Thunderbolts Receiving Major Rewrites Because of Black Widow (Report)

It’s increasingly common for a number of writers to join a Marvel Studios film to polish the production’s script. Development on Thunderbolts is no different as the team-up recently recruited Beef showrunner Lee Sung Jin to come in and take a stab at the film’s script, which was last written by Black Widow and Thor: Ragnarok scribe Eric Pearson. While some rewrites are always expected on studio blockbusters, it turns out the changes on Thunderbolts may be more extensive than initially thought.

According to a new report from insider Jeff Sneider, Lee has been charged with changing the entire script to make it more well-rounded.

“I heard that they scrapped the other guys draft,” Sneider said in the latest episode of The Hot Mic podcast (via The Direct). “One of the problems with that Thunderbolts draft was that it had a similar problem to what Suicide Squad had, the David Ayer one, in that it was too focused on the Black Widow characters who are going to be in Thunderbolts and it wasn’t an equal enough for the team. It just very much emphasized the characters we already knew.”

What changes will happen on Thunderbolts?

Lee revealed his involvement on the press tour for Beef, a Netflix series both he and Thunderbolts helmer Jake Schreier worked together on. According to the writer, he’s largely following Schreier’s lead onb the project.

“I’m rewriting it,” Lee said in an interview with Variety earlier this year. “It’s the whole squad again. Jake asked me if I would come on board. I probably should have taken a break, but there’s a lot of themes and exciting things about the movie that I couldn’t help but sign on.”

He added, “It’s truly an honor to be part of a Marvel thing, but it is very different. One, it’s not my project, it’s Jake’s. It’s such a large scope and scale that the type of writing is very different. At the same time, the process feels the same, I’m still talking to Jake every day. … I think once you find the squad of people you love and trust and are so talented, you do everything you can to keep working with them.”

When is Thunderbolts being released?

Thunderbolts is set for release on July 26, 2024.

What characters would you like to see take part in Marvel’s Thunderbolts flick? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!