Steven Yeun was one of the most exciting new castings in the Marvel Cinematic Universe at a time when more and more actors seem to be turning away from superhero films. Naturally, the news that he was dropping out of Thunderbolts was a bitter pill to swallow for Marvel aficionados on the heels of a frustrating 2023. Still, there’s hope yet.
The Nope actor isn’t completely done with the MCU — or at least, not if he has any say in the matter. Yeun told Variety he still wants to do a Marvel movie, but scheduling conflicts pulled him out of the upcoming antihero team-up project. Making sure he didn’t ruffle anyone’s feathers and threaten his future in the franchise, Yeun confessed to writing and rewriting his resignation email “to make sure that [he] conveyed the sincerity of how sorry [he] was to have to back out.”
As for where we might see him next in the MCU, the 40-year-old believes the wound is a bit too fresh to be making projections just yet.
“I think it’s too early to say [what future Marvel movie I would like to be a part of]. I probably pissed off too many people leaving, so I’m just gonna say, ‘Thank you for having me.’”
Our educated guess for Yeun’s possible return to the MCU
Steven Yeun’s association with the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been connected from the start with his time on the acclaimed Netflix show, Beef. The director of Thunderbolts, Jake Schreier, worked closely with Yeun on six episodes of the series, in which the actor played a lead role. Shortly after reports emerged that Yeun would be joining the superhero franchise, another Beef alum became connected with the film as well.
One month following Yeun’s Thunderbolts casting news, Beef creator and scribe Lee Sung Jin boarded the project to rewrite the script from a draft that Black Widow and Thor: Ragnarok screenwriter Eric Pearson had previously been working on. The professional relationships bred in the making of Beef seemed to be paying off, as Lee confirmed his involvement came at Schreier’s request. It’s not a stretch to assume the same could be true of Yeun’s attachment to the film.
Should Thunderbolts do well at the box office when it comes out in the summer of 2025, there might be a chance for the Schreier/Lee partnership to continue flourishing under the Marvel brand, which, in turn, is also the most likely scenario for the hoped-for return of Steven Yeun. There’s just one issue.
Why James Gunn could spoil Marvel’s plans to bring back Steven Yeun
Kevin Feige and Co. will surely be looking toward upcoming productions like Thunderbolts to help ease the pain left by a disastrous 2023, which increased the pressure on Schreier and Lee. An already precarious scenario, only made worse by the looming comeback of James Gunn to the superhero market, happening just 14 days before the release of Thunderbolts when Superman: Legacy hits theaters July 11.
So many moving parts factor into the goings-on of the spectacular Marvel machine, but there is one that reigns above all others. Movies must perform well. Regardless of which actors are cast or which creatives are tapped, if the movies aren’t connecting with audiences, nothing else really matters. And, at the moment, Marvel is not enjoying the best track record.
The underwhelming performances of The Marvels and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, the downfall of Jonathan Majors, and the double Hollywood strikes made this past year especially difficult for the company. 2024, however, is bound to be reformative.
Marvel seems to at least be attempting to course-correct for the future by pumping the brakes on a dizzyingly packed release schedule and giving Deadpool 3 the monopoly over MCU theater releases for the new year. Despite the best of intentions, though, Gunn’s highly anticipated return with his revamped DC Universe could ultimately spoil Feige’s plans. For Marvel, there was virtually no worse time for the relaunch of its new and improved eternal rival. Let’s just hope Thunderbolts is up for the challenge.
