Formalized at Comic-Con 2022 at the end of last July, the Thunderbolts project seems to be taking shape a little more thanks to information balanced by Justin Kroll, journalist at Deadline, during a podcast where he was invited. He explains that the idea of adapting the Thunderbolts to the cinema came after Marvel had a discussion around the character of Yelena Belova, the new Black Widow, played by Florence Pugh. With a certain charisma and appreciated by the spectators, this new Black Widow has been appointed to be the team leader of the Thunderbolts, which is the equivalent of the Suicide Squad but on the side of Marvel. According to its sources, the film would actually be a spin-off on Yelena Belova who would then lead other characters seen in the MCU like John Walker (US Agent), Zemo (Daniel Brühl) or Taskmaster, let’s be crazy.
Regarding Florence Pugh, her character should actually appear in Thunderbolts, which is basically Marvel’s Suicide Squad. Hopefully the movie will be better. But the idea would be that she leads the team made up of Wyatt Russell and Daniel Brühl, these anti-heroes who are not really good, nor really bad either. Besides, people seem to like Yelena’s character.
If Justin Kroll’s information is verified, it would mean that Marvel Studios, and especially Kevin Feige, would take great liberties with comic books, with a completely changed team. Nothing illogical when you know that in the comics, 90% of the original team led by Helmut Zemo (the son of Baron Zemo) does not exist in the MCU (Scarab, Screaming Mimi, Fixer, Goliath and Opale). The Thunderbolts were originally formed after the void left by the disappearance of the Avengers and the Fantastic Four during the fight with Onslaught. They had all been recruited following their passive with the Avengers, knowing that the team has continued to evolve. However, it will be necessary to wait until July 26, 2024 to see the result on the big screen.
