Marvel fans speculate about the MCU’s ‘Thunderbolts’ line-up

Thunderbolts is finally on track, with an official logo and release date announced last weekend. The superhero genre is full of characters trying to do the right thing and play by the rules, but sometimes it’s fun to see characters whose moral compass doesn’t always point north. That concept is the idea behind Thunderbolts. Now, Marvel fans are wondering which “villains” will be cast in the movie.

Little is known about the premise of the film, other than it will close out phase five of the MCU. There have been many versions of the Thunderbolts within the comics, and though they often set out to act in a villainous way, they often end up as a force for good. The major difference between them and the goody two-shoes Avengers is their methods, which are often far more brutal.

They may work similarly to DC’s Suicide Squad, in which a somewhat corrupt government agency brings together the less desirable powered beings in order to do the dirty work that other heroes cannot. We have already seen an enigmatic Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) in both The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Black Widow seemingly recruiting the disgraced John Walker and the grieving Yelena Belova.

But who will actually appear? The MCU has no shortage of villains, or anti-heroes, as they may often be described. Seeing as in the comics the group is started by Baron Zemo, it seems highly likely he will also appear in the film. As mentioned above, we have seen the Contessa approach John Walker, and Yelena Belova as well, so there’s a high chance they may also appear on the list, though fans have their doubts regarding the latter.

There are still a lot of other options out there in the MCU, and fans wonder what the full line up will eventually look like.

Many weighed in on the matter, and though it seems like Zemo is a must for almost everyone there are some differing opinions when it comes to the rest of the cast.

This user feels another superhero fail similar to Sokovia may occur, prompting the anti-heroes into action.

This user feels we will see characters that have already been introduced in the MCU.

These characters tend to be the most popular.

This user disagrees with the idea of the Winter Soldier being added to the list.

A Thor: Love and Thunder post-credits scene showed us that the mighty Greek hero Hercules has joined the MCU.

Many MCU fans were disappointed by the portrayal of Taskmasker and hope never to see the character again.

There seems to be a lot of noise for the return of some of the villains from the Netflix Daredevil series now that the character is considered MCU canon.

Though we have yet to meet these heroes, a lot of fans of the comics want to see these yet-to-be-adapted characters join the MCU.

It’s still a ways off until production even starts, but it is likely that over the next year we will get some hints as to who will be joining the team. To see them in action, fans will have to wait even longer, as the release date is set for July 26, 2024.