Thunderbolts release date, cast and plot as filming begins
Here’s everything we know about Marvel’s upcoming antihero team-up
Thunderbolts is one of the most intriguing Marvel movies on the upcoming MCU slate. First announced in June 2022, the project has been shrouded in mystery, but fans of the comics will know it will unite some of Marvel's best anti-heroes on screen for the first time.
But when should MCU fans be expecting the Thunderbolts movie, who exactly will be in this rag-tag team of crimefighters, and what will they be doing?
Read more: Every upcoming MCU movie
Keep calm, because here's everything you need to know before Thunderbolts comes storming onto the big screen.
When will Thunderbolts be released?
Marvel’s Thunderbolts will be released in UK cinemas on Friday, 25 July 2025. The film was originally due to arrive in 26 July, 2024 before being delayed until 20 December 2024. That date shifted again due to the Hollywood strikes.
Filming began in Atlanta, Georgia in March 2024.
The team-up flick will be the penultimate instalment of MCU’s Phase 5, followed by Blade starring Mahershala Ali in November 2025.
Who is in the Thunderbolts cast?
Kevin Feige and the hierarchy of the MCU are pulling no punches when it comes to the cast for the Thunderbolts team, starring a who’s-who of Marvel fan favourites.
Florence Pugh will be reprising her role as Yelena Belova alongside Black Widow co-star David Harbour who will be returning as Alexei Shostakov a.k.a Red Guardian. Olga Kurylenko’s Taskmaster will also return from the opening film of Phase 4, in what we can only hope is larger role for such an interesting character.
The Falcon and The Winter Soldier stars Sebastian Stan and Wyatt Russell will reprise their roles as Bucky Barnes and US Agent John Walker, respectively. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Kevin Feige referred to Bucky as the “de facto leader” for the group.
Hannah John-Kamen also returns after her outing in Ant-Man and the Wasp, flitting back onto our screens as Ghost/Ava Starr.
Pulling the strings for the team will be the enigmatic Val, played by the delightful Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who as we saw in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: is now the Director of the CIA.
Harrison Ford will be making his second MCU appearance as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, following his debut in Captain America: New World Order, also slated for release in 2024.
The Indiana Jones and Star Wars star is replacing William Hurt following his passing in March 2022. Hurt first appeared as Ross way back in 2008, when Edward Norton played our favourite green rage monster in The Incredible Hulk, but by New World Order he has risen to the rank of President of the United States of America.
The Walking Dead and Nope star Steven Yeun was lined up to have a role significant to the MCU the film, but dropped out of the production due to scheduling conflicts as a result of the 2023 Hollywood strikes.
Per Deadline, Yeun had to leave his role because production was pushed back on the Marvel film and he could no longer fit it into his schedule. Speaking to Variety, Yeun elaborated on his departure, explaining: “I think for me, time passing and things shifting kind of pulled me out of it... but Jake [Schreier], I know, is going to do an incredible job.”
Yeun also suggested that the recent Hollywood strikes were also a contributing factor that impacted his decision to leave. That said, he ended by suggesting he could be back in MCU territory soon enough. “I wanna do a Marvel movie,” he told the outlet.
According to Deadline, Yeun's role is set to be replaced by Top Gun: Maverick star Lewis Pullman, although this is yet to be officially confirmed by the studio.
Ayo Edebiri, star of hit kitchen-drama The Bear, also left the film in early 2024 due to scheduling issues. Blockers and Miracle Workers star Geraldine Viswanathan will be taking her place – but the role itself remains undisclosed.
Pugh delighted Marvel fans with a little inside look at the film's shoot in March 2024. Posting to her Instagram account, the star began by admitting that she couldn't share much about what to expect but did provide exclusive looks at her new costume as well as some in-construction sets. Watch the clip below:
Who is making Thunderbolts?
Behind the scenes, Thunderbolts will be directed by Jake Schreier, who previously helmed Paper Towns starring Cara Delevingne and directed episodes of Netflix's recent hit series Beef.
Initial drafts of the script were penned by Eric Pearson, a veteran within the MCU, having written the Black Widow screenplay, as well as Thor: Ragnarok alongside Craig Kyle and Christopher L. Yost.
In March 2023, it was revealed that Lee Sung Jin (Beef) would be taking another pass at the Thunderbolts script, taking over from Pearson. Cut to early 2024, and Pugh revealed that the movie had officially begun filming.
“I feel so honoured that I’ve been able to basically do the most bizarre press tour for both movies [Dune: Part Two and Oppenheimer] at the same time I've just started my next movie,” said the star. “I managed to squeeze this one in, so I feel very grateful that I've managed to juggle all of them at the same time.”
What is the plot of Thunderbolts?
Very little is known about the movie so far, and that includes the plot. We have the briefest of synopses to go on, with the film being described as “a group of antiheroes goes on missions for the government.”
Based on that, we could expect Thunderbolts to be akin to DC’s Suicide Squad (you can choose which iteration comes to mind), but without explosive implants in our protagonist’s craniums.
Given the proximity between Thunderbolts and Captain America: Brave New World, along with the overlapping cast, there’s a good chance that the plots might tie together. However, so far very little is known about Sam Wilson’s film debut as Cap.
Still, new information is surfacing all the time. In August 2023, the movie's director teased that Thunderbolt's plot hopes to shake things up in the MCU - but he was curiously tight-lipped when it came to divulging more information.
"I can't say what it is, but I can say that there is something different," explained Schreier via IGN. "And I think that, again, when you look at something like Beef, there's a specificity of character that then makes the whole thing feel more universal because it comes from something so personal.
"I think that something that was exciting about Thunderbolts is it's not a sequel," he added "It's a new story, and it's a set of characters that maybe we've met a little bit in the MCU before, but this is a very new take on who they are and what brings them together. Probably not what people are expecting from it, but I guess I can't really say more than that."
These themes were reiterated during an interview Russell gave in November 2023 while promoting his new show Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. He said: “It’s not a straightforward Marvel movie as you’ve seen in the past... I think that it’s gonna be a lot of fun but I think it will be something that hopefully Marvel fans will look at and go, ‘Oh OK, this is a little different, let’s go hard at it’.”
Is there a trailer for Thunderbolts?
No, there is no trailer for Thunderbolts yet.
The only glimpse of Thunderbolts we have so far is the line-up picture released along with the initial announcement in June 2022.
Marvel’s Thunderbolts will be released in cinemas on Friday, 25 July 2025.