Steven Yeun on Exiting Thunderbolts: ‘I Wanna Do a Marvel Movie’

Steven Yeun has spoken out about exiting Thunderbolts and how he’s sorry he won’t be part of the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movie.

Speaking with Variety, the actor explained what led him to pull out of the anticipated Marvel Studios film before expressing how regretful he was about having to leave.

“I think for me, time passing and things shifting kind of pulled me out of it,” Yeun noted. “But Jake [Schreier], I know, is going to do an incredible job … I wanna do a Marvel movie … It took a lot of drafts on email to make sure that I conveyed the sincerity of how sorry I was to have to back out.”

Yeun was then asked what other Marvel roles he’d like to play in the future, though he was cautious about revealing his hopes.

“I think it’s too early to say that,” the actor said. “I probably pissed off too many people leaving, so I’m just gonna say, ‘Thank you for having me’ … I have some ideas. But I heard if you put it out there, you’ll never get it, so I’ll keep it close to my chest.”

Based on the Marvel Comics team of the same name, the upcoming Thunderbolts movie unites a squad of anti-heroes and reformed villains from across the MCU. The film stars Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr/Ghost, Wyatt Russell as John Walker/U.S. Agent, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova/Black Widow, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, and Olga Kurylenko as Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster.

Additionally, Harrison Ford is attached to reprise his role from Captain America: Brave New World. Meanwhile, The Bear star and MCU newcomer Ayo Edebiri has been cast in an undisclosed role.

Who is directing Thunderbolts?

Jake Schreier directs Thunderbolts from script written by Eric Pearson and re-written by Lee Sung Jin. Production was expected to begin in the summer of 2023 ahead of a late-2024 release date. As previously mentioned, however, things were pushed back as a result of the strikes. Thunderbolts is now scheduled to open in theaters on July 25, 2025.