There came a day when Earth’s defenders weren’t noble, weren’t clean-cut, and certainly weren’t trying to save the world out of pure altruism. That day belongs to the Thunderbolts* — Marvel’s ragtag collection of anti-heroes making their long-awaited debut on the big screen. With just two weeks to go before the film lands in cinemas, Marvel has released a final trailer that offers the clearest glimpse yet into the chaos and reluctant unity driving the team’s mission.
Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova leads a cast of morally grey figures that includes Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Wyatt Russell as John Walker, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, and Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster. All of them have blood on their hands. All of them owe something. And now, under the direction of Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, they’re being handed what might be their last shot at redemption, or just survival.
Rather than banding together out of mutual admiration or shared belief, the Thunderbolts* are thrown into a reluctant partnership to face a threat they might not be equipped to handle: the Void, a destructive force played by Lewis Pullman. The trailer positions their challenge not just as physical but existential, with each member confronting the wreckage of their pasts while trying to forge something resembling unity. “We can’t stop him alone. No one can,” Yelena says. “But we can find a way, together.”
Intercut with the team’s moments of reckoning is a cover of David Bowie and Queen’s “Under Pressure,” underscoring the film’s central tension, how people broken in different ways respond to a new kind of threat when the traditional protectors are gone. The Avengers are no longer an option. With Tony Stark and Natasha Romanoff dead, Steve Rogers retired, Bruce Banner off-world, and Thor gone walkabout, Earth has no gods, no billionaire geniuses, no legends left.
Thunderbolts* will close out Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and bridge into Phase Six, which begins with Fantastic Four: First Steps. Many of the Thunderbolts cast members (Pugh, Stan, Harbour, John-Kamen, Russell, and Pullman) are already slated to reappear in Avengers: Doomsday. Whether they make it there intact is another question entirely. For now, this is the team. Not the heroes we asked for, but the ones left standing.
Marvel’s Thunderbolts* strikes cinemas on 1 May.
Natalie is a big fan of anything related to movies, TV shows, and anime — you name it. When she’s not reading or being a dedicated cinephile, she’s probably playing gacha and tabletop games, or daydreaming of Caleb from Love and Deepspace.
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