Marvel’s Thunderbolts: Geraldine Viswanathan Has Perfect Reaction to Replacing Ayo Edebiri

Geraldine Viswanathan is the latest actor to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe, joining the ensemble of Thunderbolts in a role that has yet to be unveiled. Though Marvel Studios itself has remained mum and the casting, as it typically does unless a major event such as D23 or San Diego Comic-Con is on the horizon, Viswanathan herself is celebrating her next job in hilarious fashion.

In a new addition to her Instagram story, Viswanathan thanked Ayo Edebiri for being so busy with her shooting schedule, that she was forced to drop out of Thunderbolts. The Emmy-winning Edebiri is set to start filming the third season The Bear in the next few weeks, right when Thunderbolts is set to begin principal photography as well.

The movie has long been teased as one of Marvel Studios’ most “different” outings yet, largely because the characters involved aren’t heroes but rather, anti-heroes and full-on villains.

“I know [director Jake Schrier] so well and I know how smart Jake is and how much he cares about making something interesting and different and utilizing everyone’s talents to the best of their ability. And the story that I think they’ve come up with is really interesting — I know parts of the story and how the story works, I can’t talk about it,” Thunderbolts start Wyatt Russell told the audience sitting in a special panel hosted by MTV News‘ Josh Horowitz last year.

He added, “But it’s not a straightforward Marvel movie as you’ve seen in the past. I think that it’s gonna be a lot of fun but I think it will be something that hopefully Marvel fans will look at and go, ‘Oh OK, this is a little different, let’s go hard at it.’ And as far as how we are approaching it, it’s time to go to work a little bit, it’s time to make a good Marvel movie so let’s do that and work hard at it and don’t take things for granted.”

Thunderbolts is expected to be based on the Marvel Comics team of the same name, an alliance of antiheroes and villains who reluctantly work for the government. The cast of Thunderbolts includes Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Wyatt Russell as John Walker / U.S. Agent, Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr / Ghost, Olgya Kurylenko as Taskmaster, and Harrison Ford as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross.

Thunderbolts is set to be released exclusively in theaters on July 25, 2025.