It looks like the Thunderbolts may be the next team to emerge in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. According to Deadline, Jake Schreier has been signed to direct the Thunderbolts movie. Schreier is best known for helming Robot & Frank, but he was previously a music video director who worked with Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar. More recently, Schreier directed episodes of Beef for Netflix. Deadline’s report notes that Schreier’s pitch for the movie ” blew away execs” and landed him the gig.
So who are the Thunderbolts? As created by Kurt Busiek and artist Mark Bagley in 1996, the original Thunderbolts were actually the Masters of Evil, a supervillain group that rivaled the Avengers. With the Avengers and Fantastic Four believed to be dead in the wake of the Onslaught incident, Baron Zemo and his team masqueraded as heroes for their own ends. However, many of Zemo’s teammates soon discovered that they enjoyed being heroes more than bad guys. The team was ultimately split between Zemo’s faction and the characters who wanted to redeem themselves.
The Masters of Evil have never appeared in the MCU, but Zemo had a major role in both Captain America: Civil War and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The character lineup also greatly expanded after the initial team led by Zemo. And many of the team’s members have already appeared in the MCU.
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Deadline’s report suggests that the character lineup could include Zemo, U.S. Agent/John Walker, Yelena Belova, Ghost, Taskmaster, The Abomination, and possibly even the Winter Soldier. According to the report, “Marvel has been in touch with certain individuals who are already part of the MCU to make sure to keep an opening in their schedules for next summer when it shoots.”
There is also some evidence that the build up for the film began in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, when Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Valentina Allegra de Fontaine recruited U.S. Agent. The Black Widow post-credits scene established that Yelena Belova was already working for Valentina. Black Widow screenwriter Eric Pearson is writing the script for Thunderbolts, which only strengthens the theory that Valentina will be in charge of the team.
Who do you want to see in the Thunderbolts movie? Let us know in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading: Thunderbolts Omnibus Vol. 1 HC
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