As Marvel fans prepare for the 2025 release of Thunderbolts*, star David Harbour has teased what we can expect in terms of the dynamics between the film’s main characters.
Harbour — who appears in the upcoming Marvel entry alongside Florence Pugh, Wyatt Russell and Sebastian Stan, among others — said the relationship between members of the titular superhero team is less than pleasant, which he believes is actually the source of “the fun of the movie.” The actor, who will portray Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, a super-soldier and Russian counterpart to Captain America, said he doesn’t “know that any of [the Thunderbolts members] get along.”
“They’re thrust together as the worst people in the worst situations,” Harbour added in a recent interview with Inverse. “This person hates this person, hates this person, hates this person, and is annoyed and wants to get rid of this person.” The Stranger Things star — who is currently promoting his role in another superhero title, DC’s Creature Commandos — went on to describe the frosty team dynamics at play in Thunderbolts* as “the opposite of a love triangle,” adding that the interactions between each member are filled with “provocation.”
It’s the kind of salty banter we’ve already been teased with, since all the trailers for Thunderbolts* show a group of superheroes who are constantly butting heads and bickering, with hilarious results. The only somewhat friendly relationship we do see is between Harbour’s character and Yelena Belova, since he raised her as his child. The seeming unprofessionalism of the team also makes sense given the movie’s plot, which sees a rag-tag group of antiheroes (clearly unversed in Avengers etiquette) tapped by CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus) to complete a mysterious mission.
With minimal experience in the superhero game and diverse and colorful backgrounds, it stands to reason that members of Thunderbolts would perhaps be reluctant to play nice, especially as de Fontaine’s dubious scheme seems to be reaching a head. While his onscreen counterpart might be averse to his teammates, Harbour himself has nothing but love for her co-stars, whom he said he “instantly connected with.” The actor said this connection allowed the banter between the Thunderbolts to “really translate on the screen,” and with such a starry cast, he’s sure to be right on the money.
Alongside Harbour, Pugh and Louis-Dreyfus, Thunderbolts* will also star Scarlett Johansson — reprising her role as Black Widow — and Lewis Pullman as Bob/Sentry, who has been touted as the MCU’s most powerful villain.
In other Thunderbolts* news, Stan, who will Bucky Barnes, said he hopes to one day “be in a scene” with Robert Downey Jr., while de Fontaine was revealed to be the person who bought the Avengers Tower following the events of Age of Ultron. For his part, Harbour revealed in September that the plot of Thunderbolts* will explain why there is an asterisk in the title. Thunderbolts* hits cinemas in May of next year, and will serve as the final film in Phase Five of the MCU.