The Avengers are gone. This is who’s left.
It’s official: the MCU is finally bringing its most chaotic team to the big screen.
Thunderbolts has been teased for years—first as a fan theory, then a comic nod, then a casting pattern too deliberate to ignore. And in 2022, Marvel made it real: a full-blown Thunderbolts movie is coming, and it’s packing some serious emotional baggage.
Set to release on May 2, 2025, Thunderbolts looks less like a team-up film and more like Marvel hitting the reset button—trading multiverse mayhem for moral gray zones, and CGI cleanups for boots-on-the-ground pain.
Thunderbolts Release Date, Director, and Setup
The official Thunderbolts release date is May 2, 2025. It’s directed by Jake Schreier (Beef, Paper Towns) and written by Eric Pearson (Black Widow, Thor: Ragnarok).
The story? Still under wraps. But reports and footage hint at a covert mission led by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) that forces a group of unstable, unwilling anti-heroes into a high-risk operation.
It’s not a mission—they’re being used. And they know it.
Cast of Thunderbolts – Marvel’s Anti-Avengers
Here’s the full cast of Thunderbolts, confirmed by Marvel Studios:
- Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova
- Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier
- David Harbour as Red Guardian
- Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent / John Walker
- Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost
- Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster
- Lewis Pullman as Sentry
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine
These aren’t the best of the best—they’re what’s left.
If the Avengers were role models, the Thunderbolts MCU squad is in rehab on government payroll. It’s messy, dangerous, and potentially explosive (emotionally and literally).
The Suicide Squad Comparison? Fair Game.
If this all sounds a little familiar, that’s because it is.
Yes, Thunderbolts draws natural comparisons to The Suicide Squad—both are government-run teams of broken people tasked with doing the dirty work real heroes won’t. But where Suicide Squad leans into chaos and camp, Thunderbolts feels like it’s reaching for something deeper.
Think of it as the quieter, colder cousin. Less punk rock, more repressed trauma. The emotions might hit harder than the punches.
Marvel’s A24 Phase?
Florence Pugh didn’t hold back when she said the movie felt like “a badass indie, A24-feeling assassin movie—with Marvel superheroes.”
Director Jake Schreier backed that up, describing the tone as “emotionally dark,” but still laced with dry humor, similar to Beef.
It’s a tonal gamble. But if Marvel sticks the landing, it could be the most human entry in the franchise since The Winter Soldier.
Early Box Office Buzz
Industry projections suggest a $70 million opening for Thunderbolts—a bit under Captain America: Brave New World’s $88M forecast. But this feels like a film with long legs.
Its emotional hooks, small-scale intensity, and star-studded cast give it a real shot at becoming one of the most talked-about MCU films in recent years.
Florence Pugh’s Skyscraper Stunt – And Our Reaction
Forget green screens—Florence Pugh did this for real.
For a pivotal scene, Pugh jumped off Merdeka 118, the second-tallest building in the world. It’s a wild stunt, but more than that, it tells you what kind of movie this is. No filters. No fantasy. Just gravity.
Watch our full reaction video here:
Florence Pugh’s Wildest MCU Stunt Yet – Reaction Video
Sentry and the Void – What You Should Know
The wild card here? Sentry, played by Lewis Pullman. In comics, he’s one of Marvel’s most powerful beings—and his greatest enemy is himself. Or rather, his other self: The Void.
According to early footage leaks, when The Void emerges, it doesn’t just kill—it erases. Victims splatter into the shadow on the ground. It’s eerie. And it might be the darkest visual the Marvel Thunderbolts film offers.
Where Thunderbolts Fits in the MCU Timeline
Thunderbolts closes out Phase 5, acting as a gritty, character-driven palate cleanser before Marvel kicks off Phase 6.
Here’s how the next phase shapes up:
- Fantastic Four
- Avengers: Doomsday
- Spider-Man: Brand New Day (set between Doomsday and Secret Wars)
- Avengers: Secret Wars
While those upcoming Marvel movies deal in multiversal warfare and god-tier stakes, Thunderbolts is more interested in real consequences, personal pain, and what happens when “hero” is just a title someone gave you, without asking.
Final Thoughts from Screendollars
At Screendollars, we’ve seen Marvel swing in every direction lately—cosmic gods, time travel, TV sitcoms, and talking raccoons. Some of it worked (WandaVision, Loki). Some of it didn’t (Quantumania, sorry).
But Thunderbolts? This feels different.
It’s not trying to outdo the Avengers. It’s not trying to set up 15 future films. It’s just telling a story about broken people on borrowed time.
And that might be the boldest thing the MCU has done in years.
