Thunderbolts
Marvel Comics

RUMOR ALERT: This information is strictly RUMOR at this point, so take it with a grain of salt.

Allegedly, Marvel Studios has begun early development on a project featuring the Thunderbolts.  This makes sense, seeing as how there doesn’t really seem to be an Avengers team running around anymore, after the events of ‘Avengers: Endgame‘ and ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home‘.

In the comics, the Thunderbolts were a team of all-new superheroes that emerged after the Avengers and Fantastic Four went missing during the ‘Heroes Reborn’ event.  After their first couple of exploits, it was revealed to the readers that these were actually the villainous Masters of Evil in disguise.  However, over time, some of them found themselves more comfortable in the roles of heroes or at least anti-heroes.

It is unknown whether this is a movie or a Disney+ series.  (And once again, we don’t know that this is actually true.)  Either is plausible, considering the heavy emphasis that is being placed on Disney+ and the fact that the heroes Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, and She-Hulk are making their debuts in their own Disney+ shows prior to potentially moving over to the films in the future.

This summer, I came up with a list of potential candidates should Marvel decide to bring this group to the screen, which you can read here.

 

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The central figure in most incarnations of the Thunderbolts has been Baron Zemo, a character that was brought to life in a very different form by Daniel Brühl in ‘Captain America: Civil War’.  MCU Cosmic, who reported this RUMOR, states that John Hurt’s Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross would be instrumental in bringing them together, which makes sense as he was a major proponent of the Sokovian Accords, which he tried to implement in ‘Civil War’.  Ross also turned up in a short cameo in ‘Endgame’ at Tony Stark’s funeral, and he is reported to make an appearance in ‘Black Widow’, which could hint at a future for the Thunderbolts.

If the movie or TV show follows the comics closely, the group will be made up of villains in new “heroic” identities.  But actual heroes have also served with the group at times, in an effort to keep them on the side of good.  They include Hawkeye, the Winter Soldier, and Luke Cage, and anti-heroes like Deadpool, Agent Venom, The Punisher, and Elektra.  “Thunderbolt” Ross was also a member as the Red Hulk.

There are plenty of villains and anti-heroes roaming around the MCU that could work for this team.  And as ‘Far From Home’ showed, Marvel is pretty good at dredging up obscure bit characters from the past and placing them in higher-profile roles.

Would you like to see ‘Thunderbolts’ strike as either a movie or TV series?  What characters would you like to see used?