Thunderbolts: David Harbour Calls His Marvel Character “An Idiot”

David Harbour would appreciate it if his Red Guardian character, Alexei Shostakov, was less of an idiot in future Marvel Cinematic Universe appearances. Harbour debuted as the Russian super-soldier in Marvel Studios’ 2021 film , which revealed his relationship with the title character, Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson). Harbour will reprise the role for Marvel’s upcoming Thunderbolts movie, which brings together several MCU villains and antiheroes as a team sponsored by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine’s (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) wing of the United States government, though to what end remains unclear. Speaking to The Playlist, Harbour revealed his hopes for Alexei’s future.

“I’d like to see him be a little bit more of a badass as well,” Harbour says. “I’d like to see those fighting skills, which we see a little bit with Taskmaster, but, as messed up as he is, he does have the super serum, and he knows this Russian Sambo technique, and I think we could see a lot more color in that department in terms of his range as a fighter. And I’d like to see where he can go now that he’s out of prison and he’s got more hope for his life, like who he might become. There’s a lot of potential and a lot of opportunity.”

He continues, “It’s so interesting to think about where [Red Guardian] ends up at the end of Black Widow after his story is complete and what happens to him after he’s out of prison. Where does he go? To reconnect with Florence [Pugh] is going to be great as well. And also, I would like to see, because he is an idiot and he is an egomaniac – all that stuff, but he does have this fire in him, and I think he could rise to certain occasions if given the chance.”

Who does David Harbour want Red Guardians to meet in Thunderbolts?

Thunderbolts will allow Harbour to play Alexei against a new cast of characters. He’s looking forward to seeing how his super-soldier interacts with the U.S. Agent, a.k.a. John Walker (Wyatt Russell), the would-be Captain America replacement.

“In terms of the new guys, I will say that I really love what Wyatt did in [The Falcon and the Winter Soldier],” Harbour says. “And I think, just the fact of a real dark Captain America, like, what that means in terms of his relationship with Red Guardian and what that spark will be like – I think Wyatt’s terrific. I think that character is terrific – this dark, patriotic character. You know, Red Guardian is just a foil to Captain America. He’s obsessed with Captain America. And this guy, although [Anthony] Mackie is the real Captain America, [Wyatt] is a version of that patriotic thing that’s darker. And so, I think, as Red Guardian, I’m very interested to see where that leads.”

Thunderbolts opens in theaters on July 26, 2024. Black Widow is streaming now on Disney+.