Thunderbolts Star Teases “Surprising and Unexpected” Changes for Marvel Hero

Marvel’s Thunderbolts star David Harbour is teasing some “surprising and unexpected” changes on the way for his Soviet superhero Red Guardian. In a new interview, Harbour talked about where his character Alexei Shostakov (aka Red Guardian) is going, between the last time we saw him in Black Widow, and when we’ll next see him in Thunderbolts. Basically, Harbour is enjoying the fact that so much of Red Guardian’s comic book history is vague enough for him to put his own fun stamp on the character – while also getting to have fun with other colorful Marvel characters (and their actors): 

“I love Red Guardian. I can’t wait to pull back the layers,” David Harbour told Total Film. “The great thing about him is that he’s not very well-defined in the comics, like some of the other Marvel superheroes. So we can play with him in a different way, and be surprising and unexpected.”

Marvel’s Thunderbolts also stars Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova/Black Widow II), Wyatt Russell (John Walker/US Agent), Hannah John-Kamen (Ava/Ghost), Sebastian Stan (Winter Soldier) Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss (Valentina Allegra de Fontaine). That’s a pretty great mix of character actor talent and some lively characters who bring a nice mix of powers and/or skills to the table. David Harbour is pretty unabashed in his love of eccentric film characters, so understandably he is in heaven with this Thunderbolts lineup: 

“I really like [Alexei], and I love Florence [Pugh] as Yelena [also in Thunderbolts].” he added. “And then you throw in Wyatt [Russell, as U.S. Agent] from Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Sebastian [Stan, reprising Bucky Barnes]. You have all these great, colorful characters. I’m really excited for that movie.”

In Marvel Comics, the Thunderbolts have served every function from being villains masquerading as heroes, to a government-sanctioned super-powered black-ops team. That latter version seems to be the one the Marvel Cinematic Universe adaptation is focused on, as Val has been seen scurrying about, gathering ne’er do wells and/or espionage veterans for governmetn service. Indeed, the character lineup of Thunderbolts is an intruiging mix of “Ocean’s Eleven” heist skills, with Red Guardian being the strong man; Ghost being an infiltrator/spy; Taskmaster being muscle while Black Widow II and Winter Soldier are top assassins, and US Agent is a tactical point man and leader. Or at least that is how it would ideally fit together. 

Marvel’s Thunderbolts will be released in theaters in 2024.