The secret is out: Marvel Studios is producing a Thunderbolts film.
Though the movie is being kept tightly under wraps – including which characters will be appearing for certain – we know that it will tell the story of a group of villains, who will be sent on missions by the government.
Basically, it sounds like Marvel’s answer to the infamous DC group the Suicide Squad, and we’re excited to see how it pans out.
Though we don’t yet know who will be starring, Deadline has also reported that Marvel has been in touch with certain people who are already in the MCU, to make sure that they have availability for next summer when the film shoots.
With characters like Baron Zemo and Yelena Belova already making regular appearances in MCU TV series like Hawkeye and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, they seem a shoo-in for the role.
Other characters from previous films may include Ant Man’s Ghost, Taskmaster, The Abomination (whose comeback was recently teased in the trailer for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law) and the Winter Soldier himself.
The Thunderbolts were introduced into the Marvel comics approximately 25 years ago as a group of heroes who, led by Baron Zemo, were supervillains in disguise.
In their first showing, the Thunderbolts went onto betray the Avengers and Fantastic Four (in a twist closely guarded by Marvel at the time), but since then they have teamed up with superheroes, been led by superheroes and gone on numerous missions for General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross – leaving plenty of options for Marvel’s scriptwriters to work them into the MCU.
In addition to the plot, Deadline has reported that Jake Schreier has been signed on as director, with Black Widow’s writer Eric Pearson penning the script. Marvel’s president, Kevin Feige, will be executive producing.
Though you might not have heard of him, Schreier’s pedigree is impeccable: he started his career directing music videos for Kendrick Lamar and Kanye West before making his film debut with his Sundance Festival award-winning 2012 film Robot & Frank.
Since then, he’s directed the 2015 film Paper Towns (the one starring Cara Delevigne as a manic pixie dream girl) and has just finished filming the Netflix dramedy series Beef.
