Moviefone Editorial

Tag: Olga Kurylenko

‘Turbulence’ Exclusive Interview: Kelsey Grammer
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Opening in theaters, On Demand and Digital December 12th is the new thriller ‘Turbulence‘, which was directed by Claudio Fäh (‘No Way Up’), and stars Hera Hilmar (‘Mortal Engines’), Jeremy Irvine (‘War Horse’), Kelsey Grammer (‘The Marvels’), and Olga Kurylenko (‘Thunderbolts*’).
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Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Kelsey Grammer about his work on ‘Turbulence’, his first reaction to the screenplay, shooting the balloon scenes, his character, and working with the cast and the director, as well as telling us about his experience shooting the upcoming ‘Avengers: Doomsday’.

Kelsey Grammer as “Harry” in the action thriller ‘Turbulence’, a Lionsgate release. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.

You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Grammer and Olga Kurylenko.

Related Article: Kelsey Grammer Talks ‘Murder Company’ and Playing Beast in ‘The Marvels’

Kelsey Grammer stars in ‘Turbulence’.

Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about your first reaction to the screenplay?

Kelsey Grammer: Well, I liked it because it’s a classic exercise to say, “Okay, let’s take an action movie and make everybody sit in a box and see what happens.” So, it’s a perfect overlay on what’s an emotional situation anyway. Because of the cramped space, emotions tend to get a little higher, a little quicker, a little more frenzied. There’s a sense of claustrophobia about it. So yeah, it’s a good device and I think it bore fruit. You’re sitting there going with one person’s a liar, one person’s an absolute scoundrel, and one guy’s a complete innocent, and the other’s just a nice person who got taken for a bit of a ride and is innocent. It’s cool to see how that plays out.

MF: Can you talk about how you shot the balloon scenes?

KG: Yeah, it’s very confined. Honestly, the whole thing was shot in a basket. It really was. Everything I did was just in a basket. It was on a green screen, on a soundstage. We did one thing outside, like the very first scene where I’d say, “Oh, hi, here’s somebody else coming.” Then they just hoisted the basket up with a crane, I think. I said something like, “Here we go.” But it was mostly in that basket. It was fun. I had a cast on my foot at the time. I’d just had surgery on my foot, so I was limited in movement. So that was one of the things that made it appealing to do the film as well, because we weren’t going to be moving very far. It was just the weirdest little place in Hampstead Park. But it was cool. It was nice to be out there for just that one scene, and then we were inside the rest of the time.

(L to R) Director Claudio Fäh, Hera Hilmar and Jeremy Irvine behind the scenes of the action thriller ‘Turbulence’, a Lionsgate release. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.

MF: Can you talk about how you approached playing Harry?

KG: So, he’s like an avuncular character. He’s got a bit of wisdom. I haven’t seen the whole film, but when the truth starts to come out about the guy and all that, there’s a couple of eye rolls that an older gentleman knows, “Why be such an idiot? Why be so stupid as a young man? If you love this person, what possess you to do such a thing?” But of course, it’s the stuff the history books are filled with. It’s an old story, but my character is a gentleman, and he likes the young wife. I love that about it. He just says, “You’re going to be okay.” I think that’s great.

MF: Can you talk about working with the rest of the cast?

KG: Yeah, they were all pros. Wonderful. Everybody kind of knew what they were doing. We’d talk a little bit and rehearse a little bit and figure out what we thought was the right move, because there was a choreography involved with the cameras inside the gondola as well and where the camera operator was going to be with the lens. There was a little bit of stuff to figure out traffic-wise. But mostly, everybody showed up ready to work and they all have their note to play. So, it wasn’t hugely challenging. We got Olga then the husband, the scoundrel, Hera the hero. It was lovely. Yeah, it was a good group and we got along well, so that was nice.

(L to R) Jeremy Irvine as “Zach” and Hera Hilmar as “Emmy” in the action thriller ‘Turbulence’, a Lionsgate release. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.

MF: What was your experience like collaborating with director Claudio Fäh on set?

KG: He knew what he was looking for. So, it was easy to say, “Yeah, okay, cool.” The only thing they were worried about was when I said I want to sing this Schubert Corral piece, the one, “Not quite his age”. I sang it back at Julliard, my first year at Julliard we would sit around in choir and sing. It’s such a beautiful piece of music, I thought. They said, “We’re nervous about paying for the rights.” I said, “It’s got to be eminent domain. Schubert died a long time ago. You’re going to be okay.” So, we kept it, and I was really excited about that.

MF: Finally, rumor is that the ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ trailer will be dropping soon. You’ve been on some big sets throughout your career, but was this the biggest and what was it like working with the Russo brothers and the rest of the cast?

KG: Very interesting. Yeah, it probably is, except I think maybe ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’, where I did Beast, that was amazing. I was picked up by a cab driver at the airport my first day, the night I flew in, and he said, “You want me to drive you by the set?” I replied, “Yeah, sure. Why not?” So, we start driving and then I see this on the horizon behind a silhouetted ridge line, I see lights, lights everywhere. It seemed like the whole horizon was lit up. Then he said, “Do you know there’s not a crane left in all of Canada because they’re all here?” Then we came up and over the rise and there was a blue screen version of the famous prison, and then right next to it was the actual prison, Alcatraz, over like three football fields. That just blew me away. When we were shooting, they would take cars, light them on fire, hoist them up on a crane and have the crane just swing them and then release them. Flaming cars were flying right by us, and you could feel the heat. So, it was an extraordinary experience.

Editorial Note: Krisily Fernstrom conducted this interview and contributed to this article.

‘Avengers: Doomsday’. © 2024 20th Century Studios / © and ™ 2024 MARVEL.

What is the plot of ‘Turbulence’?

Zach (Jeremy Irvine) and Emmy’s (Hera Hilmar) romantic retreat aboard a hot air balloon takes a terrifying turn when they are hijacked by a sinister third passenger (Olga Kurylenko) with a link to Zach’s past. As the mystery of their secret relationship is revealed, their spectacular ride becomes a brutal mental chess match and a lethal battle high in the sky.

Who is in the cast of ‘Turbulence’?
- Jeremy Irvine as Zach
- Hera Hilmar as Emmy
- Olga Kurylenko as Julia
- Kelsey Grammer as Harry
‘Turbulence’ opens in theaters, On Demand and Digital December 12th.

List of Kelsey Grammer Movies and TV Shows:
- ‘Cheers‘ (1982 – 1993)
- ‘The Simpsons‘ (1989 – 2024)
- ‘Frasier‘ (1993 – 2004)
- ‘Down Periscope‘ (1996)
- ‘Toy Story 2‘ (1999)
- ‘15 Minutes‘ (2001)
- ‘X-Men: The Last Stand‘ (2006)
- ‘The Simpsons Movie‘ (2007)
- ‘Swing Vote‘ (2008)
- ‘Middle Men‘ (2009)
- ‘Fame‘ (2009)
- ‘Boss‘ (2011 – 2012)
- ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past‘ (2014)
- ‘Think Like a Man Too‘ (2014)
- ‘The Expendables 3‘ (2014)
- ‘Transformers: Age of Extinction‘ (2014)
- ‘Entourage‘ (2015)
- ‘Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising‘ (2016)
- ‘The Last Tycoon‘ (2017)
- ‘Like Father‘ (2018)
- ‘Jesus Revolution‘ (2023)
- ‘The Marvels‘ (2023)
- ‘Frasier‘ (2023)
- ‘Wanted Man‘ (2024)
- ‘Turbulence‘ (2025)
- ‘Avengers: Doomsday‘ (2026)
Buy Kelsey Grammer Movies on Amazon
December 11, 2025
‘Thunderbolts*’ Digital Release Interview: Jake Schreier
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Available on digital now and 4K and Blu-ray July 29th is Marvel Studios’ ‘Thunderbolts*’, which was directed by Jake Schreier (‘Beef’).

The film stars several MCU regulars including Florence Pugh (‘Hawkeye’) as Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan (‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’) as Bucky Barnes, Wyatt Russell (‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’) as John Walker, David Harbour (‘Black Widow’) as Alexei Shostakov, Hannah John-Kamen (‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’) as Ava Starr, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’) as Valentina Aleegra de Fontaine, as well as Marvel newbies Geraldine Viswanathan (‘Drive-Away Dolls’) as Mel, and Lewis Pullman (‘Top Gun: Maverick’) as Bob.

Related Article: How Will ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ Tie Into ‘Thunderbolts*’?

Florence Pugh and Jake Schreier on the set of Marvel Studios’ ‘Thunderbolts*’. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. © 2025 Marvel.

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with director Jake Schreier about the ‘Thunderbolts*’ digital release and his work on the film. The director discussed his initial pitch to Marvel, selecting the characters, the asterisk in the title, the ‘New Avengers’ reveal, the ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ cameo in the second end credit scene, deleted scenes, and Florence Pugh’s opening scene stunt, as well as addressing the rumors that he will direct the MCU’s upcoming new ‘X-Men’ movie.

You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interview.

‘Thunderbolts*’ director Jake Schreier.

Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about your first meeting with Marvel Studios and the pitch that got you the job directing ‘Thunderbolts*’?

Jake Schreier: Well, know the pitching process at Marvel takes a long time. I think there were maybe seven meetings over the course of seven months. So, the first meeting was just me talking to Brian Chapek and just having a very loose conversation about the idea for the movie, which I thought was neat. Eric Pearson and he had come up with this great setup where it was about a set of contract killers being sent to kill each other and to be disposed as opposed to being put together in some sort of team, which was a neat slip on the expectation. I just talked about my favorite movies that related to that and that sense of tension and what you would want to bring to a movie like that. Then the conversation grew month after month. Each time I would bring something a little bit new. I like to pitch on things, show people, if we were already making the movie together, this is the sort of stuff that I would start doing. I think the second one is that I did make a kind of reference reel of movies. Not that the movie should be like this movie, but these are kind of moments of tension within other movies about groups of people that don’t trust each other, and how important that was to what we were building here. I think that included ‘Ronin’, and it included ‘Toy Story 3’, a very disparate group of movies and ‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol’, all kinds of different stuff. Then at subsequent meetings, there was concept art for what the void could look like, and then a storyboard in certain sequences from the film. We had talked about the elevator sequence, this funny idea of if it was all about trust or a trust fall, if they must climb up back-to-back, which is an idea that Brian had, that was fun. I took that and storyboarded it just to show what that might feel like. So yeah, it was more of a long beat by beat process. I think, one thing about working at Marvel was, Kevin (Feige) always says, “Always be fussing.” The movie is never really done until they kind of pry it out of your hands and you must release it. You’re always looking to improve it. So, to some degree, it’s not so much about the specific pitch or everything kept changing after I came on board, but it’s about will this work out as a working relationship? Are the ideas flowing and will you push each other to make it better? It felt like Brian, and I worked so well together in this movie, and that felt like a really strong core to build from.

MF: Was the core cast of characters already selected when you came on board and were there characters you wanted to include but were unable to?

JS: They were mostly chosen. I attempted to give input, which was quickly shot down, which I think on the first one I was like, “What if Man-Thing was involved,” which has now been picked up by the internet as though that was ever going to happen, which it wasn’t. They quickly and politely were like, “He was in ‘Werewolf by Night’, which I didn’t know. So that didn’t happen. But then I think before I came on board, they added Robert Reynolds to the mix. That was the biggest change. Then once that was part of it, I mean even in our pitch conversation, everything really ran towards thinking about what it meant to have a character like Sentry and the Void in this movie, and how that tied into Yelena and what she’s going through, and how important that was to build that kind of connection and have that drive the story.

‘Thunderbolts*’ is available on digital now and 4K and Blu-ray on July 29th.

MF: Was the asterisk in the title your idea, and at what point was it decided that the team would really become the ‘New Avengers’?

JS: So, they were always introduced as the New Avengers. Even in the first draft that I read before I came on board. I did pitch the asterisk thing. I think in my last pitch meeting before I got the movie, but I did not expect it to be in the actual title. I thought, “Oh, maybe there could be a billboard somewhere with an asterisk, and they’ll say, “Until we come up with something better.” But yeah, I mean that was the fun thing about working with those guys, and everyone in marketing. They’re very open and collaborative, and they would take ideas like that and really run with them and put their own spin on it. There was just a lot of openness on this movie, I think, to kind of take risks and try to do something different.

MF: So, this was always going to be a ‘New Avengers’ movie, is that right?

JS: Yes, it was always ended. That moment was always baked in. I mean, at least from the time I met on it, that was always where the story landed.

(L to R) Director Jake Schreier and Wyatt Russel on the set of Marvel Studios’ ‘Thunderbolts*’. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2025 Marvel.

MF: Did you feel added pressure knowing that this was secretly an ‘Avengers’ movie?

JS: I mean, look, there’s enough pressure on these movies no matter what you’re doing. I think obviously it meant that we felt we had to build a story that at one time was this kind of very different story within the MCU about different characters, but it did need in its own way to live up. It was never going to be at the scale of a normal ‘Avengers’ film. But to the legacy of these kinds of great movies that had been made in the MCU, that when you get to that moment, even if it’s through a route that you never expected, you can kind of splint. Even if at first, you’re like, “Wait, what?” You kind of think about it and you’re like, “Okay, no, maybe this could work.” Or at least I want to see them try and see what happens going forward.

MF: Can you talk about the second end-credit scene that teases ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’? What was your involvement in that scene and when and where was it shot?

JS: That was late. I mean, I was there, I went to London. So that’s on the set, I think of the new ‘Avengers’ movie (‘Avengers: Doomsday’) that the Russo’s are directing. I think that might’ve been, it was one of the first scenes they shot for it. So, the idea was going to be part of that movie, and then also our end credits scene. So, there were things that it kind of had to do for where our story went, but we also wanted it in a way to be this handoff. It was fun to watch them directed and directed in that context and have it been this sort of, leap of seeing. I think Florence said it was like “Being dropped off at school by your parent, and you look back and like, all right, we’ll have fun guys. Good luck out there. You’re in a new grade now.” So yeah, it was just fun to have everyone kind of collaborate on that and get to see them take that next step on their next journey.

(L to R) Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Bob (Lewis Pullman), Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) and John Walker (Wyatt Russell) in Marvel Studios’ ‘Thunderbolts*’. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. © 2025 Marvel.

MF: Will there be deleted scenes available on the digital and home entertainment releases, and if so, can you talk about why those scenes were ultimately cut?

JS: Yes. I mean, I must be honest, there’s not a lot that was left on the cutting room floor of this movie. There are little things that got cut out. In the edit, we trimmed things down, but it was more really kind of honing the scenes than it was dropping a lot of full scenes. At first, I was like, “I don’t want any deleted scenes.” Then they were like, “You have to have a few.” So, I put them in there. What I can say is that there’s a very extensive behind the scenes featurette, and a very funny gag reel, which mostly is just cute. But I think the behind-the-scenes stuff, again, we did so much practically on this movie and in camera, and practical effects and returning to this old school style of filmmaking. I think I had a lot of fun, and they really did a great job of capturing that stuff, getting to watch the way those things were put together. I think, again, it’s just a testament to how hard everyone works on these movies, and I think that is fun to see.

MF: I understand that Florence Pugh insisted on doing the stunt in the opening scene where she jumps off a skyscraper herself. Can you talk about working with her and the stunt team to make that possible?

JS: I mean, we had this idea for it, Lee Sung Jin, who wrote multiple drafts of the script, had written in this stunt. That was sort of our version of a Bond opening, but it’s more of an emotional stunt, in a way, where it’s like, it almost seems like it could be a suicide. Then it’s just her kind of malaise in her job, but it takes you into this real character beat that then becomes an action sequence. But again, it’s our spin on it, because it’s what the depressed spy would do. So, I think what was exciting about it was obviously the stunt itself and going somewhere and really doing something like that, because it’s Florence having this great acting beat at the start of that shot. In the same take, we watch her step off the second-tallest building in the world. So, she had to take that on because we can’t really ask her to do that. We could say it was an idea we had. We didn’t even know we were going to shoot it. She was like, “I love heights. Let’s do it.” So, through the whole production, it was kind of finding a place that would make sense. Then, Malaysia seemed promising, but Jason Tamez, our incredible line producer, had to do months of work to coordinate getting up there. Then I think it took three different engineering firms to sign off on the rig, and (Stunt Coordinator) Michael Huggins and our entire rigging team. I mean, the amount of trust that Florence had to have in our team, and you can see how much she trusts them. They are the best at what they do. I can’t believe she did that. Florence is amazing, but also the amount of coordination and work that it takes from everyone else involved to pull something like that off and to be able to stand by it and say, “We could do this.” Because again, at first, Disney Health and Safety quite reasonably just said, “No.” So, it took a lot of pushing and a lot of groundwork on everyone’s part to make it happen.

Florence Pugh on the set of Marvel Studios’ ‘Thunderbolts*’. Photo by Steve Swisher. © 2025 Marvel.

MF: Finally, there have been several online rumors recently that you will be directing the upcoming ‘X-Men’ movie that Marvel Studios is planning for after ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’. Without confirming the rumors, do you have a particular take on those characters and is that a world you would be interested in exploring as a director if given the chance?

JS: I think just knowing the way the internet works, for right now, if it’s okay, I’m going to plead the fifth on that question. But I can say that I would be very excited. I had a great time working at Marvel, and I’d be very excited to work with them again.

NOTE: After this interview took place it was confirmed by Marvel Studio’s Kevin Feige that Jake Schreier will in fact be directing the upcoming ‘X-Men’ movie.
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What is the plot of ‘Thunderbolts*’’?

A group of dangerous, unstable antiheroes and castoffs are set up on a doomed mission by a government operative (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), only to find themselves confronting a powerful new menace that threatens Earth.

Who is in the cast of ‘Thunderbolts*’?
- Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova
- Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes
- Wyatt Russell as John Walker/U.S. Agent
- David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian
- Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr/Ghost
- Olga Kurylenko as Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster
- Lewis Pullman as Robert “Bob” Reynolds
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine
‘Thunderbolts*’ is available on digital now and 4K and Blu-ray on July 29th.

List of Movies and TV Shows Featuring ‘Thunderbolts*’ Characters:
- ‘Captain America: The First Avenger‘ (2011)
- ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier‘ (2014)
- ‘Captain America: Civil War‘ (2016)
- ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp‘ (2018)
- ‘Avengers: Infinity War‘ (2018)
- ‘Avengers: Endgame‘ (2019)
- ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier‘ (2021)
- ‘Black Widow‘ (2021)
- ‘Hawkeye‘ (2021)
- ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever‘ (2022)
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July 21, 2025
Movie Review: ‘Thunderbolts*’
(L to R) Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Bob (Lewis Pullman), John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour), Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan)in Marvel Studios’ ‘Thunderbolts*’. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. © 2025 Marvel.

‘Thunderbolts*’ receives 8 out of 10 stars.

Opening in theaters May 2nd is ‘Thunderbolts*,’ directed by Jake Schreier and starring Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Hannah John-Kamen, Olga Kurylenko, Lewis Pullman, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Related Article: ‘Thunderbolts*’ and ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ Dominate Disney’s CinemaCon Show

Initial Thoughts

(L to R) Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian (David Harbour), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) and John Walker (Wyatt Russell) in Marvel Studios’ ‘Thunderbolts*’. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. © 2024 Marvel.

This writer doesn’t look to Marvel Studios for deep, penetrating, sober films about the existential crisis of the human race or the inner workings of the heart. At their best, Marvel movies have occasionally delivered something along those lines, but for the most part, they’ve offered the cinematic equivalent of the comic books themselves – fun, breezy to read, occasionally awesome, and genuinely surprising at times.

If that means we’re a little more forgiving of Marvel movies, so be it. But there’s no question that the franchise has had it rough the last few years, with a sense of aimlessness permeating even the best of the recent films and a miasma of apathy seeping out of the worst (hi, ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’). So it gives us great pleasure to report that ‘Thunderbolts*,’ directed by Jake Schreier (‘Paper Towns’), is a focused, fun, character-driven adventure that recaptures a lot of the spirit of the MCU at its best pre-‘Avengers: Endgame.’

The cast is superb, with several standouts, and largely expands on characters who have been mostly second-stringers up to this point. The action is crisp, not as heavy on the CG as in the past, and germane to the story, which is given a lot of heart, humor, and humanity in the script by Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo. And while no one would accuse the MCU of going too deep into more weighty topics, it does handle the subjects of mental illness and depression with sensitivity. ‘Thunderbolts*’ is a more human superhero story than we’ve seen in recent times from this franchise, and it’s all the better for it.

Story and Direction

(L to R) Director Jake Schreier and Wyatt Russel on the set of Marvel Studios’ ‘Thunderbolts*’. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2025 Marvel.

If ‘Thunderbolts*’ does have any major flaw, it’s that the story follows a pretty straightforward course that you can determine not just from the trailers, but from the fact that it’s been done more or less along the same lines with other MCU properties – specifically, ‘Guardians of the Galaxy.’ But the action is firmly earthbound here, as Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), sister of the late Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), is sent on a clandestine mission by CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (a haughty Julia Louis-Dreyfus) to track someone who’s intent on robbing secret materials belonging to de Fontaine and her secretive OxGroup organization.

It’s clear early on (and from her previous MCU appearances) that de Fontaine is corrupt up to her eyeballs and dealing in things she doesn’t want the government to know about. That draws the attention of Congressman Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), who’s given up the superhero life for the Washington D.C. cocktail and committee circuit, although he’s already bristling at it. But he knows de Fontaine is up to something and wants to get the goods on her for impeachment or even jail.

Meanwhile, Yelena arrives at the OxGroup facility buried deep under the desert somewhere and quickly finds out that she – along with other de Fontaine operatives John Walker/U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell), Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), and Ava Starr/Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) – have been set up: they’ve all been led there so that de Fontaine can incinerate them from afar and tie up her loose ends. But what no one has foreseen is the presence of a dazed, seemingly loopy young man named Bob (Lewis Pullman), who doesn’t remember how he got down there but whose very existence both alarms and excites de Fontaine once she finds out he’s alive.

(L to R) John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) and Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour) in Marvel Studios’ ‘Thunderbolts*’. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2025 Marvel.

Although this disparate group of “losers,” as de Fontaine describes them, initially distrust and dislike each other, they must work together to escape the facility and intend to bring down Valentina with the help of Yelena’s loud, colorful adopted father, Alexei Shostakov, aka Red Guardian (David Harbour), and Bucky, who discards his suit and tie for something more battle-ready. But their plan hits a new, potentially catastrophic snag as Valentina reacquires Bob – the only test subject to survive an experimental process to create a superbeing – and reawakens the power placed within him via the Sentry project. Except that Bob is not equipped mentally or emotionally to become a god.

Under Jake Schreier’s smooth, free-flowing, yet economical direction, ‘Thunderbolts*’ succeeds at giving its characters space to breath and its audience a chance to understand what makes many of them tick. Yes, some characters inevitably get short-changed – we’re thinking of Ghost and Taskmaster in particular – but there’s still enough time spent with almost all of them to earn their eventual (and inevitable) formation into a team. A number of the characters get their own individual moments, and thanks to an early ability exhibited by Bob we get to find out what haunts several of them as well.

Every one of these people is damaged in some way, and looking for peace of mind and acceptance. Since they’re castoffs, not heroes, and certainly not the Avengers (who we’re told are not coming back, although it’s never really been explained where everyone who’s still alive has scattered to), they have to find it where they can get it in a world that doesn’t know they exist and in which they don’t even trust each other.

Florence Pugh and Jake Schreier on the set of Marvel Studios’ ‘Thunderbolts*’. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. © 2025 Marvel.

‘Thunderbolts*’ also addresses depression and mental illness, in a comic book way to be sure, but still with enough tact to drive the pain of both home. Yelena, Walker, and Bucky all strive to find meaning in their lives, while Bob struggles to keep his darker impulses in check with disastrous results. This makes ‘Thunderbolts*’ darker than usual in some respects, although the film is still leavened with humor throughout. The third act, however, delves fully into the darkness, both on a physical and psychological level, making for one of the more satisfying MCU climaxes in a while.

While care has been taken to differentiate the action from some of the more generic Marvel set pieces of the past, Schreier’s strength is still with the characters. This is a quieter than usual Marvel movie in some ways, with long scenes of people talking, but that makes the action pop more when it happens. Some of the film’s scenes are well-suited to IMAX projection, making the movie look bigger than other MCU efforts, and it’s all powered by a propulsive yet nuanced score from Son Lux.

Does the film feel familiar in some ways? For sure. That template of a bunch of misfits coming together as a team is well-worn within the MCU. The movie doesn’t veer in the big picture from the Marvel house ‘feel’ and ‘style.’ But it does add enough depth to the characters and their actions to recover the energy that has been missing for a lot of the last five years.

Cast and Performances

(L to R) Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Bob (Lewis Pullman), Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) and John Walker (Wyatt Russell) in Marvel Studios’ ‘Thunderbolts*’. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. © 2025 Marvel. All Rights Reserved.

Everyone does excellent work here, but Florence Pugh is the clear leader of the pack. Facing an existential crisis of her own and still grieving the death of her sister, Yelena is deeply haunted by the copious red in her own ledger as well as a future than she only sees as bleak. “Your light is dim even by Eastern European standards,” Alexei tells her solemnly, although even he can’t reach her (nor does he try very hard at first). Pugh gives a full, emotional, and complex performance, while also effectively portraying Yelena’s compact, deadly physicality.

Equally heartrending to watch is Lewis Pullman as Bob, who is one of the better supervillains of recent MCU vintage. Like Yelena and the others, Bob is damaged goods, but his wounds may run deeper than anyone’s and ultimately manifest themselves in more dreadful ways. Pullman’s heel turn from slightly off, clumsy, yet enigmatic doofus to frightening harbinger of death and destruction is chilling and believable.

Of the rest of the pack, Sebastian Stan is so comfortable with Bucky now that he’s the grounding presence of the movie, linking it to adventures past. David Harbour’s Red Guardian is hilarious and scenery-chewing throughout – until he isn’t, in a scene with Yelena that’s lovely and emotionally resonant. Wyatt Russell’s John Walker – the “dime store Captain America,” as he’s reminded – was hard to like in ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ and initially obnoxious here, but grows into a genuine hero despite his own personal pain. And Julia Louis-Dreyfus clearly relishes having her most screen time yet as de Fontaine, who can be charming, deceptive, and manipulative all at the same time and enjoying every minute of it.

Final Thoughts

Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) in Marvel Studios’ ‘Thunderbolts*’. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. © 2025 Marvel.

It goes without saying that you should stick around for the end credits of ‘Thunderbolts*’. The mid-credits scene is amusing if slight; the post-credits scene is not only important, but actually points to a not-too-distant payoff, unlike many other recent bonus scenes in Marvel movies (ask Harry Styles, Brett Goldstein, and Charlize Theron how they feel about theirs).

That fact alone only adds to the impression that Marvel has at least started a major course correction with ‘Thunderbolts*,’ which at one time was arguably considered a kind of also-ran in the MCU release schedule. Yet this under-the-radar movie fixes a lot of the problems that have become more visible in other Marvel entries, while telling an entertaining, exciting, quite dark, and also moving story populated by characters you like to spend time with and wouldn’t mind seeing again.
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What is the plot of ‘Thunderbolts*’’?

A group of dangerous, unstable antiheroes and castoffs are set up on a doomed mission by a government operative (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), only to find themselves confronting a powerful new menace that threatens Earth.

Who is in the cast of ‘Thunderbolts*’?
- Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova
- Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes
- Wyatt Russell as John Walker/U.S. Agent
- David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian
- Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr/Ghost
- Olga Kurylenko as Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster
- Lewis Pullman as Robert “Bob” Reynolds
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine
(L to R) Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), John Walker (Wyatt Russell), and Red Guardian/Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour) in Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts*. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2024 Marvel.

List of Movies and TV Shows Featuring ‘Thunderbolts*’ Characters:
- ‘Captain America: The First Avenger‘ (2011)
- ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier‘ (2014)
- ‘Captain America: Civil War‘ (2016)
- ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp‘ (2018)
- ‘Avengers: Infinity War‘ (2018)
- ‘Avengers: Endgame‘ (2019)
- ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier‘ (2021)
- ‘Black Widow‘ (2021)
- ‘Hawkeye‘ (2021)
- ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever‘ (2022)
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April 29, 2025
‘Chief of Station’ Exclusive Interview: Aaron Eckhart
Aaron Eckhart in ‘Chief of Station’. Photo: Vertical Entertainment.

Opening in theaters on May 3rd is the new spy thriller ‘Chief of Station,’ which stars Aaron Eckhart (‘The Dark Knight’), Olga Kurylenko (‘Black Widow’) and Alex Pettyfer (’The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare’).

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Aaron Eckhart about his work on ‘Chief of Station,’ his first reaction to the screenplay, his love for the genre, his character, the fight sequences, and working with Olga Kurylenko and Alex Pettyfer, as well as looking back at the making of ‘Sully’ and working with Tom Hanks and Clint Eastwood.

Related Article: ‘Silicon Valley’s Chris Diamantopoulos Talks Action Comedy ‘High Heat’

(L to R) Olga Kurylenko and Aaron Eckhart in ‘Chief of Station’. Photo: Vertical Entertainment.

Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about your first reaction to the screenplay, and in general, when you are reading scripts and choosing projects, what are you looking for?

Aaron Eckhart: Well, it’s interesting. I like the cold war era spy movie. I grew up watching it and it’s always intrigued me. Of course, being in Europe, we filmed this in Hungary, and we used the streets, and we used the architecture and that feeling. I really liked those movies. I like the idea of coordinated events of people moving as one to accomplish a goal and that’s what really the spy game is, isn’t it? It’s sleight of hand and coordination and it’s a house full of mirrors, and I really liked that. I’ve always liked it. I grew up on it, and it’s fun to participate in it.

MF: What are some of your favorite films in the spy thriller genre?

AE: Well, of course there’s ‘Three Days of the Condor,’ which is the iconic film where the powerful guy behind the curtain is on the other end of the phone giving instructions or telling you in the middle of this city of millions of people on a pay phone that he’s got eyes on you. There’s just something that’s so intriguing about that, and especially with today’s technology. Every spy film I can think of is about how they can implant something, how they can monitor you in some way, and what’s more topical than that right now in terms of cameras, drones, the internet, lasers and radar. All this stuff where they can literally see into your mind and even implant things now. So, the idea of this surveillance state and the idea that they know what you’re thinking always is fascinating, especially as they implant chips and that. So, I’ve always been fascinated by that, the idea of it, what’s true and what’s not true, what is the future? What does it look like? I think it’s good fertile ground for filmmaking.

(L to R) Aaron Eckhart and Olga Kurylenko in ‘Chief of Station’. Photo: Vertical Entertainment.

MF: In the movie, your character suffers a great loss. Can you talk about who he was before that event, and who he becomes after?

AE: He loses his wife to a bomb and it’s his fault. It’s the fault of his occupation and her involvement in it. Of course, she’s in it as well but I become the casualty. Before, you’re talking about a man who’s living his life, his occupation, everything, and then you’re talking about deep loss. I mean, there’s not really anything I can say more than that. It’s just, you’re a hollow man. You’re now winding down the days and nothing really feels or tastes the same and that’s where he is at right now. He’s avenging his loss as well and having to deal with the real world as well as the inner world of this darkness that he has.

MF: Can you talk about that guilt and how it affects his relationship with his son?

AE: I mean, his son, it’s interesting being a father. I’m not a father, so I couldn’t say, but I could only imagine the idea of a boy losing his mother to a tragic and terrible event, and then having to find his way through life, especially when you have a dad who is away and is not really in touch with his own feelings. His boy drifts off and gets into places maybe where he shouldn’t be, and he goes through his own dark times. They must reconnect and reform a relationship on a different level now. They’ve gone from father-son to more friends and contemporaries, and they must exist on this level now. It’s an interesting dynamic because in a lot of ways, the father feels like a fraud. He let his son down. He’s responsible for his mother’s death in a way, and he’s got a lot of guilt associated with that.

(L to R) Aaron Eckhart and Alex Pettyfer in ‘Chief of Station’. Photo: Vertical Entertainment.

MF: There is a great scene in the movie where you fight one of the bad guys on a boat. Can you talk about shooting that sequence?

AE: First, filming in Hungary and Budapest was just amazing and we were on the river there and we were on a riverboat. It is in the middle of the river, and it’s going up and down. It was just fantastic with this beautiful architecture, European history, and we had a great fight coordinator. (I was fighting) the fight coordinator (in that scene) and he was just a great guy. Basically, we worked out that fight that morning. We got to work and he’s like, “Okay, this is what’s going to happen.” We just rehearsed the fight and worked on it throughout the day because we did have a couple other scenes before that. It’s amazing when you have somebody who’s a fighter that you’re working with because you have total trust that he’s going to do the right thing and that you’re going to do the right thing. We just worked out this fight and he beats the crap out of me and I beat the crap out of him, and it was a great day.

MF: What was it like working with Olga Kurylenko and Alex Pettyfer?

AE: Well, Alex is great. I love him. He’s a great actor and a great guy. I had a lot of fun with him. I did not know him before, but I just really warmed up to him and we had a good time together. I really appreciate him as a person and as an actor. Very impressive. Olga, of course, was awesome. I worked with her before (‘Erased’). Again, she’s very humble and very giving. She’s willing to do anything for the director and for the scene, which I really appreciated, and is a total professional as well and makes it look good all the time. So really between just those two, it made the days easy and fun. Alex and I had our own fight scene that was punishing. Again, he’s a fighter and can throw a punch and knows how to take a punch, and he’s very giving. You never know how those things are going to turn out because you might go home with some bruises. But we had a good time.

(L to R) Tom Hanks and Aaron Eckhart in director Clint Eastwood’s ‘Sully’. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.

MF: Finally, I love ‘Sully’ and think it’s one of Clint Eastwood’s best movies. One of my favorite scenes in the film is when Tom Hanks’ character pulls you into a hallway during the trial sequence and tells your character how proud he is of what you’ve both accomplished and that “We did our job.” Can you talk about shooting that scene with Tom and Clint?

AE: I’m happy to hear that because it’s a small scene and it’s not a very monumental scene, but it’s leading into the auditorium, which is the big monologue. A couple of things. I loved making that movie. I love Clint. I love Tom. I loved working with them. I love how subtle Tom is and how much trust Clint gives the actors. In fact, I remember one time when we were sitting around that big table having a discussion, I can’t remember which scene it was, but Tom was in it, I was in it, and some other people. Between a take or something, I can’t remember, I said something to Clint about doing it the first time or something like that. Clint goes, “That’s why I cast good actors.” The trust level was off the charts. He just let us do whatever we wanted. He never questioned us, never. It was just amazing. Then Tom was the leader. He took charge and coordinated everything either verbally or non-verbally and we all followed. That scene is a perfect example of that, it epitomizes that, where you have the senior guy coming out, taking charge, and going into the auditorium. A little bit of humor in that scene as well, but “a job well done and we’re going to be okay” and that’s what a leader does.
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What is the plot of ‘Chief of Station’?

After learning that the death of his wife was not an accident, a former CIA officer and Station Chief (Aaron Eckhart) is forced back into the espionage underworld, teaming up with an adversary (Olga Kurylenko) to unravel a conspiracy that challenges everything he thought he knew.

Who is in the cast of ‘Chief of Station’?
- Aaron Eckhart as Ben Malloy
- Olga Kurylenko as Krystyna Kowerski
- Alex Pettyfer as John Brance
- Daniel Bernhardt as Kharon
- Chris Petrovski as Nick
- Nick Moran as Evgeny
- James Faulkner as Deputy Director Williams
- Laetitia Eido as Farrah
- Isobel Wood as Veronique
- Nina Bergman as Hitchens
Olga Kurylenko in ‘Chief of Station’. Photo: Vertical Entertainment.

Movies Similar to ‘Chief of Station’:
- ‘Three Days of the Condor‘ (1975)
- ‘No Way Out‘ (1987)
- ‘The Dark Knight‘ (2008)
- ‘Quantum of Solace‘ (2008)
- ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy‘ (2011)
- ‘Skyfall‘ (2012)
- ‘Erased‘ (2013)
- ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service‘ (2015)
- ‘The Man from U.N.C.L.E.’ (2015)
- ‘Sully‘ (2016)
- ‘Black Widow‘ (2021)
- ‘The Gray Man‘ (2022)
- ‘Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre‘ (2023)
- ‘The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare‘ (2024)
- ‘Argylle‘ (2024)
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May 2, 2024
Geraldine Viswanathan Replacing Ayo Edebiri in ‘Thunderbolts’
Geraldine Viswanathan in ‘Drive-Away Dolls.’ Credit: Wilson Webb / Working Title / Focus Features.

Preview:
- Geraldine Viswanathan is replacing Ayo Edebiri for ‘Thunderbolts’.
- This is the latest change for the Marvel movie.
- Jake Schreier is on board to direct.
There is another casting change afoot for Marvel’s ‘Thunderbolts’ movie. Having already lost ‘Beef’/‘Minari’ actor to a busy schedule (with ‘Top Gun: Maverick’s Lewis Pullman reportedly making a deal to replace him as the character of Sentry), this time it’s ‘The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri discovering her busy schedule can no longer accommodate the movie’s shoot.

Edebiri, who has become hugely in demand thanks to her award-winning performance on the culinary drama, will be replaced by Geraldine Viswanathan, known for ‘Blockers’ and recent Apple TV+ movie ‘The Beanie Bubble’.
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What is the ‘Thunderbolts’ movie?

Marvel Studios’ ‘Thunderbolts.’

Though not a 1:1 match, the Thunderbolts are effectively Marvel’s version of The Suicide Squad: a group of villains –– or at least anti-heroes –– brought together by third-party schemers in a possibly ill-advised attempt to turn them into a force for good.

In Marvel’s case, they were originally assembled by Baron Zemo and the Masters Of Evil and have sometimes been linked to Hulk regular General Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross (hence the name). They made their debut in the pages of ‘The Incredible Hulk’ in 1996, introduced by writer and artist team Peter David and Mike Deodato. They continued to their own series the same year, created by Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley, and have been brought back with a bunch of alternative line-ups in comics ever since.

Related Article: Lewis Pullman Reportedly in Talks to Play ‘Thunderbolts’ Sentry

Who is in the Thunderbolts movie so far?

David Harbour from ‘Thunderbolts’ at D23 Expo 2022.

The vast majority of the cast were announced back in 2022 at Disney’s D23 event: Bucky Barnes (formerly The Winter Soldier), played by Sebastian Stan, is a key figure alongside Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, Olga Kurylenko’s Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster and David Harbour’s Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, those three having been introduced in ‘Black Widow’.

Then there’s John Walker, AKA US Agent, played by Wyatt Russell and first seen in ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ and Hannah John-Kamen’s Ava Starr, the phasing character known as Ghost, who debuted in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus from ‘Thunderbolts’ at D23 Expo 2022.

As for those overseeing the team, we have Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, AKA Val, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who was also introduced in the ‘Falcon’ series and has since cropped up in the likes of ‘Black Widow’ and ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’. We also have Thaddeus Ross –– last seen in ‘Black Widow’ and played since ‘The Incredible Hulk’ by William Hurt. But because of the actor’s death in 2022, Marvel has had to recast the role, tapping genre icon Harrison Ford to take over.

Ross is reportedly the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s current President of the US (at least in ‘Captain America: New World Order’) so that’ll likely factor in.

Edebiri had been filling an unknown role, which Viswanathan will take over. Deadline’ s report offers no details as to the part. The actor will next be seen in Ethan Coen’s ‘Drive-Away Dolls’ , due in theaters on February 23rd.

Who is making ‘Thunderbolts’?

(L to R) Lee Sung Jin, Ali Wong and Steven Yeun attend Netflix’s Los Angeles premiere of ‘BEEF’ at Netflix Tudum Theater on March 30, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix.

Jake Schreier (‘Beef’) is directing the film based on a script by Eric Pearson and Lee Sung Jin (the Emmy-winning creator of ‘Beef’).

When will ‘Thunderbolts’ be in theaters?

‘Thunderbolts’ is currently scheduled for release on July 25th, 2025. But we’re still waiting to see if that changes.

Sebastian Stan from ‘Thunderbolts’ at D23 Expo 2022.

Other Movies Similar to ‘Thunderbolts:’
- ‘The Incredible Hulk‘ (2008)
- ‘The Avengers‘ (2012)
- ‘Guardians of the Galaxy‘ (2014)
- ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron‘ (2015)
- ‘Suicide Squad‘ (2016)
- ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2‘ (2017)
- ‘Avengers: Infinity War‘ (2018)
- ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp‘ (2018)
- ‘Avengers: Endgame‘ (2019)
- ‘The Suicide Squad‘ (2021)
- ‘Black Widow‘ (2021)
- ‘The Bad Guys‘ (2022)
- ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever‘ (2022)
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January 30, 2024
Lewis Pullman in Talks to Join Marvel’s ‘Thunderbolts’
Lewis Pullman plays “BOB” in ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ from Paramount Pictures, Skydance and Jerry Bruckheimer Films.

Preview:
- Lewis Pullman is reportedly joining ‘Thunderbolts’.
- The ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ actor is considering another talked-about role.
- Jake Schreier is on board to direct the Marvel movie.
Once upon a time, Steven Yeun was all set to join the already sprawling cast of Marvel’s team-up movie ‘Thunderbolts’. Though Marvel had not confirmed his casting, he’d talked about the role.

And then, because the movie’s shoot had to shift because of the actors’ strike last year, his calendar filled up and he was no longer available.

Now, while his casting has yet to be confirmed, word is spreading via online scooper Daniel Richtman that Lewis Pullman –– AKA Bob in ‘Top Gun: Maverick‘ –– has an offer to take the role of Sentry in place of Yeun.

Related Article: Steven Yeun Won’t Now be Part of the Cast for Marvel’s ‘Thunderbolts’

Just who are the Thunderbolts?

Marvel Studios’ ‘Thunderbolts.’

It isn’t an exact match, but the simple way of explaining the Thunderbolts is that they’re Marvel’s version of The Suicide Squad: a group of villains –– or at least anti-heroes –– brought together by third-party schemers in a possibly ill-advised attempt to turn them into a force for good.

In Marvel’s case, they were originally assembled by Baron Zemo and the Masters Of Evil and have sometimes been linked to Hulk regular General Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross (hence the name). They made their debut in the pages of ‘The Incredible Hulk’ in 1996, introduced by writer and artist team Peter David and Mike Deodato. They continued to their own series the same year, created by Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley, and have been brought back with a bunch of alternative line-ups in comics ever since.

Who is in the Thunderbolts movie so far?

Sebastian Stan from ‘Thunderbolts’ at D23 Expo 2022.

We know (most of) the characters who will be showing up, since they were announced back in 2022 at Disney’s D23 event: Bucky Barnes (formerly The Winter Soldier), played by Sebastian Stan, is a key figure alongside Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, Olga Kurylenko’s Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster and David Harbour’s Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, those three having been introduced in ‘Black Widow’.

Then there’s John Walker, AKA US Agent, played by Wyatt Russell and first seen in ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ and Hannah John-Kamen’s Ava Starr, the phasing character known as Ghost, who debuted in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’.
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As for those overseeing the team, we have Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, AKA Val, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who was also introduced in the ‘Falcon’ series and has since cropped up in the likes of ‘Black Widow’ and ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’. We also have Thaddeus Ross –– last seen in ‘Black Widow’ and played since ‘The Incredible Hulk’ by William Hurt. But because of the actor’s death in 2022, Marvel has had to recast the role, tapping genre icon Harrison Ford to take over.

Ross is reportedly the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s current President of the US (at least in ‘Captain America: New World Order’) so that’ll likely factor in. And ‘The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri is aboard in an unknown role.

Who is making ‘Thunderbolts’?

Wyatt Russell from ‘Thunderbolts’ at D23 Expo 2022.

Jake Schreier (‘Beef’) is directing the film based on a script by Eric Pearson and Lee Sung Jin.

When will ‘Thunderbolts’ be in theaters?

Julia Louis-Dreyfus from ‘Thunderbolts’ at D23 Expo 2022.

‘Thunderbolts’ is currently scheduled for release on July 25th, 2025. But the delays in shooting might mean it shifts from that date.

David Harbour from ‘Thunderbolts’ at D23 Expo 2022.

Other Movies Similar to ‘Thunderbolts:’
- ‘The Incredible Hulk‘ (2008)
- ‘The Avengers‘ (2012)
- ‘Guardians of the Galaxy‘ (2014)
- ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron‘ (2015)
- ‘Suicide Squad‘ (2016)
- ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2‘ (2017)
- ‘Avengers: Infinity War‘ (2018)
- ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp‘ (2018)
- ‘Avengers: Endgame‘ (2019)
- ‘The Suicide Squad‘ (2021)
- ‘Black Widow‘ (2021)
- ‘The Bad Guys‘ (2022)
- ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever‘ (2022)
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January 29, 2024
Steven Yeun No Longer Part of Marvel’s ‘Thunderbolts’
Steven Yeun as Danny in ‘Beef.’ Photo: Andrew Cooper/Netflix © 2023.

Preview:
- Steven Yeun has dropped out of Marvel’s ‘Thunderbolts’.
- Schedule changes mean he’s no longer in the cast.
- Jake Schreier is on board to direct the team-up title.
Bad news for fans of Steven Yeun, and for anyone who was excited to see him join the Marvel Cinematic Universe in ‘Thunderbolts.’

Yeun, though never officially confirmed by Marvel, had spoken about joining the film, and, at least according to his old ‘The Walking Dead’ and ‘Invincible’ boss Robert Kirkman (who accidentally spilled the beans on a YouTube Show) had been due to play the character of Sentry.

But now, because of schedule shifts following the strikes this summer, he’s no longer able to appear. The new was broken by twitter account DCULeaks and confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter.
ySD9fRBhzaiO2TcznWDp2
Just who are the Thunderbolts?

Marvel Studios’ ‘Thunderbolts.’

It isn’t an exact match, but the simple way of explaining the Thunderbolts is that they’re Marvel’s version of ‘The Suicide Squad‘: a group of villains –– or at least anti-heroes –– brought together by third-party schemers in a possibly ill-advised attempt to turn them into a force for good.

In Marvel’s case, they were originally assembled by Baron Zemo and the Masters Of Evil and have sometimes been linked to Hulk regular General Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross (hence the name). They made their debut in the pages of ‘The Incredible Hulk’ in 1996, introduced by writer and artist team Peter David and Mike Deodato. They continued to their own series the same year, created by Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley, and have been brought back with a bunch of alternative line-ups in comics ever since.

Related Article: Marvel’s ‘Thunderbolts’ Recruits ‘Nope’s Steven Yeun for Mystery Role

Who is in the Thunderbolts movie so far?

David Harbour from ‘Thunderbolts’ at D23 Expo 2022.

We know (most of) the characters who will be showing up, since they were announced back in 2022 at Disney’s D23 event: Bucky Barnes (formerly The Winter Soldier), played by Sebastian Stan, is a key figure alongside Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, Olga Kurylenko’s Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster and David Harbour’s Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, those three having been introduced in ‘Black Widow’.

Then there’s John Walker, AKA US Agent, played by Wyatt Russell and first seen in ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ and Hannah John-Kamen’s Ava Starr, the phasing character known as Ghost, who debuted in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’.

As for those overseeing the team, we have Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, AKA Val, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who was also introduced in the ‘Falcon’ series and has since cropped up in the likes of ‘Black Widow’ and ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’. We also have Thaddeus Ross –– last seen in ‘Black Widow’ and played since ‘The Incredible Hulk’ by William Hurt. But because of the actor’s death in 2022, Marvel has had to recast the role, tapping genre icon Harrison Ford to take over.

Ross is reportedly the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s current President of the US (at least in ‘Captain America: New World Order’) so that’ll likely factor in. And ‘The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri is aboard in an unknown role.

Who is making ‘Thunderbolts’?

Jake Schreier (who worked with Yeun on ‘Beef’) is directing the film based on a script by Eric Pearson and Lee Sung Jin.

Production is scheduled to kick off in March, with the movie scheduled for July 25th, 2025.

Steven Yeun as Danny in ‘Beef.’ Photo: Andrew Cooper/Netflix © 2023.

Other Movies Similar to ‘Thunderbolts:’
- ‘The Avengers‘ (2012)
- ‘Guardians of the Galaxy‘ (2014)
- ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron‘ (2015)
- ‘Suicide Squad‘ (2016)
- ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2‘ (2017)
- ‘Avengers: Infinity War‘ (2018)
- ‘Avengers: Endgame‘ (2019)
- ‘The Suicide Squad‘ (2021)
- ‘The Bad Guys‘ (2022)
Buy Marvel Movies On Amazon
January 4, 2024
Marvel Pauses ‘Thunderbolts’ Shooting
Marvel Studios’ ‘Thunderbolts.’

The ongoing strike, which sees writers taking industrial action for a fairer deal from the studios, is starting to have more and more impact on movies and TV series.

Most of the main networks have indicated that they’re planning to change their fall schedules to favor reality, other unscripted series and reruns because of the lack of new scripts. Much of their scripted output has been moved to mid-season and other changes are on the way. During the most recent strike, in 2007-2008, US screens saw a rebounded era of reality television, which doesn’t require union writers.

Even Marvel is not safe from delays and issues with its shows and movies. The company recently hit pause on ‘Daredevil: Born Again’, had had been in the midst of a lengthy shoot in New York, while ‘Wonder Man’ shut down also. And it faced another delay on ‘Blade’, which had already been through its share of problems, including a director switch and script re-writes. But with no work allowed on the screenplay, production will have to wait.

‘Blade’ is not the only movie facing delays –– according to Deadline, ‘Thunderbolts’, the company’s anti-hero adventure, which was due to kick off filming in Atlanta in three weeks, is also shutting down until a deal is reached and the strike ends.
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Who is in the Thunderbolts movie?

We know (most of) the characters who will be showing up, since they were announced last year at Disney’s D23 event: Bucky Barnes (formerly The Winter Soldier), played by Sebastian Stan, is a key figure alongside Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, Olga Kurylenko’s Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster and David Harbour’s Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, those three having been introduced in ‘Black Widow’.

Then there’s John Walker, AKA US Agent, played by Wyatt Russell and first seen in ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ and Hannah John-Kamen’s Ava Starr, the phasing character known as Ghost, who debuted in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’.

As for those overseeing the team, we have Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, AKA Val, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who was also introduced in the ‘Falcon’ series and has since cropped up in the likes of ‘Black Widow’ and ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’. We also have Thaddeus Ross––last seen in ‘Black Widow’ and played since ‘The Incredible Hulk’ by William Hurt. But because of the actor’s death last year, Marvel has had to recast the role, tapping genre icon Harrison Ford to take over. Ross is reportedly the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s current President of the US (at least in ‘Captain America: New World Order’) so that’ll likely factor in.

And more recently, we learned that ‘The Walking Dead’s Steven Yeun and ‘The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri are also aboard in mystery roles.

Jake Schreier is on board to direct, with his ‘Beef’ collaborator Lee Sung Jin the most recent writer.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus from ‘Thunderbolts’ at D23 Expo 2022.

Related Article: Marvel’s ‘Thunderbolts’ Recruits ‘Nope’s Steven Yeun for Mystery Role

Amazon and more

Marvel is far from the only company with projects seeing delays. Lionsgate stopped work on Aziz Ansari’s new film, ‘Good Fortune’, which has Keanu Reeves and Seth Rogen in its cast. It’s the latest blow to Ansari’s directorial career, which had seen previous effort ‘Being Mortal’ curtailed following claims of inappropriate behavior on the part of star Bill Murray.

Amazon’s Prime Video had been about to start shooting ‘Blade Runner 2099,’ the live-action sequel series to the original 1982 movie and 2017 sequel ‘Blade Runner 2049’.

The series was scheduled to shoot in Northern Ireland, but the strike means that it’s also been delayed.

Here’s what the country’s film had to say on the matter:

“Northern Ireland Screen is extremely disappointed that ‘Blade Runner 2099’ is not going ahead at this time due to the ongoing writers’ strike. The project has been prepping on the ground in Belfast for many months now. The WGA strike has been halting production all over the world and we hope a fair deal is reached soon so crew can get back to work.”

1982’s ‘Blade Runner’ Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.

If the delay is significant, it’s likely to shift the show’s production back until next spring, a significant postponement. Silka Luisa, showrunner of Apple TV+’s ‘Shining Girls’, is writing and executive producing ‘Blade Runner 2099,’ which comes from Alcon Entertainment and Ridley Scott’s Scott Free Productions (Scott, of course, directed the original movie and has been involved in the franchise ever since).

In the wider world, we know that the likes of ‘Stranger Things’, ‘Cobra Kai’, ‘The Last of Us’, ‘Loot’ and ‘Abbott Elementary’ are among the big-name series seeing the impact, but while those will be later arriving, viewers are already seeing the impact, as the late-night shows, such as those hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert are on indefinite hiatus and ‘Saturday Night Live’ has curtailed its season.

As mentioned, it will be a while before we see the total fallout of the strike, since some shows, including ‘House of the Dragon’ and ‘Good Omens’ have second seasons that were finished before the strike began.

Some companies and networks –– especially the CW, though that appears to have been its policy even before the strike –– are looking to shows produced outside of the States to fill gaps and help maintain viewers.

And there will be a full program of movies for at least the next year and likely into 2024 as many productions were at least wrapped or in post-production.

It is also an issue for companies looking to promote their work, either for upcoming releases or (in the case of TV shows) awards consideration, as talent is skipping interviews and events in solidarity with the writers.

Finally, there is more trouble for studios on the horizon since the Directors Guild and SAG-AFTRA, which represents actors, still have to work out their contracts and their members have already been showing their support for their fellow creatives on strike lines.

David Harbour from ‘Thunderbolts’ at D23 Expo 2022.

Other Movies Similar to ‘Thunderbolts:’
- ‘The Avengers‘ (2012)
- ‘Guardians of the Galaxy‘ (2014)
- ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron‘ (2015)
- ‘Suicide Squad‘ (2016)
- ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2‘ (2017)
- ‘Avengers: Infinity War‘ (2018)
- ‘Avengers: Endgame‘ (2019)
- ‘The Suicide Squad‘ (2021)
- ‘The Bad Guys‘ (2022)
Buy Marvel Movies On Amazon
May 30, 2023
Steven Yeun Joins Marvel’s ‘Thunderbolts’
Steven Yeun in ‘Nope,’ written and directed by Jordan Peele. © 2022 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Steven Yeun’s career has been on a roll lately, and ever since leaving ‘The Walking Dead’, he’s been enjoying plenty of success on screens big and small. He was Oscar nominated for 2020 family drama ‘Minari’ and last summer appeared in Jordan Peele’s hit horror/sci-fi thriller ‘Nope’.

It was, perhaps, only a matter of time until he caught Marvel’s attention, and he’s now been cast in ‘Thunderbolts’. The movie has Jake Schreier directing and ‘Black Widow’s Eric Pearson writing the script.
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Just who are the ‘Thunderbolts?’

It isn’t an exact match, but the simple way of explaining the Thunderbolts is that they’re Marvel’s version of The Suicide Squad: a group of villains –– or at least anti-heroes –– brought together by third-party schemers in a possibly ill-advised attempt to turn them into a force for good.

In Marvel’s case, they were originally assembled by Baron Zemo and the Masters Of Evil and have sometimes been linked to Hulk regular General Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross (hence the name). They made their debut in the pages of ‘The Incredible Hulk’ in 1996, introduced by writer and artist team Peter David and Mike Deodato. They continued to their own series the same year, created by Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley, and have been brought back with a bunch of alternative line-ups in comics ever since.

David Harbour from ‘Thunderbolts’ at D23 Expo 2022.

Related Article: Marvel’s ‘Thunderbolts’ Recruits ‘The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri

Who is in the ‘Thunderbolts’ movie so far?

We know (most of) the characters who will be showing up, since they were announced last year at Disney’s D23 event: Bucky Barnes (formerly The Winter Soldier), played by Sebastian Stan, is a key figure alongside Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, Olga Kurylenko’s Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster and David Harbour’s Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, those three having been introduced in ‘Black Widow’.

Then there’s John Walker, AKA US Agent, played by Wyatt Russell and first seen in ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ and Hannah John-Kamen’s Ava Starr, the phasing character known as Ghost, who debuted in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’.

As for those overseeing the team, we have Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, AKA Val, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who was also introduced in the ‘Falcon’ series and has since cropped up in the likes of ‘Black Widow’ and ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’. We also have Thaddeus Ross––last seen in ‘Black Widow’ and played since ‘The Incredible Hulk’ by William Hurt. But because of the actor’s death last year, Marvel has had to recast the role, tapping genre icon Harrison Ford to take over. Ross is reportedly the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s current President of the US (at least in ‘Captain America: New World Order’) so that’ll likely factor in.

And more recently, we learned that ‘The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri is also aboard in a mystery role.

As for Yeun, Marvel has yet to say –– and Deadline couldn’t dig up –– what part he’s playing, but he’s apparently a key figure in this movie, one who could well end up recurring in the MCU.

‘Thunderbolts’ is scheduled to land in theaters on July 26th next year.

Marvel Studios’ ‘Thunderbolts.’

Other Movies Similar to ‘Thunderbolts:’
- ‘The Avengers‘ (2012)
- ‘Guardians of the Galaxy‘ (2014)
- ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron‘ (2015)
- ‘Suicide Squad‘ (2016)
- ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2‘ (2017)
- ‘Avengers: Infinity War‘ (2018)
- ‘Avengers: Endgame‘ (2019)
- ‘The Suicide Squad‘ (2021)
- ‘The Bad Guys‘ (2022)
Buy Marvel Movies On Amazon
February 23, 2023
‘The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri Joins ‘Thunderbolts’

Marvel Studios’ ‘Thunderbolts.’

Ayo Edebiri has gained a lot of attention lately for her role as driven chef Sydney Adamu in FX’s ‘The Bear’, for which she has been nominated for several awards and won some trophies.

Which has led to her getting a call from the Marvel team, and now Deadline reports that Edebiri has been recruited for the ‘Thunderbolts’ cast.

Ayo Edebiri from ‘The Bear.’ Photo courtesy of FX.

Originally confirmed as in development by Marvel boss Kevin Feige at the company’s 2022 San Diego Comic-Con panel, the main casting line-up was later announced at Disney’s D23 event last September.

It isn’t an exact match, but the simple way of explaining the Thunderbolts is that they’re Marvel’s version of The Suicide Squad: a group of villains––or at least anti-heroes––brought together by third-party schemers in a possibly ill-advised attempt to turn them into a force for good.

In Marvel’s case, they were originally assembled by Baron Zemo and the Masters Of Evil and have sometimes been linked to Hulk regular General Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross (hence the name). They made their debut in the pages of ‘The Incredible Hulk’ in 1996, introduced by writer and artist team Peter David and Mike Deodato. They continued to their own series the same year, created by Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley, and have been brought back with a bunch of alternative line-ups in comics ever since.

Sebastian Stan from ‘Thunderbolts’ at D23 Expo 2022.

For the movie we know (most of) the characters who will be showing up: Bucky Barnes (formerly The Winter Soldier), played by Sebastian Stan, is a key figure alongside Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, Olga Kurylenko’s Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster and David Harbour’s Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, those three having been introduced in ‘Black Widow’.

Then there’s John Walker, AKA US Agent, played by Wyatt Russell and first seen in ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ and Hannah John-Kamen’s Ava Starr, the phasing character known as Ghost, who debuted in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’.

Wyatt Russell from ‘Thunderbolts’ at D23 Expo 2022.

As for those overseeing the team, we have Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, AKA Val, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who was also introduced in the ‘Falcon’ series and has since cropped up in the likes of ‘Black Widow’ and ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’. We also have Thaddeus Ross––last seen in ‘Black Widow’ and played since ‘The Incredible Hulk’ by William Hurt. But because of the actor’s death last year, Marvel has had to recast the role, tapping genre icon Harrison Ford to take over. It’s unknown what position Ross will have in the new movie––the former General was Secretary of State in ‘Captain America: Civil War’.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus from ‘Thunderbolts’ at D23 Expo 2022.

Given Marvel’s typical shroud of secrecy, nothing is yet known about how Edebiri will fit into the story or what character she’s playing. She could be a character drawn from the comics, but even if that’s the case, her backstory could be changed for the film’s story.

So far, all that is really confirmed about the film beyond the main cast is the presence of ‘Paper Towns’ and ‘Robot and Frank’ director Jake Schreier and ‘Black Widow’ writer Eric Pearson providing the script.

‘Thunderbolts’ will be in theaters on July 26th next year.

David Harbour from ‘Thunderbolts’ at D23 Expo 2022.
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January 27, 2023