‘Thunderbolts’ may have lost Ayo Edebiri, but someone else from ‘The Bear’ has quietly taken her place

If you ever feel guilty about bingeing The Bear over and over, don’t worry, because clearly it’s something that Kevin Feige does a lot too. And he’s pretty much the biggest producer in Hollywood these days, so clearly you’re doing something right. No, Feige hasn’t spoken publicly about his apparent obsession with the acclaimed Hulu show, but it’s entirely obvious thanks to the amount of people from the series he has hired of late. Or tried to hire, in the case of would-be Thunderbolts star Ayo Edebiri.

Edebiri joined the cast of the ensemble anti-hero movie back in January 2023 and fans remained excited to see her hop into the Marvel universe for the next 12 months… until January 2024 revealed that she had ultimately exited the project due to scheduling conflicts caused by filming delays brought on by the strikes. Determined to Bear-ify the MCU, however, Feige went and cast Cousin himself Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing in The Fantastic Four. Ironically, shortly after Edebiri threw herself out of Thunderbolts, another The Bear alum has been brought aboard.

Thunderbolts has swapped Ayo Edebiri for another The Bear veteran who could steer it to success

No, it’s not Jeremy Allen White, as we know he deliberately tanked his meeting with Marvel Studios because he has no interest in making superhero movies. Likewise, it’s not Matty Matheson either, although he’s made it clear he doesn’t share White’s opinion, and would love to be invited to join the MCU. The Bear veteran added to Thunderbolts while none of us were looking is actually the series’ showrunner herself, Joanna Calo.

The Hollywood Reporter outed the news that Cal has been hired to beef up the script for Thunderbolts, which the trade notes adds a “flair of prestige” to a project that didn’t necessarily have it before. Maybe now we should properly sit up and pay attention when director Jake Schreier tells us that his film will be unlike anything we’ve seen in the MCU before. Sorry, Jake, we didn’t mean to be rude, but it’s just something we’ve heard from literally either other MCU director. But maybe this time there’s something to it.

In contrast, original Thunderbolts scribe Eric Pearson has been moved over to The Fantastic Four, starring Moss-Bachrach. In other words, The Bear cast and crew’s takeover of the Marvel universe is almost complete. Now we just need Ayo Edebiri — whose mysterious Thunderbolts role has been filled by actress Geraldine Viswanathan – to come back in another project. Can we find her an Irish superhero to play so she can proudly represent her people?