The Thunderbolts* teaser trailer has at long last been officially released — so, quick, everyone, pretend you didn’t watch the bootleg that leaked online weeks ago! With the second of the MCU’s 2025 movies fast approaching, Marvel is ready to ramp up the hype for the release with this first look that gives away just the right amount — as well as holding some major things back.
A thinly veiled Marvel twist on DC’s Suicide Squad set-up, Thunderbolts* brings together a group of remarkably amoral people to fight the battles the Avengers never would. The biggest name on their roster, of course, has to be Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes, who himself is an occasional Avenger and — as the trailer makes clear — a governmental sell-out at this point. Even so, it’s not the Winter Soldier who’s leading this pack. Enter Florence Pugh‘s Yelena Belova, for her second MCU movie appearance. And this time she’s had a notable promotion.
Bucky who? Florence Pugh’s key role in Thunderbolts* means it’s officially Black Widow 2
The Thunderbolts* teaser’s first, and perhaps most significant, revelation is its opening scene. A lengthy clip from what looks to be Red Guardian’s introduction in the film, it sees Yelena visit her “father” Alexei Shostakov to reflect on the listlessness she’s been feeling in the wake of Natasha Romanoff’s death. By opening the trailer in this way, Marvel is clearly telling us that, although the film might be called Thunderbolts*, this will be Yelena’s film first and foremost.
While Black Widow is only a mid-tier entry in the MCU’s canon, the one universally adored addition to the lore it gave us was Pugh’s Yelena as a little sister for Nat. Just look at how her guest spot in Hawkeye was many people’s favorite part of the show (yes, even more than Kingpin’s comeback). It must’ve seemed like a no-brainer for the studio to build Thunderbolts* around Yelena, then, especially given Pugh’s enormous internet popularity.
Even so, pitching the film as a clear sequel to Black Widow in this way is a bold decision, given that Black Widow didn’t perform all that well to start with (although obviously it did release amid the first wave of the pandemic). We saw a similar gamble fall flat recently when Disney Plus breakouts Ms. Marvel and Monica Rambeau failed to convince viewers to see The Marvels. If Thunderbolts* similarly stumbles at the box office, it may be time for Marvel to think long and hard about whether its next-gen heroes are really strong enough to carry this franchise on their backs.
On the other hand, if Thunderbolts* does well after promoting itself so much as a Florence Pugh movie then the MCU’s redemption will be solidified. Yelena is so prominent in the trailer it even makes you wonder if that’s what the asterisk — which David Harbour promises has a “very cool” explanation — is really about. Maybe the full title is Thunderbolts* *LOL JK, it’s actually Black Widow 2. We’ll find out when it blasts into theaters on May 2, 2025.