What is the Thunderbolts release date? The never-ending MCU machine rolls on, and with its expansion comes the opportunity for more MCU characters to get their moment in the spotlight. With Marvel’s Phase 4 coming to an end soon, it’s time to look ahead to Phase 5 and beyond, and that’s where Thunderbolts come in.
The world of Marvel movies is filled with fantastic heroes, but let’s spare a moment to praise the dastardly villains from the superhero movie franchise too shall we? Thunderbolts will bring together a band of bad guys from the comic book universe, many of which we will have seen in MCU movies or Marvel series already. The roster of these characters is varied in the source material so we’ve been wondering who will make the Thunderbolts team in the movie.
So where has Kevin Feige put the Thunderbolts release date on his cinematic calendar? What actors can we expect to see joining the cast? And what will the supervillain team get up to in their very own action movie? Don’t tell Kevin, but we’re going to share the answers with you now.
Thunderbolts release date
Marvel chief Kevin Feige has confirmed that the Thunderbolts release date is set for July 26, 2024. The movie will be the final chapter of Marvel’s Phase 5 slate and will be directed by Jake Schreier.
The announcement came at Comic-Con 2022, and all things being well, Thunderbolts will get a big cinematic release as opposed to being dropped on streaming services.
Thunderbolts plot speculation
The synopsis for Thunderbolts so far is short but sweet – a group of supervillains are recruited to go on missions for the government. That’s according to the science fiction movie‘s IMDb page, but we can start to speculate a fair bit thanks to the source material we have at our disposal.
In many ways, the Thunderbolts team are similar to the Suicide Squad of the DCEU. This is essentially a group of incredibly powerful, morally questionable beings who are given the chance to (kinda) do some good for once. Whether their mission will actually serve the interests of the world for better or worse, remains to be seen.
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That all depends on who is orchestrating the mission, of course. It looks like the one pulling the strings will be Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), who we have already seen interacting with the likes of John Walker (Wyatt Russell) and Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) in the MCU.
Historically speaking, the Thunderbolts have risen up at a time when the world was lacking a certain Avengers shaped superhero team. Whether this iteration of the Thunderbolts looks to fill that gap for their own benefit, or to protect the planet, remains to be seen.
Thunderbolts cast speculation
There is actually no one officially confirmed for the Thunderbolts cast just yet, but we are pretty confident that Daniel Brühl will reprise his role as Baron Zemo and be a key figure in the villainous team.
Alongside him, it’s highly likely that Wyatt Russell will pick up his make-shift shield and take on the mantle of U.S Agent once more. The actor told The Digital Fix that he is still waiting for the call to join the project, but we’re sure that can’t be far away. Russell has even worked with the director Jake Schreier, so surely the pair will join forces again.
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While she hasn’t been confirmed for the cast, we assume Julia Louis-Dreyfus will have a big role to play in Thunderbolts as Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, the person responsible for bringing the team together. She’s basically the bad version of Nick Fury, and we’re sure she’s got plenty more recruitment calls to make.
As for who those calls go to, the list is pretty much endless as to possible members of the Thunderbolts team. Rumours suggest the most likely additions are Florence Pugh’s Yelena, Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes.
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We could see villains from previous Marvel movies show up too, such as Taskmaster from Black Widow, Ghost from Ant-Man and the Wasp, and Abomination from The Incredible Hulk.
There is of course every chance we will see new characters added to the team – well, sort of. It’s pure speculation, but we could witness the likes of Punisher, Ghost Rider, or X-Men characters like Deadpool show up for the party.
That’s all we know about Thunderbolts for now, but time flies when you’re waiting for information on Marvel projects, so we’re sure to get more details for you soon. In the meantime, why not check out our guide to the Black Panther 2 release date, or the Ant-Man 3 release date for more MCU action.