Steven Yeun Breaks Silence on Mystery MCU Role in Thunderbolts

The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s array of anti-heroes are coming together next summer. Marvel Studios announced that the long-anticipated Thunderbolts movie would be closing out Phase 5 and would bring together fan-favorite characters from various franchises. At the helm is Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes, as Marvel President Kevin Feige described the former Winter Soldier as the team’s “de facto leader.” Within the ranks are Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, David Harbour’s Red Guardian, Wyatt Russell’s John Walker, Olga Kurylenko’s Taskmaster, and Hannah John-Kamen’s Ghost. On the periphery comes Harrison Ford’s Thaddeus Ross and Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, two puppet-masters that may or may not have the squad’s best intentions in mind.

Also among the ensemble cast is MCU newcomer Steven Yeun. The Nope star joined the cast last month in a mystery role that was described as “significant” to the future of the MCU as a whole.

While the prospect of an MCU movie wasn’t necessarily a must on his career checklist, Yeun teased that the Thunderbolts story is what roped him in.

“I don’t know if it was explicitly on my bucket list,” Yeun told Empire. “It was more the story, getting to work with Jake Schreier again, who directed Beef, and what his intentions were.”

Those intentions revolve around this secret character, which Yeun continued to stay mum on.

“The intentions of the particular character that they wanted me to play were very clear, and that’s what drew me to the film,” Yeun continued.

Many have speculated that Yeun could be filling the long-rumored “evil Superman” slot within the Thunderbolts film. These rumblings led fans to theorize that either Hyperion or Sentry could be showing face in the anti-hero picture. Given both of those ultra-powerful characters’ comic history, Yeun suiting up as Hyperion or Sentry would leave him with no shortage of material following 2024’s Thunderbolts. 

Aside from the “evil Superman” murmurs, Speedball has been hypothesized due to his ties with the New Warriors. Yeun could suit up as an out-of-control iteration of the speedster before joining forces with his eventual team down the line.

Thunderbolts hits theaters on July 26th, 2024.