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that-shamrock-vibe · 2 years

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Fan-Cast Frenzy: MCU's Thunderbolts

Introduction:

Kevin Feige once again dominated San Diego Comic-Con this year, by not just revealed the line-up for Phase 5 with 12 upcoming projects as well as releasing the first trailer for the last Phase 4 movie Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but also teasing what is to come for Phase 6.

Rather than an Avengers movie however, the movie that is ending Phase 5 will be Thunderbolts, but with no official line-up yet announced for the movie I thought I would fan-cast the movie myself.

Just to clarify, by fan-cast I do not mean pick actors to play characters in the movie as for the most part the line-up should already exist within the MCU, but I may add a couple of non-MCU characters as wishful thinking.

Thunderbolts v Suicide Squad:

So as a team, the Thunderbolts are effectively Marvel's answer to DC's Suicide Squad, and in typical Feige fashion, he sees that Warner Bros. Suicide Squad movies aren't as successful as they should be, and so decides to capitalise on that.

I will admit to not knowing too much about the Thunderbolts similar to how before the animated Batman: Assault on Arkham movie which inspired the live-action Suicide Squad movie I knew nothing about that team.

However, I do know some of the characters that appeared in the team in the comics, a lot of whom already appear in the movies.

Originally the plan I felt was to either have both the Thunderbolts and Dark Avengers existing simultaneously within the MCU, or have a combination of the two. Given Thunderbolt Ross' actor William Hurt passing away I am pretty much convinced it will probably be more the latter.

So with that in mind here is my roster for who I believe will be in the MCU's Thunderbolts.

Most Likely:

Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine

So without the inclusion of General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross aka Red Hulk...which I'm guessing may be addressed in the upcoming She-Hulk series, the next logical choice to be the mission control of the team is Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Valentina.

This character has become the anti-Phil Coulson in the MCU, first appearing in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier recruiting U.S. Agent, then appearing at the end of Black Widow where she was shown to have Yelena in her employ.

Considering these two are fan-favourite candidates for the team, it stands to reason that, even if the original plan wasn't for her to head up the Thunderbolts that they may organically change it so that it will be.

Baron Zemo

There have been many line-ups of the Thunderbolts team in the comics, yet the most logical field leader of the team is Baron Helmut Zemo portrayed by Daniel Brühl.

Zemo is not only one of the better MCU villains given his longevity across both film and television, but also for his tactician nature, his manipulative methods and the fact he was able to break up the Avengers causing the major events of Captain America: Civil War.

There was also originally supposed to be an end-credits scene either in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier or Black Widow of Yelena interviewing Zemo at The Raft for the Thunderbolts so it does stand to reason that he will be part of the team.

Black Widow

Florence Pugh's Yelena has become such a fan-favourite in just only a year in the MCU. Her breakout role in Black Widow was the highlight of the movie and then her appearance in Hawkeye elevated the series for me.

As stated before, Yelena has already been tied to the Thunderbolts as both Valentina's right-hand woman and that deleted scene interviewing Zemo.

While Yelena's Black Widow has never officially been a part of the Thunderbolts in the comics, instead her visage was used as a disguise for Natasha Romanoff to infiltrate the team, it does make sense for Yelena's next step in the MCU to be either part of this team or even showing up in the next year across different projects to recruit potential members of the team.

U.S. Agent

Aside from Yelena, this is the only confirmed member of Valentina's secret team that is now most likely going to be the Thunderbolts. Not only was Valentina's introduction into the MCU showing how she recruited John Walker, but he also could easily be the character that ties in both the Thunderbolts and Dark Avengers given that he is effectively the villainous Captain America.

Unfortunately for the character, this is the candidate to the team I am least looking forward to seeing again because, as was hopefully meant to happen for the character's appearance in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier he was just awful as a character in a douchebag sort of way, not a bad portrayal as I thought Wyatt Russell did a good job at being disliked.

Abomination

It is amazing what a little redesign can do for a character's popularity, Tim Roth first played this character in the critically and fandomly panned The Incredible Hulk way back when in 2008. But honestly until 2016's Captain America: Civil War it looked like that movie was trying to be phased out as even Bruce Banner and Hulk had been redesigned and recast....then William Hurt's Thaddeus Ross reappeared in the latter movie and as the years went on different aspects of the former movie have been revisited.

Abomination's cameo in Shang-Chi where he battled Wong brought with him an intriguing redesign that not only made him look less grotesque but also actually makes him look more comics-accurate.

With his confirmed appearance in next month's She-Hulk series, where we find him at the end of that series may be what leads him to becoming part of the Thunderbolts next year.

Ghost

Unlike Zemo, Ghost is unfortunately one of the many many MCU villains that have lead to fan-wide complaint that the MCU does in fact have a villain problem...traditionally because these villains are usually one and done...even if they're goddesses of death like Hela. But I digress.

Hannah John-Kamen brought something fun with this otherwise unknown character and was actually the best thing about Ant-Man and the Wasp. She may have had a redemption arc through being a villain due to circumstance but she's not all good and the Thunderbolts aren't all villains.

Unlike the likes of Hela, Ego and Ultron who are...let's face it...all villains that should have been able to survive one movie...Ghost was still alive at the end of Ant-Man and the Wasp just off in hiding with her adoptive father Bill Foster. So if she is seeking redemption for what she's done or purpose in her new life, maybe the Thunderbolts is the right fit for her.

Hawkeye

Speaking of seeking redemption, Clint Barton is someone that throughout the events of Avengers: Endgame and his own Hawkeye series was clearly seeking redemption for his actions as Ronin.

Let's face it also, he may have retired from the role of Hawkeye in terms of being a superhero, but again the Thunderbolts aren't really superheroes. They're antiheroes or black-ops. So it makes sense that he would once again come out of retirement...for the fourth time now I believe...to redeem himself.

He already has connections to Yelena and most likely knows of Zemo given he was part of Civil War, he's also led the team in the comics so could be a rival for Zemo in that regards.

Either way, I always think in a Mutant team you need a teleporter and in a vigilante team you need an archer.

Taskmaster

Another redemption story could be for Antonia Dreykov aka Taskmaster. While Antonia is a gender-switched character and fans were heavily disappointed we didn't get the wise-cracking Tony Masters from the comics, this could be Olga Kurylenko's chance to win fans over.

Let's face it, Antonia needs the redemption and to find her own identity outside of being her father's puppet. She may decide this isn't as Taskmaster and that could lead to her finding the MCU's Tony Masters and passing on the mantle.

Potentials:

Alright so as well as the most-likely to be candidates in the MCU's Thunderbolts, I also have some wild card choices who could appear either in the Thunderbolts movie on its own or leading up to it somehow.

Deadpool

We already know Deadpool 3 is coming in the MCU and that Ryan Reynolds will return as the Merc with the Mouth. However, we do not have a confirmed release window for said movie and while it may fill one of the 8 missing slots in Phase 6, there is no confirmed first appearance for Deadpool as of yet.

So why not have him appear as part of the Thunderbolts? Even if you don't use him in the official team and do a The Suicide Squad ploy of having half the team be the expendables while the other half is the main team, have him be on the expendables team.

My other theory on how they can use him is a little bit of a deep cut but in the Arrow series when they first introduced their version of the Suicide Squad, they had a cameo appearance from Harley Quinn, who is obviously such a fan-favourite poster girl for the team, but didn't fully show her and instead just showed the back of her head with Tara Strong's voice who is known as the current voice of Harley in animation and video games...so it was just the cameo.

Why not do something like that for Deadpool? If the team is based at The Raft like the Suicide Squad is based at Belle Reve, show Deadpool in a cell at The Raft as maybe a rejected member of the team, Ryan Reynolds could make a cameo the highlight of the movie if he wanted to so I'm sure he'd be up for it.

Elektra

Daredevil is making waves in the MCU, first appearing in Spider-Man: No Way Home then confirmed to appear in She-Hulk, Echo and then his own series next year.

Now while it is Charlie Cox back in the role from the Netflix Marvel Series and we have already been reintroduced to Kingpin portrayed by Vincent D'Onofrio in Hawkeye who will also most likely appear in Echo and Daredevil: Born Again, how many other characters from the Netflix corner of the MCU will make it to the wider MCU?

Personally I really enjoyed Elodie Young's portrayal of Elektra in the Netflix Marvel series, not only was she a step up from Jennifer Garner but also she just had the spark that the character needed.

While her status in the Netflix Marvel series was left unknown after The Defenders, Daredevil survived so it stands to reason that she did as well.

Punisher

Similar to Elektra, Punisher was a breakout in the Daredevil series, he is not only the right fit for the Thunderbolts team but he also has so many other ties to the MCU that having him introduced would just open those doors.

I am not entirely sure if Jon Bernthal is the right fit but if they wanted to keep the continuity then they would have to bring him back, it's not like Bernthal can't handle movies and he may just fit in with the Thunderbolts dynamic.

Daredevil: Born Again is set for release before Thunderbolts so it could be that the series reintroduces both Elektra and Punisher back into the MCU before they join the Thunderbolts.

Ghost Rider

My only switch with this character would be making it the Robbie Reyes version as opposed to the Johnny Blaze version. Not only has Reyes already been introduced to the MCU through Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. but also he would add some more diversity and of the Latino variety.

I don't know if he'd be the El Diablo of the team, I mean they are similar characters but Ghost Rider is one of few major comics characters that has not yet progressed to the main MCU.

I also just really enjoyed Gabriel Luna in this role, he almost got his own spin-off series after his appearance on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. so this would be his redemption for that.

I'm not saying they'd have to mention his time on that show, but his last appearance was him going to Hell, aka the Dark Dimension, which could not only explain how he avoided the Blip but also maybe down the line tie-in Doctor Strange as Clea is now on the board who is from the Dark Dimension.

So that's who I feel could be part of the upcoming Thunderbolts team, what do you guys think? Post your comments and check out more MCU theories as well as other posts.

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