Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan had a solid four-season run for Amazon Prime before coming to an end in 2023. As a modernized adaptation of Clancy’s series of novels, the streaming show combined good writing, decent action and wonderful casting, including some names that may not have been familiar to audiences before viewing.
While series lead John Krasinski was certainly a household name, Jack Ryan gave Hollywood vets like Michael Kelly and Wendell Pierce strong supporting roles that allowed them to shine. Kelly parlayed his success into a role in a comic book property, landing a gig in HBO’s The Penguin as Falcon family underboss Johnny Viti. Now, it looks as though it’s Pierce’s turn to enter the world of superheroes.
As revealed in an official project profile for Marvel Studios Thunderbolts*, Pierce has joined the film’s ensemble cast in an undisclosed role.
Much has been made about the changes that have taken place behind the scenes at Marvel Studios since Bob Iger returned to Disney. The number of series and films has been reduced, productions have been paused, rewritten and reshot and the fates of others seemingly lie in the balance as the Multiverse Saga is being reworked on the fly. Slightly less attention has been paid, however, to the not-so-subtle shift in the typically tight-lipped studio’s marketing approach.
Projects such as Agatha All Along and The Fantastic Four: First Steps seemed to serve as guinea pigs for fun new strategies to engage the public far sooner and more directly than what the studio had done in the past. Additionally (and perhaps driven by leaks) teaser trailers for upcoming films, such as 2025’s Captain America: Brave New World, started making their way online earlier than in the past.
Thunderbolts*, another 2025 project has also utilized some non-traditional strategies to gather some momentum. Earlier this year, star Florence Pugh released a staged, behind-the-scenes video from the film’s set which revealed a slight change to the film’s title with an asterisk being added. That asterisk has driven dialogue online as fans speculate and theorize about just what its inclusion might mean and the studio has certainly embraced if not encouraged the discourse. In addition to that bit of fun, the studio also sneakily dropped an extended teaser for the film on September 23rd, more than seven months before it hits theaters. And while the fine folks at Marvel Studios did their best to keep their secrets, they did leave one clue in the background that reveals the identity of a mysterious new organization that will be introduced to the MCU in the film.
At the 1:33 mark of the trailer, after Pugh’s Yelena Belova recovers from the attempt by Wyatt Russell’s John Walker to kill her, a symbol can be glimpsed on a crate over Belova’s left shoulder.
Though the symbol is at an odd angle, upon a little zoom, zoom, zoom and a boom-boom, it can be recognized as a fancy combination of the letters O, X and E. And while it may not be as easily recognizable to fans as other members of Marvel’s alphabet soup club such as S.H.I.E.L.D. or S.W.O.R.D., O.X.E. is an established organization from the pages of Marvel Comics and it has ties to one of the main characters in Thunderbolts*.
Iterations of O.X.E. exist in both Marvel Comics’ 616 and Ultimate universes and while the true nature of either entity isn’t actually too clear, they were both founded by… Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. After first appearing in The Falcon and The Winter Solider, the MCU’s version of Val–played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, has been busy recruiting her own team of operatives such as Walker and Belova. And if it wasn’t already clear enough after watching the teaser, Val is using her O.X.E. facility as a holding tank for Lewis Pullman‘s “Bob” and has sent all her cronies there to die, whether by Bob’s hands–or eyes–or by each other’s, as she seeks a new position within the U.S. Goverment. It’s also very likely that the masked gunmen who are given the unenviable task of shooting up Bob are Val’s O.X.E. goons.
Of course, the teaser has plenty of other fun reveals such as Val’s now comic-accurate hair, improved new looks for Ghost and Taskmaster, the Sentry belt logo and a renovated Stark/Avengers Tower. From the looks of it, Black Widow 2 Thunderbolts* may have greatly benefitted from the delays it faced as it the script was rewritten and polished up by several writers over the past couple of years. Moving forward, it will be interesting to see what role, if any, Val and O.X.E. play in the MCU or if it was just an easy organization to write in as a one-off.
Thunderbolts* is set to arrive in theaters on May 2, 2025.
Throughout the Infinity Saga, Marvel Studios churned out Avengers films every three years to mark the transition from one Phase to another…and that’s if you don’t count Captain America: Civil War–which featured more Avengers than either of the first two Avengers films–as an Avengers film! Over seven years from 2012 to 2019, fans were treated to The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame (and Captain America: Civil War!), three of which are among the top 15 rated MCU films according to Rotten Tomatoes (four is you count Captain America: Civil War!) and all of which are top ten box office earners for Marvel Studios (except Captain America: Civil War, probably because they didn’t call it Avengers: Civil War). To recap, Avengers movies are well-made and make big money.
Given the successful track record of Avengers films, it would seemingly stand to reason that as the studio moved into an all-new, all-different era of storytelling in the Multiverse Saga, it would stick to the pattern; however, three plus years and one Phase transition into the new saga, fans still haven’t seen the Avengers assemble on screen, not even in a quasi-Avengers film like, say…Captain America: Civil War. But according to a new report, that’s all about to change in 2025.
First reported by GWW to be in development in 2021, Thunderbolts* was confirmed by a trade report in June 2022 before being announced by Kevin Feige at SDCC ’22 as the final installment in Phase 5 of the MCU. During 2022’s D23 event in Anaheim, Feige revealed the film’s ensemble cast which features Julia Louis-Dreyfus returning as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine and with Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, and Hannah John-Kamen also reprising their characters from previous projects. So even though they passed on tradition at the end of Phase 4, could Thunderbolts* actually be a quasi-Avengers film?
The gist of the new report is that by film’s end, the collection of offbeat antiheroes who Val covertly collected to run top secret missions will be hailed as Avengers after accidentally being revealed to the public while saving the day. The report suggests that the reveal is tied to the asterisk that was added to the film’s original title, Thunderbolts, earlier this year. Should this be the case, it’s unlikely that all the characters involved in the film would end up as the MCU’s New Avengers. It’s rather more likely that John Walker, Yelena Belova, Ghost and Taskmaster form the core of the team, giving the group analogs for some of the original team of Avengers. Just how that will be received by the members of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes who are still shown to be in contact with one another during one of the stingers in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings remains to be seen.
Marvel Studios Thunderbolts* is set to hit theaters on May 2, 2025.
Long known for a ridiculous level of secrecy surrounding their upcoming projects, Marvel Studios has taken some steps in a different direction over the last year. The studio has utilized social media to reveal the return of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, provide the first look at the cast of The Fantastic Four: First Steps and share a behind-the-scenes video from the set of Thunderbolts* all of which seem leaps and bounds away from the “Marvel sniper” protocols of old. While there are still plenty of secrets kept and more than enough old school denials by the studio and actors in their employ, it’s certainly been a fun turnaround for the studio. However, following last weekend’s Hall H panel at SDCC ’24, the studio may have given away a casting secret they’d previously seemed pretty intent on keeping.
In video released through Marvel Entertainment’s official YouTube account, the identity of Geraldine Viswanathan‘s Thunderbolts* character was revealed and while it could be a bit of misdirection, it could also be a pretty big reveal.
While talking with co-stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who will reprise her role as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, and Lewis Pullman, who will bring Robert Reynolds, aka The Sentry, to the MCU, Viswanathan’s character was revealed to be “Mel.” And while that could simply mean she’s a fan of the Spice Girls, it’s also possible the actress will be portraying Melissa Gold, one of the original Thunderbolts from the pages of Marvel Comics.
First appearing in 1979’s Marvel Two-in-One #54, Melissa Gold had an interesting history as a member of the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation before teaming with Baron Zemo on the Masters of Evil. She remained with the group when, in the absence of Earth’s mightiest, they posed as a new group of heroes known as the Thunderbolts. Over the years, different enhancements to Gold’s vocal cords have given her to ability to emit both a sonic scream and create “solid sound.” In recent years, the character has appeared as a more reformed and less villainous character.
An irreverent team-up featuring depressed assassin Yelena Belova alongside the MCU’s least anticipated band of misfits.
-Official longline for Thunderbolts*
Should Viswanthan indeed be playing Melissa Gold, it would indicate a change from earlier drafts of the script that reportedly contained neither Gold nor any other members of the original comic book team. Of course, there are plenty of other options for the character and even if she is playing Melissa Gold, there’s no guarantee she’ll share much in common with her comic book counterpart. With 10 months until Thunderbolts* hits theaters, there will definitely be plenty of theories, speculation and bullshit about the true identity of the character to keep fans fed.
Earlier this year, Sebastian Stan‘s absence from the set of Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts* and the reports of him not being a key member of the titular team caused quite a stir. Fans speculated that Marvel Studios had decided to write the character off, potentially even killing the fan favorite. While none of that seems likely, fans can now rest easy that Stan does indeed play some role in the film.
As production on the film made its way outdoors in Atlanta, photographer Atlanta Filming caught the first look at Stan’s Bucky Barnes.
It’s definitely not the type of costume fans have grown accustomed to seeing on Barnes, however. Looking more like he’s headed to some sort of Congressional hearing that into battle, Stan was captured sporting significantly longer hair than in his last appearance in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier as well as a fresh new bit of facial hair. Given Thunderbolts* will feature a significant amount of flashbacks, it’s not entirely clear if this set photo is capturing something taking place in the past or in whatever passes for the MCU’s present day.
Thunderbolts* is in production now and is set to hit theaters on May 2, 2025.
Marvel Studios One Above All, Kevin Feige, took the stage at CinemaCon in Las Vegas for the first time and the head honcho did not disappoint. In addition to rolling out the first looks at footage from Deadpool and Wolverine and Captain America: Brave New World, Feige also confirmed a minor title change to one of their 2025 projects and left fans with a cryptic tease about its meaning.
During a recently staged behind-the-scenes video from Marvel Studios’ star Florence Pugh, a new logo and title for the studio’s Thunderbolts project was revealed. Originally titled Thunderbolts, the film’s new logo revealed it was now titled Thunderbolts*. About as minor of a change as one can imagine. During his time on stage in Las Vegas, Feige confirmed the title change while showing off the new logo and also leaving fans hanging as to the meaning of the asterisk. “Yes, you’ll notice the asterisk on Thunderbolts. That is the official title of Thunderbolts and we won’t talk more about that until after the movie comes out.” teased Feige, leaving fans to do what they do best: speculate wildly.
Florence Pugh is here to show you a few things she can't show you.
Typically when placed at the end of a word, an asterisk indicates some sort of footnote is being cross-referenced. That does not seem to be the case here which leaves a little mystery around the minor change to the title. It’s possible the asterisk indicates some additional context is needed to understand the title of the film which is also the title of the team of antiheroes who undertake a secret mission in the film. Given all the online hubbub about one purported explanation for how the team gets the name, it’s possible that the asterisk is indeed a reference to how the team chooses its moniker. However, fans are looking much deeper for explanations.
One possible explanation that’s beginning to take root is that the asterisk somehow indicates that the team will become known as the Dark Avengers, a team that debuted in Marvel Comics in 2009. Ironically enough, word reached my ears almost 6 years ago that Marvel Studios commissioned a writer to put a Dark Avengers script together. At the time, the studio was also still developing Eternals, Black Widow and sequels to hits like Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man: Homecoming and Guardians of the Galaxy that were all intended to be set after Avengers: Endgame, which still hadn’t even hit theaters at the time. Time went on, COVID happened and we assumed that like many other projects that begin development–such as Power Pack–, Dark Avengers was moved to the bottom of the pile, never to be heard from again.
Could the asterisk point to a Dark Avengers adaptation? Possibly, though the composition of the current roster of Thunderbolts (Yelena Belova, Taskmaster, Ghost and John Walker) is a long way from the collection of scum and villainy that Norman Osborn put together for the Dark Avengers. Even thematically, the name change doesn’t truly fit since the Dark Avengers were almost all non-redeemable sociopaths and psychopaths. However, as we say far too often, Marvel Studios has no qualms about co-opting names and titles without any intention of comic-accurate adaptations, as proven by the fact that their roster of Thunderbolts features not a single character from the original team despite Daniel Bruhl’s Zemo, founder of the OG team in the comics, being fully established in the MCU. Thunderbolts* is cool but Dark Avengers has the A-word in it and the A-word sells.
Thunderbolts* is currently slated to hit theaters on May 2, 2025.
About Dark Avengers
The Dark Avengers, a formidable and morally ambiguous team within Marvel Comics, emerged as a stark departure from the traditional hero archetype. Introduced during the “Dark Reign” storyline, orchestrated by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Mike Deodato, the Dark Avengers debuted in “Dark Avengers” #1 in 2009.
Led by Norman Osborn, the former Green Goblin and head of the clandestine organization H.A.M.M.E.R. (replacing S.H.I.E.L.D. during the “Dark Reign”), the Dark Avengers were a twisted reflection of the original Avengers. Osborn meticulously handpicked each member, often selecting individuals with dark pasts and a willingness to embrace villainy or anti-heroism.
One of the most notable aspects of the Dark Avengers was their masquerade as Earth’s mightiest heroes. Osborn, now rebranded as the Iron Patriot, donned a modified version of Iron Man’s armor and positioned himself as the leader of this new Avengers team. The team roster comprised individuals who assumed the identities of classic Avengers characters, albeit with their own unique twist. For instance, Bullseye took on the mantle of Hawkeye, Moonstone portrayed Ms. Marvel, Venom (Mac Gargan) became Spider-Man, and Daken, the son of Wolverine, assumed the guise of his father.
The dynamic within the Dark Avengers was fraught with tension and moral ambiguity. While some members harbored genuine desires to reform or redeem themselves, others reveled in their newfound power and embraced their darker impulses. This internal conflict often led to explosive confrontations and power struggles within the team.
Despite their dubious motives and methods, the Dark Avengers proved to be a formidable force, wielding significant influence over the Marvel Universe during the “Dark Reign” era. Their actions challenged the very fabric of heroism, blurring the lines between good and evil and forcing readers to question the nature of heroism itself.
Over time, as Osborn’s machinations unraveled and his grip on power weakened, the Dark Avengers disbanded, with each member returning to their own path, whether it be redemption, continued villainy, or anti-heroism. However, their legacy continues to linger in the annals of Marvel Comics, serving as a testament to the complexity of the human condition and the ever-shifting nature of morality in a world of super-powered beings.
As part of the cast reveal on Valentine’s Day 2024, Marvel Studios made a tiny change to the title of their Fantastic Four film. Introduced in 2019 as Fantastic Four, the Matt Shakman-led project- –which is set to begin principal photography this August–became The Fantastic Four. As changes go, adding an article to the beginning of the title is pretty minor; however, a change is a change and the news is the news. In that regard, it’s worth pointing out that Marvel Studios has made another minor, but interesting change, to the title of another 2025 film.
After quite a few delays as part of Disney’s 2023 slate shuffles, filming is finally underway on the Jake Schreier-helmed Thunderbolts project. In a surprise but welcomed move, star Florence Pugh took to social media to post a “sneaky” video from the set of the project. During her trip around the stage, Pugh bumped into Schreier whose director’s chair revealed a new logo and title for the film. Later, the video was reposted to social media by Marvel Studios apparently confirming that the film is now called Thunderbolts*.
Florence Pugh is here to show you a few things she can't show you.
Again, as title changes go, placing an asterisk at the end of the pre-existing title is about as minor as it gets; however, it’s also fairly puzzling because it came with no explanation. Typically when placed at the end of a word, an asterisk indicates some sort of footnote is being cross-referenced. That does not seem to be the case here which leaves a little mystery around the minor change to the title. It’s possible the asterisk indicates some additional context is needed to understand the title of the film which is also the title of the team of antiheros who undertake a secret mission in the film. Given all the online hubbub about one purported explanation for how the team gets the name, it’s possible that the asterisk is indeed a reference to how the team chooses its moniker.
As for the video itself, it’s fairly harmless and other than a quick peek at the vault in which Lewis Pullman‘s Robert Reynolds is being held at the beginning of the film, it doesn’t give away much. However, it’s part of a welcome change in the way Marvel Studios has gone about the business of revealing information about their projects for quite some time. It cleverly takes advantage of Marvel well-known and incredibly obnoxious secrecy on set and gives fans a little reason to be excited which ultimately builds hype for the project.
Thunderbolts* is currently slated to be in theaters on May 2, 2025.
Marvel Studios Thunderbolts has faced its fair share of delays since being announced in 2022. The project’s script has passed through several writers since Black Widow scribe Eric Pearson‘s first draft came in. Most recently, The Bear showrunner Joanna Calo was brought on board to take a pass at the script just as cameras are finally set to roll in Atlanta. Sporting an ensemble cast that includes Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Wyatt Russell, David Harbour and Lewis Pullman as the powerful Sentry, the project seems loaded with potential; however a new rumor indicates that a fan-favorite character won’t have as large of a role as once thought.
Though details on the film’s plot are scarce, it’s said that the story “centers on villains and antiheroes going on a mission that was supposed to end with their deaths.” When the film’s cast was introduced by Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios One-Above-All said that Bucky would serve as the “de facto leader” of the team. While that may have been true at the time, according to insider Daniel RPK, that no longer seems to be the case.
Though he was front-and-center on the concept art released for the film in 2022, RPK has indicated that not only is Sebastian Stan’s Bucky not one of the film’s main characters but also that some other, surprising characters are potentially set to play a larger role. In response to a line of questioning on X, RPK claimed that “Bucky is definitely NOT a co-lead with Yelena” and provided a list in which he laid out the priority taken by each character in the film. Bucky, as it turns out, is right near the bottom with characters such as Russell’s U.S. Agent, Hannah John-Kamen’s Ghost and even Olga Kurylenko’s Taskmaster ahead of him.
No. From what I heard it's more like this:
– Yelena – Val – Sentry – Ghost/Taskmaster – US Agent – Bucky – Red Guardian https://t.co/PtOKfkLvTy
As has been shared before, the film was originally a nearly full-fledged sequel to 2021’s Black Widow but even as rewrites have changed the film a bit, it’s still Pugh’s film to lead and thus she’s surrounded by supporting characters from her first MCU appearance. While there’s plenty of intrigue around why a character as popular as Barnes might not be one of the film’s leads, there’s less question about why Harbour’s Red Guardian won’t have a ton of screen time. With Thunderbolts having worked through multiple delays, it’s now filming right smack dab in the middle of production on Stranger Things Season 5, meaning the project will have to make due with whatever they can get out of Harbour.
Bucky’s potential role in Thunderbolts has always been an interesting one. Though he was introduced as part of the team, which is clearly going to be run by Dreyfus‘ CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, the two have never interacted. While she recruited Yelena Belova and John Walker, Bucky never seemed to be on her radar. Furthermore, what we’ve seen of Val’s intentions for the team would seem ideologically opposed to where Bucky found himself at the end of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Wharver the case, it seems far more likely that Bucky will be doing his own thing in the film rather than taking orders from Val.
After the start of production was delayed several times, Marvel Studios Thunderbolts is set to get in front of cameras in just two weeks. Originally written as a sequel to Black Widow by Eric Pearson, who is now working on the script for Matt Shakman’s The Fantastic Four, the film’s script has been passed on to several writers since. Now, according to a trade report, Marvel Studios has brought some real creative firepower on board to touch up the script ahead of filming.
Aaron Couch and Borys Kit have revealed that Joanna Calo, the showrunner of the hit FX series The Bear, was recently hired by the studio to sharpen the script. In the same report, the first details about the titular team have been revealed and sound pretty in line with what’s been suspected about the film for some time. Given the film features stars Florence Pugh and Sebastian Stan, a plot involving the potential death of one or the other would certainly be met with some outrage. Wyatt Russell, David Harbour, Olga Kurylenko and Hannah John-Kamen–all of whom are reprising roles from prior MCU projects–are also part of the cast. Pugh’s Yelena Belova, Russell’s John Walker, Kurylenko’s Taskmaster and John-Kamen‘s Ghost make up the core of the Thunderbolts team.
According to an insider with knowledge of the script, Thunderbolts “centers on villains and antiheroes going on a mission that was supposed to end with their deaths.” Given what else is known about the film, it’s reasonable to assume that mission will put the team in the sights of the powerful Sentry, now set to be played by Lewis Pullman.
As fans continue to wonder if Thunderbolts will ever start production, Marvel Studios has given the film a new release date. As part of yet another reshuffling of its slate, the theatrical release Thunderbolts has been moved UP 12 weeks.
As part of their big Valentine’s Day reveal of the cast, new title and new release date for The Fantastic Four, Marvel Studios moved Thunderbolts from a July 25, 2025 to May 2, 2025. With principal photography on the former slated to get underway in March and the latter not until summer, the studio simply swapped release dates for the two films.
Originally set to hit theaters July 26, 2024, Thunderbolts has been hit hard by delays with star Wyatt Russell joking that production had almost started “14 times.” Not much is known about the film’s plot other than it will see a team composed of Florence Pugh‘s Yelena Belova, Russell’s John Walker, Hannah John-Kamen‘s Ava Starr/Ghost and Olga Kurylenko‘s Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster working for Julia Louis-Dreyfus‘ scheisty Valentima Allegra de Fontaine. Top Gun: Maverick actor Lewis Pullman will also star as Robert Reynolds, aka Sentry, one of Marvel Comics’ most powerful and enigmatic characters.
Cookie Consent
We use cookies to improve your experience on our site. By using our site, you consent to cookies.
This website uses cookies
Websites store cookies to enhance functionality and personalise your experience. You can manage your preferences, but blocking some cookies may impact site performance and services.
Essential cookies enable basic functions and are necessary for the proper function of the website.
Name
Description
Duration
Cookie Preferences
This cookie is used to store the user's cookie consent preferences.
30 days
These cookies are needed for adding comments on this website.
Name
Description
Duration
comment_author_email
Used to track the user across multiple sessions.
Session
comment_author_url
Used to track the user across multiple sessions.
Session
comment_author
Used to track the user across multiple sessions.
Session
Statistics cookies collect information anonymously. This information helps us understand how visitors use our website.
Google Analytics is a powerful tool that tracks and analyzes website traffic for informed marketing decisions.
Contains information related to marketing campaigns of the user. These are shared with Google AdWords / Google Ads when the Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts are linked together.
90 days
__utma
ID used to identify users and sessions
2 years after last activity
__utmt
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests
10 minutes
__utmb
Used to distinguish new sessions and visits. This cookie is set when the GA.js javascript library is loaded and there is no existing __utmb cookie. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
30 minutes after last activity
__utmc
Used only with old Urchin versions of Google Analytics and not with GA.js. Was used to distinguish between new sessions and visits at the end of a session.
End of session (browser)
__utmz
Contains information about the traffic source or campaign that directed user to the website. The cookie is set when the GA.js javascript is loaded and updated when data is sent to the Google Anaytics server
6 months after last activity
__utmv
Contains custom information set by the web developer via the _setCustomVar method in Google Analytics. This cookie is updated every time new data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
2 years after last activity
__utmx
Used to determine whether a user is included in an A / B or Multivariate test.
18 months
_ga
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gali
Used by Google Analytics to determine which links on a page are being clicked
30 seconds
_ga_
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gid
ID used to identify users for 24 hours after last activity
24 hours
_gat
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests when using Google Tag Manager
1 minute
Marketing cookies are used to follow visitors to websites. The intention is to show ads that are relevant and engaging to the individual user.
Pinterest Tag is a web analytics service that tracks and reports website traffic.
