The Thunderbolts are officially coming to the MCU, as Jake Schreier is known to be directing a movie based on the anti-hero/anti-villain team. It’s still early days on the project, but we’ve already got a decent idea of the group’s roster. According to reports, the ensemble cast will include the likes of Zemo (Daniel Bruhl), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell).
The film will also be good to Black Widow fans, too, as it’s believed that not only will Florence Pugh be back as Yelena Belova but so will Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster. And yet folks still aren’t happy with just these two returning as it turns out a lot of people are hoping for another breakout character from the 2021 movie to feature in Thunderbolts somewhere. Namely, Natasha and Yelena’s adoptive pa, Alexei Shostakov aka Red Guardian (David Harbour).
Redditor Giff95 got people sharing the love for Alexei on the Marvel Studios subreddit by asking fans where they think he could be utilized in the franchise next. And everyone had the same answer…
Yes, fans are convinced that Red Guardian should appear in Thunderbolts alongside his younger daughter, although the winning theory seems to be that he may be the villain of the piece.
This idea goes that he could fight the Thunderbolts as part of the Winter Guard, the Russian equivalent to the Avengers.
But he doesn’t have to be a bad guy in the film. Others feel Yelena might turn to Alexei for help.
Whatever role he plays in Thunderbolts, let’s hope Alexei’s not just the comic relief this time.
Alternatively, different folks think Red Guardians might show up elsewhere. Like the Secret Invasion TV series.
Or, now here’s a wild concept, maybe even in the next Deadpool movie?
With Harbour being such a screen favorite these days, thanks to his turn as Hopper on Stranger Things, Marvel would be fools not to bring him back as Alexei soon. But will it happen in Thunderbolts? Well, Black Widow‘s Eric Pearsson is writing the script so he may well want to play with a lot of the same toys again. Only time will tell.
