For years, rumors have swirled that Marvel was developing a movie centered on the Thunderbolts, the team of villains who posed as heroes in the wake of the Avengers’ disappearance. I speculated that events of “The Blip”, and the Avengers’ possible disbandment after Avengers: Endgame set up a similar situation, while the debuts of characters such as USAgent and Yelena Belova suggested the team was around the corner. And now, not only is a Thunderbolts film on the way, it already has a director.
Deadline reports Jake Schreier has been tapped to direct Thunderbolts, working from a script by Black Widow writer Eric Pearson. Further details are unknown, but the story is said to follow “a group of supervillains (or at least characters who have played bad guys at one point in MCU) who go on missions for the government.” That sounds more like Suicide Squad than Thunderbolts, honestly, or maybe the Dark Avengers.
Schreier is best known for his sci-fi comedy Robot & Frank, which I really loved a decade ago. He also directed the 2015 John Green adaptation Paper Towns.
The report goes on to say that some actors in the MCU have been asked to keep their schedules open for next summer. I can take a guess as to a few of them. Certainly Daniel Bruhl as Baron Zemo, the team’s leader in the comics, will be asked to be part of it. I expect Wyatt Russell as USAgent/John Walker will show up, and probably Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova/Black Widow. Others I wouldn’t be shocked by are Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster, Tim Roth’s Abomination, and Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost. We could also see the team used as a tribute to the late William Hurt, who played General Thunderbolt Ross, himself once a member and leader of the team.
I’d love to see this as a place for the return of Michael B. Jordan as Killmonger, as well.
The Thunderbolts was for a long time my favorite Marvel comic, especially during the Kurt Busiek run as writer. Some of the best characters emerged from that run, including Citizen V, Songbird, Atlas, Moonstone, Fixer, and Mach-1, who were all actually members of the Masters of Evil. I hope the movie version doesn’t lose the duplicitous aspect to the team because it’s so crucial to who they are and eventual evolution from villains to heroes. Songbird especially is an amazing character and whoever gets to play her is due for a breakout.
