal Cap'n Crunch that only has berry-flavored pieces. Andrew Droz Palermo was the cinematographer. The film was shot for IMAX. By March, it had been retitled to Thunderbolts*. Filming occurred in Emery County and Grand County, Utah, from May 29 to June 12, 2024. Louis-Dreyfus completed her scenes by early June, and said Marvel Studios was trying to "go back to their roots" with a focus on the characters' humanity, practical stunt sequences, and avoiding visual effects where possible. Filming also took place at the Medan Pasar square and Merdeka 118 skyscraper in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and concluded in the week of June 19.
In September 2024, Chris Bauer and Wendell Edward Pierce were revealed to have been cast in the film, with Pierce portraying a political figure. In early December, additional photography took place in Atlanta.
Harry Yoon and Angela Catanzaro are editing the film; Yoon previously worked on the MCU film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) and with Schreier on Beef. Jake Morrison is the visual effects supervisor, with visual effects provided by Industrial Light & Magic, Framestore, Digital Domain, Rising Sun Pictures, Raynault VFX, Base FX, Crafty Apes, and Mammal Studios.
The band Son Lux began recording the score for Thunderbolts* at Abbey Road Studios in London in the first week of February 2025, after previously scoring Schreier's film Paper Towns (2015).
After filming had begun in March 2024, Pugh and Marvel Studios released a set video in which she showcased her new Black Widow costume and an updated logo for the film with Schreier. The new logo styled the title as "Thunderbolts* ". Kristen Lopez at TheWrap felt viewers would "start deconstructing the brief images she's shown immediately", while Sabina Graves of Gizmodo felt the video was delightful and a fun tease for a scene featuring Belova. She highlighted Pugh's short hair and her joking with Schreier that they "really shouldn't be showing any of this". Collider's Chris McPherson also discussed Pugh's costume, calling it "very military [and] quite tactical", and noted her teal eyeliner. Several commentators questioned why there was an asterisk in the updated logo. The next month, Feige confirmed that Thunderbolts* was the official title and said the use of the asterisk would be explained following the film's release, which led to continued speculation as to its meaning. One theory was that the team would not actually be called the Thunderbolts in the film, but rather a variation of the Avengers name such as the Dark Avengers or New Avengers. Another suggestion was that there is another Thunderbolts team in the MCU with characters more closely aligned to the rosters from the comics.
A behind-the-scenes look was shown at CineEurope in June 2024, while the first footage from the film was shown at SDCC the next month, presented by Schreier and the cast. Harbour dressed as Red Guardian for the panel. Following online leaks of the SDCC footage, Marvel released an official look at the Thunderbolts team within their video celebrating the company's 85th anniversary in August. A teaser trailer for the film was released in a month later, featuring the song "Where Is My Mind?" by the Pixies. Tom Power at TechRadar said the teaser was a longer and higher quality version of the previously leaked footage, and felt the film was "looking very good". He highlighted the characters' struggles with identity as well as the action and tone of the teaser. Writing for The A.V. Club, Mary Kate Carr noted the various mysteries surrounding the film—including the asterisk in its title—and said the teaser "valiantly" refused to give up any secrets or plot details. A second trailer was shown during Super Bowl LIX in February 2025. Commentators stated that the trailer appeared to confirm speculation that the titular team would be fighting the Void, the malevolent alter-ego of Bob / Sentry. In the trailer, Red Guardian expresses hope that the team's achievements would get them featured on the cover of Wheaties, a cereal known for putting sports figures on its boxes and the slogan "The Breakfast of Champions". Alongside the trailer, Marvel Studios released a poster for the film that mimicked a Wheaties box featuring the team. Their social media posts for the poster were captioned "The Breakfast of Champions Thunderbolts*". An asterisk-themed international poster was also released, which included a footnote for the title asterisk which says "The Avengers Are Not Available". Kieran Fisher at /Film questioned whether this was a joke, or if it was the true meaning behind the asterisk in the film's title. James Whitbrook of Gizmodo and Scott Collura from IGN both believed the footnote fit with the film's marketing approach of presenting the team as a ragtag humorous group of heroes, rather than the asterisk being an "actual serious mystery".
In March 2025, Letterboxd debuted a trailer for the film that is edited in the style of those for independent films produced by A24. It features techno music, an "A24-esque makeover" for the Marvel Studios logo, and title cards that highlight past A24 projects that the film's cast and crew members worked on. Schreier helped conceive the trailer, which was released around the same time Pugh described the film as an "indie, A24-feeling assassin movie with Marvel superheroes". Zosha Millman from Polygon said Marvel had "film buffs in mind" when releasing the trailer through Letterboxd. Despite the creative pedigree touted by the trailer, she thought Thunderbolts* would still be "largely what you expect" of a Marvel film. A24 was not aware of the trailer before its release and responded on social media with a meme from its HBO drama series Euphoria (2019–present). Later in March, Marvel Studios announced that many MCU cast members would be reprising their roles for the crossover film Avengers: Doomsday (2026), including Stan, Russell, Pugh, Pullman, Harbour, and John-Kamen. Commentators discussed whether this announcement, which seemingly revealed characters who survive the film's events and aligned with speculation that Taskmaster would die early in the story, was a spoiler. Michael Walsh at Nerdist criticized the announcement, feeling it had undermined one of the key reasons some people were interested in Thunderbolts* which was the feeling that any of the main cast could die. He compared this to spoiling who survives the events of The Dirty Dozen (1967), and said Marvel should have excluded the Thunderbolts* cast members from the Doomsday announcement. Amelia Emberwing of IGN said "knowing who makes it out alive [does not matter] much in a comic book franchise" and also felt the announcement was not necessarily a spoiler because the returning actors could be playing versions of their characters from other universes within the multiverse.
Thunderbolts* is scheduled to be released in the United States on May 2, 2025, in IMAX, ScreenX, and 4DX. It was previously scheduled for July 26, 2024, December 20, 2024, and July 25, 2025. It will be the final film of Phase Five of the MCU.