It’s not quite official yet, but all the signs are pointing to the Thunderbolts coming to the MCU. There’s been a ton of evidence to suggest that the team of supervillains press-ganged into doing good by General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross will be set-up in both Black Widow and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and it’s then believed the gang will star in their own Disney Plus series.
This lines up with We Got This Covered’s own intel as well, with our sources – who told us that Taskmaster would be the villain in Black Widow back in March – also giving us one extra name that isn’t being reported yet as linked to the project but who will almost certainly show up. So far, several characters are being brought up in regards to news of the Thunderbolts, including Daniel Bruhl’s Zemo, Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell) and Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh). But we’ve now heard that another villain from even further back in the franchise’s past will also feature.
Sources close to WGTC – the same ones who told us Daniel Radcliffe is being eyed to play Moon Knight – say that Sam Rockwell is expected to return as Justin Hammer for the Thunderbolts TV show. We’ve been told that he’ll likely fill the role of the team’s Q, aiding the Thunderbolts with their tech and equipment.
This would be Rockwell’s first appearance in the MCU since 2014’s Marvel One-Shot All Hail the King, which followed on from his debut as Hammer in 2010’s Iron Man 2. References to HammerTech in Luke Cage confirmed that Tony Stark’s old rival is still out there though and now, it seems Marvel is ready to bring him back.
If you’ll recall, we told you in April that the studio still had big plans for Hammer, and now we know that these plans are tied into the Thunderbolts. By the sounds of it, he won’t be enlisted as a member of the field team but will still feature in a fan-pleasing supporting role as their tech support. Details on his involvement beyond that, though, remain unclear. Still, given that this intel comes to us from the same sources who also told us National Treasure 3Â was in development months ago, which has now been confirmed, we’ve no reason to doubt it.
But circling back to the aforementioned team, and Black Widow hits theaters this May while The Falcon and the Winter Soldier drops on D+ this fall. So, by the end of the year we should know a lot more about how the Thunderbolts will be formed in the MCU.
