Fan-Favorite Avenger Returns to MCU in Surprising Reveal

No, we don’t know what the asterisk means — yet.

The cast of Suicide Squad 2016 walking through the rain — Credit: Warner Bros.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), owned by The Walt Disney Company, is currently progressing through its Phase Five, which is part of the Multiverse Saga. At the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC), Marvel President Kevin Feige outlined the future direction of the MCU.

L-R: Ghost, Taskmaster, U.S. Agent, Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, and Yelena Belova — Credit: Marvel Studios

Phase Five is set to conclude with the release of Thunderbolts*, a feature film inspired by the Marvel Comics series, drawing a parallel to DC’s Suicide Squad franchise.

Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) using a weapon in 'Thunderbolts*' — Credit: Marvel Studios

After Tony Stark/Iron Man’s (Robert Downey Jr.) heroic sacrifice to defeat Thanos (Josh Brolin) and Chris Evans’ exit from his role as Steve Rogers, passing on the Captain America mantle, a significant opportunity has emerged for new superhero teams like the Fantastic Four and the X-Men to take on more influential roles.

Marvel’s counterpoint to these traditional heroes is their team of antiheroes and villains, known as the Thunderbolts, inspired by the similarly named Marvel Comics group.

Lewis Pullman as "Bob" in 'Thunderbolts*' — Credit: Marvel Studios

In line with earlier reports that the new Thunderbolts movie (styled Thunderbolts*) would take on a more Black Widow 2 role and follow up the original Black Widow — rather like how Captain America: Civil War (2016) was a Captain America movie — it seems that the new Thunderbolts film is indeed involving Black Widow in a shocking way.

L-R: David Harbour as Red Guardian, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Sebastian Stan as Bucky, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, and Wyatt Russell as John Walker — Credit: Marvel Studios

Marvel’s Very Own Suicide Squad

Yes, Marvel’s forming their own DC Studios-esque team of antivillainous misfits.

This time, it appears that Thunderbolts* is welcoming a former Avenger into their ranks (of a sort), as Scarlett Johansson, who famously plays Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow in the MCU, is listed as an executive producer for the upcoming movie after the release of the first teaser trailer.

According to Variety‘s report at the time of the trailer’s release, Johansson serves as an executive producer alongside Louis D’Esposito, Brian Chapek, and Jason Tamez. The provided blurb reads as follows:

Based on Kurt Busiek’s comic series of the same name, “Thunderbolts*” is directed by Jake Schreier, with Kevin Feige producing. Louis D’Esposito, Brian Chapek, Jason Tamez and Scarlett Johansson serve as executive producers. The screenplay is written by Eric Pearson (“Black Widow,” “Thor: Ragnarok,” “Transformers One,” “The Fantastic Four: First Steps”), “Beef” creator Lee Sung Jin and co-showrunner of “The Bear” Joanna Calo.

This certainly is a surprise, as the initial plan for Thunderbolts* was to deliberately steer the story away from Black Widow, seeing as the film was controversially released by Disney to stream on Disney+ (Disney Plus), beginning a legal dispute between The Walt Disney Company and Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff actress Johansson herself.

A new set of writers was hired in place of Pearson following this — it seems, specifically to avoid Black Widow 2. Now, however, it looks like the ex-Avenger is more intertwined than ever with this executive producer credit.

Does this mean Scarlett Johansson will return to the MCU in some capacity, even if she plays another character like Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom/Victor von Doom, or the rumored Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff star Elizabeth Olsen returning as Virginia Vision (the White Vision’s robot wife in the planned Vision Quest series)?

Only time will tell.

Are you excited for Thunderbolts*? Share your thoughts with us below in the comments!

More on the Thunderbolts*

The cast for the upcoming Thunderbolts film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) features an exciting lineup, including Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova/Black Widow, and David Harbour as Alexei Shostakovich/Red Guardian. Olga Kurylenko will portray Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster, while Hannah John-Kamen takes on the role of Ava Starr/Ghost.

Wyatt Russell will appear as John Walker/U.S. Agent, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus reprises her role as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. Directed by Jake Schreier, the film is set to delve into the complex dynamics of this intriguing team of antiheroes and villains.