A secret hero that fans have speculated about in Marvel’s Thunderbolts* may have been finally confirmed. The superhero ensemble film made its way to theaters last week, and so far has a pretty modest box office opening, with estimates ranging between $73-77 million domestically over its first three days. Thunderbolts* stars a ragtag team of heroes from across the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but fans believe the movie features another hero that Marvel has kept hidden — Geraldine Viswanathan’s Mel, an assistant to Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). In the comics, Mel is the Thunderbolt named Songbird. While Viswanathan never displays powers in Thunderbolts*, one of the movie’s executive producers teases that it could happen at some point in the MCU’s future.
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Thunderbolts* executive producer Brian Chapek spoke to IMDb, where he elaborated on a character, possibly Mel, and how a necklace she wears foreshadows her becoming Songbird. “There is a character that fans are trying to figure out whether — is she or is she not — I would say, what emblem does she wear that may or may not hint at this character’s larger identity moving forward? Potentially. That’s what I would say,” Chapek said.
You can watch a video of the interview below.
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Ever since Geraldine Viswanathan was cast as Mel in Thunderbolts*, fans have speculated that she’s playing Songbird in the Marvel ensemble film. A Thunderbolts* TV spot even hides a Songbird Easter egg, with Mel seen wearing a necklace in the shape of a songbird. Naturally, it’s easy to make the connection that this Mel is short for Melissa Gold, aka Songbird.
Created by Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchio, Songbird was one of the founding members of the original Thunderbolts, turning face after a long career full of crime and villainy. Using supersonic powers to her advantage, Songbird is known for her striking white and black suit and hair that includes long, pink streaks. Viswanathan’s Mel lacks the same hairstyle choice as Songbird, but everything else appears to line up, especially considering the remarks made by Brian Chapek.
The post-credits scene for Thunderbolts* set up both The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Avengers: Doomsday, with director Jake Schreier teasing how one of the Thunderbolts* cast members may factor into Doctor Doom’s plans.
“There might be some stones, or pebbles [smiles]. I don’t know how you want to rate your rocks,” Schreier told SFX. “Look, you know the character that we’re talking about, and you know that there’s a level of power involved there that could have an impact going forward. I’m not making Doomsday so I’m not privy to that.”
While Schreier didn’t name a character in Thunderbolts*, his words allude to that person being Lewis Pullman’s Bob, aka Sentry. Pullman replaced Steven Yeun in Thunderbolts*, with the Invincible voice actor having to pull out of the filming. Thunderbolts* only showed fans short glimpses of Sentry through various TV spots and trailers, with Marvel making sure to keep Sentry in shadows. However, we did see Sentry toss Red Guardian out of a window in the Thunderbolts’ headquarters, the former home of the Avengers, and seemingly kill innocent bystanders as they ran on the street.
Valentina boasts that Sentry is more powerful than all of the Avengers, so that’s the sort of weapon that Doctor Doom would like to get his hands on.
Do you want to see Songbird officially join the Thunderbolts? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
