Thunderbolts: David Harbour Teases Red Guardian and Yelena’s “Funny, Emotional” Relationship

Marvel Studios revealed their entire upcoming movie slate for The Multiverse Saga last year, and it was filled with some astounding projects. Among those projects are films like Fantastic Four, Captain America: Brave New World, and even a live-action adaptation of their Thunderbolts team from the comics. Thunderbolts will feature a much different lineup of characters than we’ve seen before, which is good because it’s complete with new and old characters that we’ve come to love in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. One of the characters that will be a part of Thunderbolts is Red Guardian (David Harbor), who we were first introduced to in Black Widow. The actor behind the mask is teasing his dynamic with Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) in the film. 

David Harbour Teases Yelena Belova and Red Guardians Relationship in Thunderbolts

While speaking with Josh Horowitz for his upcoming film, Grand Turismo, Harbour teased an emotional relationship with Red Guardian’s surrogate daughter Yelena Belova aka Black Widow. Harbour also praised Marvel Studios for taking the time to get the Thunderbolts right.

“I mean, I think we were gonna go and then I think they did want the opportunity to change some stuff,” Harbour revealed. “The interesting thing about Marvel that’s so great about them is they do rework stuff even big productions. Like Black Widow, the entire third act was reworked as we were shooting which is incredible and so they just want that freedom. The script we have is really tight and really great and our director Jake [Schreier] thinks it’s great but they just want the freedom. They don’t want to be stuck in the middle of a shoot and then having to go like you know we can’t rewrite this.”

Harbour continued to tease Red Guardian’s relationship with Yelena Belova in Thunderbolts, “I started working on it already and it’s like phenomenal. Again, it’s hard to these projects because I sound like such a dumb idiot so all I say is like that’s a great script. But it’s true. I’m blessed to work with the Duffers, who write some of the greatest scripts on television and this, you know, these Marvel writers are writing incredible epic stories and they’re letting the Red Guardian do stuff that he’s never done before. That relationship with Yelena, we get to go into that more, and it’s funny and satisfying in a real emotional way. Yeah, I’m just really blessed with these two amazing projects that aren’t shooting.” 

What is Thunderbolts about?

With the film’s unknown story, Thunderbolts is expected to follow the Marvel Comics team of the same name, an alliance of antiheroes and villains who reluctantly work for the government. Jake Schreier (Paper Towns, Beef) will direct from a screenplay by Lee Sung Jin (Beef). Production was initially set to begin this summer, but the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes may have delayed that.

“I just made a joke about [how] it’s like Dungeons and Dragons, where you meet in a tavern and it’s like there’s a dwarf drinking a beer and then there’s like an elvish figure over there, we all come together and then there’s this ghost… it’s not gonna happen like that, I don’t think,” Harbour previously told ComicBook.com. “But I think that’s one of the mysteries of the movie is what is their relationship, and as you say, there is a lot of exciting things as you wrap up the next phase in terms of sort of what their part of the whole universe is in this random, chaotic way. So, you know, we can’t say too much at this point, but they’re an exciting introduction of this team together again, that’s going to be a lot of fun.”

The film will star Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan as The Winter Soldier, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster, Wyatt Russel as U.S. Agent, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Val, Ayo Edebiri, Steven Yeun and Harrison Ford as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross.

Thunderbolts is slated to hit theaters on December 20, 2024. Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for more updates on the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we learn it!

What do you think about David Harbour’s comments? Are you excited to see Thunderbolts when it arrives in theaters? Let us know in the comments below or by hitting up our writer @NateBrail on Twitter!