Credit: Marvel StudiosWhat is Marvel doing?
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Avengers: Endgame (2019) marked the departure of several pivotal Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) Avengers. Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man/Tony Stark made the ultimate sacrifice for the greater good, while Chris Evans’ Captain America/Steve Rogers retired and passed his iconic Vibranium shield to Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson/Falcon.
The upcoming Captain America: Brave New World film and Thunderbolts* both seem to continue the storyline from the 2021 Disney+ (Disney Plus) series Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
That show followed Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) as he heals from his HYDRA past and shows Sam Wilson fully embracing his new role as Captain America — and now both Thunderbolts* and Captain America will chart their more individual (thought likely still intertwined) journeys.
Related: Disney Releases Touching Eulogy for Late Marvel Legend
Now, the Valentina Allegra de Fontaine actress from Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, has taken to social media to claim that Marvel is “filming on Mars” for the Marvel Comics-inspired Thunderbolts* in this short video.
This post is certainly odd, as not only does she spend the entire video fully “convinced” that she is on set on Mars, but the very fact that she’s actually posting a video of herself on set, while in costume, is a wild premise in and of itself.
Considering Disney and Marvel Studios’ well-known penchant for coming down hard on their stars who so much as leak the tiniest detail about Marvel studio projects, this update is certainly a first. To say a production like Thunderbolts* would be heavily under wraps under threat of Marvel President Kevin Feige’s wrath is a massive understatement.
Cosmic Marvel via X/Twitter reported on this intriguing new video:
Julia Louis-Dreyfus has shared a new video from the set of ‘THUNDERBOLTS*’
“Marvel really couldn’t afford a green screen, so they flew us all to mars … go Thunderbolts!”
Julia Louis-Dreyfus has shared a new video from the set of ‘THUNDERBOLTS*’
“Marvel really couldn’t afford a green screen, so they flew us all to mars … go Thunderbolts!” pic.twitter.com/vtemXSqIhN
— Cosmic Marvel (@cosmic_marvel) August 2, 2024
Interestingly, all of this might be tied to that newly added asterisk in the Thunderbolts* title, which implies that there’s a caveat to the movie, or at least the title, of “Thunderbolts”.
Considering that the movie has been in development for a while, with several behind-the-scenes changes alluded to by Kevin Feige at the recent San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) including a distancing of the group from Harrison Ford’s Thaddeus Ross/Thunderbolt Ross, AKA President Ross of the United States of America in Captain America: Brave New World, this new “asterisk-ed” edition of the original Thunderbolts movie might just be something else entirely.
What game are Disney and Marvel truly playing, here? Only time will tell.
At present, Thunderbolts* is scheduled for release on May 2, 2025, though this date is tentative.
Are you excited to see Thunderbolts*? Are you indifferent? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
More on Thunderbolts*
Given that Ayo Edebiri and Steven Yeun (initially cast as Sentry) have reportedly exited the project, and with the notable absence of Harrison Ford’s Thunderbolt Ross and Daniel Brühl’s Baron Zemo, it appears the Thunderbolts* MCU film is facing multiple casting and production issues, alongside a potential shift in direction.
Currently, the cast for the Thunderbolts* film includes Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Val (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), Sentry Robert Reynolds (no actor confirmed yet), Ghost/Taskmaster/Ava Starr (Hannah John-Kamen), US Agent/John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), and Red Guardian/Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour).