David Harbour reveals what he wants to see from Red Guardian in ‘Thunderbolts’

Avengers: The Kang Dynasty may be the next big Marvel team-up movie that we’re all eyeing, but let’s not forget that it isn’t quite the next team-up film, period. That honor goes to Thunderbolts, which will focus on the escapades of Valentina Allegra de Fontaine’s darker answer to Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

The Contessa has quite the cast of characters on her hands; from the ever-controversial U.S. Agent to the wisecracking Yelena Belova via the Winter Soldier himself. The potential for personalities to clash in Thunderbolts is, appropriately, electrifying.

No member of the team seems as destined to make full use of such a spark as Red Guardian, the Captain America-sized goofball and adoptive father to Yelena. The super soldier had a marked screen presence when he first appeared in Black Widow, an accomplishment that David Harbour will hope to emulate in Thunderbolts, hopefully with a dash of something a bit higher-octane.

In an interview with The Playlist‘s podcast The Discourse, Harbour remarked that Red Guardian is long overdue for a chance to really show off his combat skills; he may be a shoe-in for comedy relief, but he’s more than capable of packing a punch.

“I’d like to see him be a little bit more of a badass as well. I’d like to see those fighting skills, which we see a little bit with Taskmaster, but as messed up as he is, he does have the super serum, and he knows this Russian Sambo technique, and I think we could see a lot more color in that department in terms of his range as a fighter.”

Harbour also touched on his character’s potential to evolve; given Red Guardian’s recent release from prison, the world is his oyster.

“And I’d like to see where he can go now that he’s out of prison and he’s got more hope for his life, like who he might become. There’s a lot of potential and a lot of opportunity.”

With Black Widow cohorts and adversaries at his side now, Red Guardian is shaping up to be one of the team’s biggest X-factors, and we hope the same applies to the movie as a whole, given Phase Five’s desperate need for a face-lift going forward.

Thunderbolts will release to cinemas on July 26, 2024.