Thunderbolts* Reveals Its Most Terrifying Stunt (& It Was Florence Pugh’s Idea)

Florence Pugh is responsible for making the most terrifying stunt in Thunderbolts* possible. Superhero movies are full of exciting, action-packed scenes, except that the majority of the time, these “dangerous” scenes take place in front of a green screen. That’s not the case with the opening scene of Thunderbolts*, which features the second-tallest building in the world. Finding an actor who is comfortable enough to jump off this building is a large task, but thankfully, it’s one that Pugh, who plays Yelena Belova, was confident in performing. As we learned, the stunt was so dangerous that Disney tried to nix it.

Thunderbolts* released a featurette titled “The Jump,” showing how the stunt team for the Marvel Studios film helped Florence Pugh and director Jake Schreier pull off this terrifying stunt. “At the beginning, Jake asked me, ‘Do you like heights?’ So I was like, ‘I love heights,’” Pugh says to open the featurette. Schreier adds that they wanted to add some extra weight to the opening of Thunderbolts*, so what better way to do this than by traveling to Kuala Lumpur, going to the second-tallest building on the planet, and having Florence Pugh jump off its edge.

[RELATED: Thunderbolts* Box Office Projections Could Continue Marvel’s Downward Trajectory]

Of course, Pugh is strapped to various harnesses and strings to make sure she doesn’t plummet to her death. However, that didn’t stop Disney Health and Safety from telling Schreier that they couldn’t do the stunt. They were only able to go through with the stunt due to Pugh believing in it and pushing to make it happen, showing her trust in the stunt team.

Once they were through with that stunt, which took place in the early morning, the Thunderbolts* crew then pivoted to another scene where they blew up part of a building. “We shot Florence jumping off that building in the morning, and then went to another street and just blew up an entire floor of a building in the afternoon,” Schreier says with a laugh.

You can watch the stunt in the opening scene of Thunderbolts* below:

The Thunderbolts* cast of Florence Pugh, David Harbour (Red Guardian), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Valentina Allegra de Fontaine), Hannah John-Kamen (Ghost), Wyatt Russell (John Walker), and Geraldine Viswanathan (Mel) sat down with Fandango to talk about the upcoming film. The actors were asked why someone would choose the Thunderbolts over the Avengers, leading to some comedic answers.

“It would mean a lot more to us,” Harbour says. “A win would mean a lot more to us.” Pugh adds, “It’s not conventional. We’re going to find a really awful way of doing it. There will be plenty of broken walls, but we will get it done with style! And maybe we could use a bit more fine-tuning, if we would actually listen to anyone. But we don’t, so there you go.”

Viswanathan’s character of “Mel” has drawn interest from the fan community, with speculation growing that she’s playing the Marvel hero Songbird. Viswanathan has said that Mel is the “little right-hand man” to Louis-Dreyfus’ Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. Songbird’s real name is Melissa Gold, and a TV spot for Thunderbolts* shows Mel wearing a necklace with a little bird on it. We’ll have to wait until May 2nd to find out if Songbird is a part of the Thunderbolts* cast.

What do you think about the opening stunt in Thunderbolts*? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!