Marvel's Thunderbolts Movie Was Going to Take a Controversial Move From The Suicide Squad

Thunderbolts may have followed The Suicide Squad route of sending its heroes on a suicide mission.

By Timothy Adams

Is Marvel's Thunderbolts movie stealing the plot from The Suicide Squad? That's the topic of discussion for a new feature looking at how Marvel Studios is undergoing a creative retooling that isn't considered to be a reboot of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. One of the many projects that has seen changes behind the scenes is Thunderbolts, which just had its release date swapped with The Fantastic Four. The Thunderbolts roster includes heroes such as Yelena Belova, the Winter Soldier, U.S. Agent, and Red Guardians, as well as villains like Ghost and Taskmaster. It's reminiscent of DC's Task Force X from The Suicide Squad, and that may be an adequate comparison.

During The Hollywood Reporter's look at the creative retooling taking place at Marvel Studios, the focus shifted to Thunderbolts. Joanna Calo (The Bear) is reportedly working on the Thunderbolts script, with sources stating previous scripts had the Thunderbolts crew going on a mission that was supposed to lead to their deaths. DC's Suicide Squad films features a similar plot, with Amanda Waller implanting bombs in their neck to help control them. If they fall out of line, the bombs would detonate and kill them. Whether or not the Thunderbolts script will continue to include that plot device remains unknown at this time.

What is Thunderbolts about?

Thunderbolts will bring together Sebastian Stan's Winter Soldier, Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova, Wyatt Russell's U.S. Agent, David Harbour's Red Guardian, Julia Louis-Dreyfus's Valentina Allegra de Fontaine among others to form this anti-hero squadron named after Harrison Ford's Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, who will be President of the United States by the time the events of this film roll around. Lewis Pullman (Top Gun: Maverick) will also make his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in this feature, portraying Sentry, taking the place of Steven Yeun, who had to pull out of Thunderbolts due to scheduling conflicts following the writers' and actors' strikes.

"I think for me, time passing and things shifting kind of pulled me out of it," Yeun explained to Variety earlier this year. "But [director] Jake [Schreier], I know, is going to do an incredible job."

"I think it's too early to say that," Yeun added, when asked what other Marvel project he would like to join. "I probably pissed off too many people leaving, so I'm just gonna say, 'Thank you for having me.' I have some ideas. But I heard if you put it out there, you'll never get it, so I'll keep it close to my chest."

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The events of Thunderbolts will directly follow up Captain America: Brave New World, which is slated for a February 2025 release. That project is centered around Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson and will feature his star-spangled hero embarking on his first solo adventure since officially assuming the Cap mantle in 2021's The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Thunderbolts hits theaters on May 2nd, 2025.

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