Marvel's Thunderbolts* Star David Harbour Teases Why the Title Has an Asterisk (Exclusive)

Harbour is "very proud" of his MCU return.

By Jenna Anderson

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is poised to get a major shake-up next year, with the release of the new ensemble movie Thunderbolts*. The film will see a number of returning MCU heroes and antiheroes join forces in a deadly new fight, including Black Widow fan-favorite Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian (David Harbour). As fans wait for the project's first trailer to be officially released, Marvel Studios has already courted a lot of speculation by adding an asterisk to Thunderbolts' title, without explaining exactly what it could mean. While speaking to ComicBook about his role as BoxLunch's brand ambassador, Harbour teased the significance of Thunderbolts* asterisk, as well as what fans can expect from the film as a whole.

"I mean, they retroactively put the asterisk [in]," Harbour explained. "The asterisk was an idea that that someone had.....What can I say that's not going to get me in trouble? ...The asterisk is very cool. I understand why people might put an asterisk there. I'm excited for the viewers to see that as well. But I, again, I just can't say anymore."

When asked about the rumor mill surrounding Thunderbolts*, Harbour revealed that "I've started to move away from all of that because I feel like I just run into AI articles. I'm like, who wrote this? This isn't even English. But but I think that the it can get dangerous because I don't want to hear what everyone's opinion is about all kinds of stuff about me. But we are very comic book true, which I was pleased about. I think there might be some speculation of what people understand about the comics as opposed to people that have actually read the comics. I think there's a lot of experts out there that get very annoyed at things. And if you go back and you actually look at it, you might see something different. I think that we're very into that idea, and yet it is, of course, very surprising because, you know, I don't think Red Guardian is in any of the Thunderbolts stuff. So they are adding things like they are adding and surprising you with things. But, you know, there's a lot of stuff, a lot of stuff that we've done to make it comic accurate as well."

"Making a movie, you can't really look outside for critiques because everybody, everybody sees the poster and they have an opinion," Harbour continued. "You're like, 'just watch the two hour movie and if you still hate it. Great. Love it? Great.' But, like, you've got to give us a chance. I think all the speculation in the world is like my fantasies about dying or what. I mean, it's like you can fantasize about horrific things or whatever until you actually see the thing. I'm very proud of this movie, what we shot. I hear it's playing well internally and I'm excited for people to see it. I think it's going to really surprise people. I think people have seen from the trailer, from the shots. I think it's a pretty cool direction of the MCU's sort of making now. And I'm excited to be a part of that."

What Is Marvel's Thunderbolts* About?

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, and Olgya Kurylenko as Taskmaster. New cast members will include Lewis Pullman as Bob, and Geraldine Viswanathan in a mystery role.

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"Our characters are going to interact with something that we don't really understand, and it fundamentally changes the course of the way things expand," Harbour told ComicBook in a previous interview at San Diego Comic-Con. "That's all I'm saying. Oh my God, I'm getting calls tomorrow."

Thunderbolts* will be released exclusively in theaters on May 2, 2025.

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